Assignment Sample on Sustainable Supply Chains
Introduction
The fluctuating demands of consumers have had a derogatory effect on our natural resources and developed a necessity for alternatives to be used to conserve the remaining resources. Sustainable development helps to preserve and expand resource base by taking up alternatives to develop usual ways of utilisation of technology. Electronix PLC is an electric vehicle manufacturer in West Midlands in United Kingdom and the enterprise is willing to expand its supply chain network as they are facing difficulties with the sustainable development process. The study helps to identify challenges faced by the enterprise in contemporary market, best practices, timeline of the process and a realistic action plan is developed for the network expansion process.
Analysis: Sustainability Performance of Organizational Supply Chain
Quantified analysis of their CO2, other emissions and waste
Electronix PLC is a startup Electric Vehicle (EV) manufacturer in UK and the primary objective of the organisation was to meet with the growing demand for Electric high-end luxury automotive among consumers. The Pegasus 4S is their first EV and was expected to be launched in 2020 but the whole process got delayed due to the uncertainty of COVID 19. It aims to reduce the scope of harmful tailpipe pollutants such as nitrogen oxides that take the lives of thousands every year. The vehicle is capable of producing less CO2 emission than any fossil-fuelled car and could be validated by the statistics that EVs in UK produced 79.6 grams of CO2 emissions per mile (Statista.com, 2021).
Discussion of social impacts
The vehicle has been developed around a concept of sustainability and gets identified as a fully electronic saloon with a range of 400 miles on one single charging session. This would attract consumers as the overall process of transportation would be cost effective and a greater awareness of the impact of an EV would be catered (Bailey et al. 2017). The cost effectiveness and technological advancements that Pegasus 4S yields would promote consumer indulgence towards the concept of alternatives to preserve the depleting resources. Electronix wanted to point out an interesting feature about their product as it would help them stand out from other brands providing a similar service. The body panels of Pegasus 4S were developed from an innovative material ‘Plastica’, which gets developed from 95% post consumer plastic wastes. Thereafter it gets coated in a special gel so that these body panels could get painted in an usual manner and the enterprise prevents the utilisation of steel, aluminium, plastics or carbon fibre. This has a great influence on the sustainability factor as Electronix PLC helps to preserve natural resources that usually get utilised at a large extent for production of body panels for luxury saloons. The process has been identified to be much cost effective that’s incorporating a carbon fibre body panel and would act as a good alternative to such resources. The interior trim of the vehicle is made from hemp and eminent automotive brand like BMW has used a similar method for years. Industrial hemp has been considered to be lighter, stronger and less expensive compared to wood, which is usually used to design interior trims. This acts as an initiative to save trees and influences an awareness of the fact that hemp based products are an alternative to wood. The brand utilises Vegan Ultraleather and Alcantara materials to make their seat covers instead of traditional leather, thereby proving their commitment towards environmental sustainability (Chai et al. 2019). The details of the vehicle have been formulated keeping all the sentiments in mind and primary concerns regarding the environment have been mitigated through their efforts. Another feature of their product is that the Pegasus 4S is powered by a large 100 KWh battery which can be reused as a household or grid power storage, once the vehicle reaches serviceable life. This initiative gives the consumer an opportunity to use the battery even after the product becomes incapable of functioning. It serves as a support from the enterprise even when the product is no longer in use and helps to develop loyalty among customers which is necessary in contemporary competitiveness.
Complexities of balancing environment and social aspects with business and economic success for this organisation
The sustainable features that were promoted by Electronix created a lot of buzz among consumers and a large number of pre-orders were placed on Pegasus 4S, the £ 70,000 electronic luxury saloon. However the initial launch date was fixed to be 2020, which had to be reassigned in 2022 due to the uncertainty of COVID 19 and this has resulted in a lot of havoc among shareholders, customers who have pre-ordered (Song et al. 2017).
