Assignment Sample on Supply Chain Management
Introduce the product
Rowntree’s is a British international company based in York in England. This company is famous for developing Kit Kat during the year 1935. Kit Kat is a product of Nestle and Nestle is the parent company of Rowntree. The company has many other items such as Aero, Fruit Pastilles, Smarties, Rolo as well as Quality Street (marged with Mackintosh’s, a British confectioner). Though this assignment will be focused on Fruit Pastilles as this is a famous product for the kids as well as adults. This product comes with multiple flavors and the fruity flavoured sweet is vegan friendly. Hence the customer base is vast for the product as it targets customers from every age group. Rowntree’s Fruit Pastilles are small round sweet candies 1.5 cm in diameter. The candy is covered with sugar and also it has jelly like consistency. Inside the candy here is fruit juice and some artificial colours are mixed with it. The product was invented in 1881 in Fawdon and still now they made it as it is very famous among the people.
Justification of choosing the product
It can be justified that Rowntree’s Fruit Pastilles have chosen for this assignment for multiple reasons. It will be easy to describe the supply chain when a product is delivered to multiple regions. On the other side the raw materials for the products are also coming from different locations. Rowntree’s Fruit Pastilles is rebranded by the name Wonka Fruit Pastilles in Australia after the achievement of Rowntree’s by Nestle (Kim and Kim, 2018). Also the Rowntree’s Fruit Pastilles is known as the fruit of joy in Italy and by the name of Frutips in multiple places like Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, China and Canada. The flavours of the product comes in different flavours like Orange, Blackcurrant, Strawberry, Lime and Lemon. Hence the raw materials are coming from different sources. Hence the upstream and the downstream of the supply chain will be described in an effective manner.
The processes involved in producing the product
Rowntree’s Fruit Pastilles have a specific process to produce the product. This product comes under the confectionery industry. Here the particular method involves sorting fruits that is going to give most of the flavour to the candy. The fruits are measured very specifically in order to give perfect flavour to the Fruit Pastilles. Also there is a need of preference. The stems and the pits get removed from the fruits. This is the primary process of producing Fruit Pastilles.
In the second stage the fruit gets baked at the temperature of 80-100 C in the baking chamber of Nestle. After that the pulp of the fruits are rubbed out which is essential for making the jelly like consistency of Fruit Pastilles. After that the essential part comes that enhances the test of the products. Here the Yolk and Sugar gets combined with the fruit pulp (Marchi and Zanoni, 2017). Once the procedure for mixture gets done, the pastille are left for dying at the temperature of 50 C to 75 C. The procedure goes on until the crust of Fruit Pastilles is formed on the pastille mass surface. Here the second stage ends for making the product. Though during the second stage it is essential to maintain the temperature and its higher value of indicated temperature range. The procedure ends at about a lower temperature range of a specific temperature range.
The third stage involves a cooling procedure. The procedure involves Oiling and cooling resultant sheets with pastille mass. Fruit Pastilles take its forms and it gets slightly dried. After that the Fruit Pastilles get dusted with sugar powder and get cooled perfectly (Zhang, Pawar and Bhardwaj, 2017). At the end the packing gets done and gets the regular shape. The Rowntree’s Fruit Pastilles is famous for its quality as the Pastilles comes with thin crust and it has soft light mass.
Using a diagram, illustrate and explain the supply chain for Rowntree’s Fruit Pastilles that clearly identifying the upstream
Upstream of a supply chain refers to the procedure where the raw materials are supplied to the factory of an organization that helps to produce products in the company. Here the Rowntree’s Fruit Pastilles are produced in the factory of Nestle and this involves a few steps. The E-Procurement System, Suppliers of Raw Materials, Logistics, Distribution to the factories and Transportation are involved in the upstream supply chain of Rowntree’s Fruit Pastilles.
E-Procurement System
The organisation Nestlé claims that they have their own online Supplier Portal and this portal helps to collaborate with the other suppliers from different parts of the world with the company (Ghadimi, Wang, and Lim, 2019). The company also claims that the online portal is advances technology and this helps in secure access to important tools and processes. The company claims for the demand of raw material online and the Rowntree’s Fruit Pastilles are spreaded in more than 187 countries all over the world. Here the suppliers are part of the value chain the company maintains a strong relationship for the growth of business.
Suppliers of Raw Materials
Nestlé gets most of the supply of raw materials by contacting the farmers. The company is able to produce their 14 raw materials of their own. Over 626 000 are staying in contact with the company for supplying milk, cocoa and coffee. On the other side one of the most important products of Rowntree’s Fruit Pastilles is sugar that is produced by the company itself. The other essential raw material such as fruits are imported from various sections of the world and where Nestlé gives training to the farmers for Responsible Sourcing Standard requirements.
Logistics
The logistics has enhanced flexibility of supplying Fruit Pastilles. The company used 3PL (Third-party logistic) as this assumes a noteworthy job in SCM. It is involved in special functions such as particular, integrated operation, warehousing, and transportation administrations. The company uses their own vehicles for distributing their own raw materials to the factories.
Transportation
In the upstream section of the supply chain of Nestle, it has been found that they use transportation that has low carbon emission. The technology has been maintain for protecting the fruits till the time it reaches the factory for producing Fruit Pastilles. The organization is able to improve our net VFR by 10%. Here it helps to reduce their CO2 footprint by 13,006MT. On the other side the vehicle utilisation is 9% from the firm house to the production house (Chang, and Chen, 2020). This is able to prove a great result as saves of INR 352 million every year. Apart from that, the company uses a 3D simulation approach in order to identify the optimal load mix for every vehicle of Nestle. The entire downstream method can be measured in scale and it can be extended to our secondary distribution system.