Prodrive Limited in Banbury, England has been contracted for the purpose of producing these EV’s. However the production line has been observed to be very small and insufficient for accommodating finished vehicles. Owing to such difficulties they are taken in three parts to Woodall Nicollson in the North-West to complete the assembly process. The picture of a partially assembled luxury saloon being transferred in luxury trucks halfway across the country serves derogatory for the reputation of the enterprise. In addition to that, ‘plastica’ panels that have been used to develop body panels for the car were observed to crack at low temperatures. Owing to such discrepancies, the overall reputation of the company has been affected and the vehicle has been called “The Plastic Pig” by press.
An important aspect of Electronix’s sustainable business plan was the battery but back option where the heavy duty battery of Pegasus 4S could be utilised for other purposes when the vehicle reaches end of its serviceable life. But the process involves a number of steps which would make it difficult for consumers and Electronix PLC. Firstly, the battery needs to be transferred to headquarters in UK for this process to initiate which would be costly and difficult for customers across the globe (Zamry and Nayan, 2020). Secondly, there needs to be a facility that supports a reverse manufacturing supply chain which would again add up to a hefty expenditure.
Benchmarking: Organizational Approach to Obtain Sustainability against Other Organizations
Processes of Procurement
Process of procurement provides assistance towards an organization in making strategies for managing a project. These strategies of managing projects are determination of requirements, supplier research, value analysis and evaluation of received orders (Trautrims et al. 2017). As Electronix PLC is focusing on producing electric vehicles and thus they are benchmarking their rivals like Tesla and Lucid and are focusing on their priorities.
Implication of this procurement, Electronix PLC might be able to improve their organizational progress. Because of the improvement of organizational progress Electronix PLC might be able to:
Improve of Expenditure
Improve their expenditure thus they might be able to manage their organizational capital in a way. Along with this they might also be able to obtain a means of knowledge about their history of purchasing.
Positive Relationship with Suppliers
Along with this, Electronix PLC might also be able to improve their positive relationship with their suppliers by maintaining their supply chain logistics. Maintaining a positive relationship with their suppliers might be able to provide them with an assistance of saving organizational cost and improved trust with them. These scenarios are going to improve the supply chain management of Electronix PLC and they might be able to obtain efficient customers than their rivals.
Production Management
Production management is a process that provides an organization with ideas about how to manage and maintain organizational progress. Using this aspect of production management, managers are able to prepare plans to maintain their process of production by monitoring them (Ulewicz, R. and Mazur, 2019). Because of this process organizations like Tesla are able to provide their customers with product satisfaction. Being the rival of Electronix PLC, activities are there maintained by Tesla. These activities are:
Quality Management
Quality management is a major priority of Tesla, for that reason during their production period, this organization keeps on checking the quality of their product. Because of this reason, they are able to provide their customers with improved quality of product with means of efficiency. Location Strategy
Moreover, Location strategy is also a very important aspect of this organization that provides them with assistance. Because of this fact this organization while producing their product are able to obtain cost effective materials for their vehicle. Thus, they are able to provide their customers with means of service with effectiveness. Benchmarking these two views of Tesla, Electronix PLC is focusing on improving their organizational production process. They are taking assistance from Prodrive UK, Ziejiang Auto Co Ltd. China and Valmet Finland for obtaining assistance in improving their supply chain management.
Distribution
Distribution is a process that provides assistance towards an organization in spreading their products towards their customers within the market pace. Tesla in order to distribute their products within their market focus on the needs of their customers. This aspect assists them in obtaining efficient customer value. These strategies are:
- Tesla in order to distribute their cars towards their dealers makes them understand the benefits and problems of electric cars and gasoline cars. This provided understanding gives this organization assistance in obtaining proper customers who have got interest in contributing towards nature. Thus, Tesla is able to distribute their cars towards their dealers in an effective way.
- Moreover, this organization also assures their dealers about their service coverage. It has been seen that Tesla in order to provide their customers with positive assistance in obtaining service coverage have implemented new service centres (Marsili and Rossi, 2017). Tesla just to obtain customer value has opened 26 service centres within less than 3 months.
Benchmarking these aspects Electronix PLC is developing their process of distribution by improving their customer services. This organization is providing lithium batteries which have got a guarantee of lifetime service. Along with this, Electronix PLC is also providing their customers with £25,000 so that their customers can make use of the battery as household or grid power storage.
Supplier Management
Supplier management is a process that provides an organization with means of assistance in understanding their suppliers and obtaining proper materials. Because of this process an organization is able to improve their depositional process and obtain quality valued products. Managing suppliers, Tesla is able to improve their progress with means of effectiveness. activities that are being followed by this organization are:
- Tesla in order to improve their organizational progress focuses on their supplier management process. This organization in a single-handed way selects their suppliers to obtain products with effective prices.
- Along with this, Tesla also focuses on maintaining their relationship with their suppliers. As a result, they are able to improve their organizational progress by maintaining their organizational expenses with effectiveness.
Benchmarking Tesla, Electronix PLC is focusing on their supplier management. As this organization is providing their customers with services like Driver Assistance Systems, Computer Components and Powertrain they are focusing on selecting and reputed suppliers (Zahraee et al. 2018). As a result, they might be able to improve the quality of their products. Moreover, as this organization has maintained their production partnership with Ziejiang Auto Co Ltd. China and Wodall Nicollson UK, they might be able to improve and obtain assistance in improving their organizational services.
Warehousing
Warehousing is a process where business organizations keep their finished products before the process of distribution. Because of maintaining this process organizations are able to improve their organizational sustainability. Tesla is an organization in order to sell their products, maintain and manage their warehouse. Because of proper warehouse management they are able to understand their supply chain logistics properly (Kucera, 2019). Within the warehouse of Tesla there is a logistics centre from where this organization is able to maintain and manage their organizational progress. Benchmarking this organization Electronix PLC might be focusing on their process of a logistics centre within their warehouse. Because of this fact, they might be able to keep track of their product and effectively.
Transportation and Logistics
Benchmarking Tesla, Electronix PLC in order to provide their customers with best services are focusing on aspects. This organization is importing tires from France for their vehicle (Fomin et al. 2018). They are also importing driver assistance systems from Germany and interiors from USA thus this organization might be able to provide their customers with effective solutions. Because of the transportation charge they might face problems in maintaining their organizational progress in a negative way.
Packaging
Electronix PLC are focusing on opening their production house in Banbury, England. Due to this aspect, they might be able to improve and increase their production process with the assistance of supply chain management process. This organization might be making use of the Shipping Status Tool in order to monitor the packaging process. But as the production line within this facility is not big enough, it might create problems towards them and affect them in a negative way.
In order to mitigate their problem, this organization is focusing on assembling and packing their finished products at Prodrive. Because of this scenario, this organization might be able to provide their customers with efficient products and might also be able to fulfil their demand.
Application: Steps towards Organizational Improvement
Waste hierarchy (WH) application
Waste hierarchy approach has been considered as a waste management option that is adopted by an organisation for maintaining environmental awareness. On a similar note, 5Rs actions have been conducted to implicate this WH application which supports the execution recycling program. This program provides top priority incrementing waste by implicating recycling approach so that labour costs are maintained. As discussed by Ma et al. (2019), Business strategies are sustained through incorporation of recycling programs within Resource Management that increases opportunity to execute manufacturing actions efficiently. Additionally, the mentioned approach has been incorporated within business strategy that produces demand for resources while product manufacturing.
An organisation gets an opportunity to select average commodity price for a product so that consumer gets an opportunity to adopt that product. However consumer preferences have been highlighted to fulfil global demands. Market competition is also controlled by proper accessibility of resources. Like other authors, Cheng et al. (2019) stated in an article that resources are implicated in an efficient manner through determining its requirement by aligning with market demand so that profit is gained. Product are manufactured according to market demands through utilising available resources. Environmental cost regarding resource extractions are increasing due to diminishing of materials which are required based on consumer desire
Role of Waste hierarchy application in improving organisational sustainability
WH supports in reducing natural resources which are consumed by buyers through availing products that are manufactured through using resources. Linking with case study, Electronix PLC is intending to launch Electronix Pegasus 4S car through focusing over sustainability and environmental consciousness. Main concept of this car is to deliver electric salon services with 400 miles range. As suggested by Janmaimool (2017), waste management behaviour among stakeholders are developed through arranging training that conveys purpose of recycling approach within business. Additionally, plastica body panels have become an innovation that is directly linked with waste management. Linking with mirror contact, plastica has been produced through using 95% post-consumer plastic waste. The following context portrays that environmental pollution has been discarded through using this approach. Energy has been saved in a unique process that ensures profit gaining opportunity. On the other hand, this process may not be cost-effective due to having a short-life resultant. Based on case study, it has been determined that plastica panels face imitation due to having a high chance of cracking at low temperatures.
Complication appears due to not executing recycling action in a uniform manner which may lead to reduced profit. Resource recovery and disposal services need to be calibrated so that environmental policies have been followed for sustaining recycling programs that are adopted by a business. Apart from this, issues have been overcome by implicating mention strategy in terms of using waste material and its reusing two implicating innovative strategies so that costs are controlled. As explained by Misopoulos et al. (2018), Manufacturing activities are executed in a sustainable manner through addressing organisational pressure. During a pandemic situation in 2020, this organisation fails to launch this new product to exceed their budget. Travel restrictions appeared for the regulation that is implemented for controlling outbreak of covid-19. In this particular situation, Export Import trading faces limitations for border restriction and that creates barriers in manufacturing. Mention issues are solved through investing on WH application so that plastica panels that are produced in UK are utilized in proper manner with Electronix Pegasus 4S. Excess investment of resources which are transported from foreign countries may generate barriers in gaining return value from this investment in 2020.
5Rs Waste hierarchy application
Step 1: Refuse
Stakeholders need to learn refusing waste which has become the main aspects of this WH approach. Additionally, waste is minimised through incorporating this approach in business strategy. On the other hand, psychological conditions of stakeholders remain motivated through discarding unnecessary business activities which are not related to product manufacturing or service delivering actions. This specific situation focuses on avoiding unnecessary product packaging through involvement of procurement team so that final products are distributed in an estimated time. Consumers get an opportunity to develop their buying decision due to having a product at a relevant price. Investment over products package reduces interest of consumer.
Step 2: Reduce
Negative environmental impact has been discarded through reductions of resources that are not non-recyclable. In addition, discarding non-recyclable products insurance and organisation regarding avoiding unnecessary waste that is generated from non-recyclable items.
Step 3: Reuse
Replacement of single use approach with reuse approach increases interest of consumer in terms of securing investment of consumer. Buying decisions have been generated by consumers through analysing product utility. Additionally, implication of comparable resources that are reused may provide an opportunity to decline waste material. Case study sheds light that Electronix offers a “buy-back” opportunity to customers through powering by 100 KWh Lithium battery. Serviceable life of this vehicle is increased through implicating the mentioned type of battery. Incorporation of Sustainable battery within this vehicle provides an opportunity to consumer court to use battery for household purpose. Guaranteed value has been proposed by this organisation that may sustain products in UK.
Step 4: Repurpose
Incorporation of creativity for alternating waste material into a new product that has a market value. Collaboration of new supplies with existing waste material has become the main concept of the purpose that ensures management of operational cost. Richa et al. (2017) stated that economies are circulated through adoption of waste hierarchy regulation. Allotment of waste material for repurposing reduces cost of new supply and it has been considered as a cost-effective strategy.
Step 5: Recycle
Implication of waste disposal method provides an opportunity to execute recycling programs. Additionally, stakeholders get an opportunity to use waste products effectively at low cost so that new products are launched in an estimated time. However, commitment levels of employees are increased through incorporation of recycling programs that focus on multiple benefits of waste management. Resources are accurately accessed by stakeholder through gaining knowledge from this mentioned program.
Conclusion
Sustainable supply chain management is a process that provides an organization with proper assistance in maintaining their progress within their market. Electronix PLC is an organization that in order to elaborate their business are focusing on improving their supply chain management process. Focusing on the sustainability of the organizational supply chain management they have focused on certain parts which are maintenance of CO2 emission and management of wastewater emission. Moreover, they are also focusing on benchmarking their rival organization and are focusing on improving their progress and value towards their customers properly. Along with these certain steps are also being taken by this organization in order to develop themselves. It can be concluded that organizations similar to this might be able to obtain proper means of assistance in developing themselves. Because of following these aspect of development organizations might be able to improve their value within their market properly.
Reference list
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