Using a diagram, illustrate and explain the supply chain for your Rowntree’s Fruit Pastilles clearly identifying the downstream organisations
Downstream supply chain is the process where a company delivers the product to the customers once the product is produced in the factory. This process is basically the activities of post manufacturing where the resellers, physical distribution, marketing, and distribution of product to customers is involved. In other factors, a common factor in between the downstream and upstream of the supply chain is the transportation.
Resellers
The resellers of Nestle help to distribute the Rowntree’s Fruit Pastilles in the market according to the need of customers. It has been found that resellers are those who know the market demand and deliver products according to the need of the market. The products of Nestle are available all over the world and on the other side, this Fruit Pastilles are available in many grocery shops and supermarkets all over the world. Mane retailers like Target, Costco and Walmart sales Rowntree’s Fruit Pastilles (Mezrich, 2020). On the other side, the products are available in the online store of Nestle. On the other side, multiple websites like Amazon sales Nestle Rowntree’s Fruit Pastilles to reach a vast amount of customers all over the world. The supermarket buys the products from the wholesaler and the retailers as this is a helpful procedure of the downstream supply chain to resell merchandise and any goods. Becoming partners with the resellers are not that easy. Here the Nestle Company holds much power to challenge the other products in the market.
Physical distribution
Physical distribution refers to the process of Nestle that helps the company move products and stock from their origin point to the destinations. The involvement of the marketing agents are part of physical distribution and they are useful for reaching customers. Here the process of advertising works effectively. On the other side, physical distribution of Nestle Rowntree’s Fruit Pastilles promotes the product itself to the competitive atmosphere. In the process of physical distribution, the credit companies, insurance companies as well banks help in physical distribution. This helps to reduce the risk factor as well.
Distribution of goods to the final customers
This is the most essential part of the supply chain in the downstream, this procedure helps to satisfy the customers by keeping the Nestle Rowntree’s Fruit Pastilles available in the market. On the other side product tests are the same as the people like. Here the supplies play a major role to deliver the product on time and this works as the value delivery system (Chang, and Chen, 2020). The companies become partners to enhance business and on the other side, companioning the companies satisfy the need of customers. Though Nestle Rowntree’s Fruit Pastilles is not a partner with any other companies. Here the CandF Agents of the company from its Manufacturing Unit plays a valuable role to reach the product to the customers. The Distributor and Re-Distributor, and after that the supplies the Fruit Pastilles to Wholesaler and Retail in different regions are involved in the downstream supply chain.
Different organisations involved in the supply chain
Different organisations are involved in the supply chain of the Nestle. In order to sell Nestle Rowntree’s Fruit Pastilles, the retails shops play a major role in distributing the products to the customers. Here, the retails shops include Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Walmart (Asda) and Morrison as they are identified as the top most super market in the UK. On the other side sale Nestle Rowntree’s Fruit Pastilles and the other products of Nestle sold online. Here the biggest website Amazon is used for selling online goods (Tanaka et al. 2019). In terms of communicating with these different organisations involved in the supply chain, the company uses supply chain portals and communicates online via Internet.
Critically evaluate the product’s operations management
Operation management is a framework that involves 8 major steps, such as Location of facility, Plant layouts and material handling, product design, process design, production and planning control, Quality control, materials management, maintenance management. The company used this framework to meet the needs of the customers.
Here Rowntree’s Fruit Pastilles uses this framework. Here the Location of the facility is able to provide long term capability and this helps to improve long term communication in a particular location. On the other side this helps take organisational decisions. Hence, the customer base is sustainable as they get the favourite product in need.
Rowntree’s Fruit Pastilles manages the facilities physically. There can be configuration of the Nestle departments (Sarkar and Giri, 2020). The equipment and the work centers stays under process. It can be said that the physical arrangements of Rowntree’s Fruit Pastilles is able to meet the requirement of quantity and quality of candies just like the way people want with just and thin crust texture.
Material handling refers to the process that helps to manufacture Pastilles. Here the process involves carrying the sugar and fruit to the production house and then packing the products effectively to store in the room. Here material handling consumes 50 to 70% of the cost of producing Pastilles. The perfect amount of sugar in the candy added extra value in it and as a result materials are good in quality.
Product design is used for the development of products. Rowntree’s Fruit Pastilles uses this developing the looks, colours and flavours of the candies. Here the biggest changes are faced by Nestle for developing the products.
Process design is the macroscopic decision making of the entire process route where the new raw materials are converted to new flavoured Fruit Pastilles. Here the process layout facilities, have choice in technology, and decision encompass the selection process.
Production and planning control helps in giving advance plans for the production. Helps set the plan for manufacturing Rowntree’s Fruit Pastilles and deliver it to the customers.
Quality control is essential for satisfying the customers. Here the company is able to maintain the texture of Fruit Pastilles and the test of the product (Zhan, Li and Chen 2018). Hence this is a part of industrial management technique and here the collection of the activities helps to produce the optimum quality at the cheapest cost.
Materials management is the aspect of management function where the primary concern is the use of proper materials such as fruits. Fruit Pastilles are made with fresh fruits and it could be said that companies do not use any harmful chemicals that can be toxic for the human body (Chang, S.E. and Chen, 2020).
Lean management
Lean inventory is the concept where the manufacturer reduces the amount of waste regarding manufacturing. Here the concept of waste does not only refer to the layover material. Here the process involves saving time regarding transportation of the items (Zhang, Pawar and Bhardwaj, 2017). Here the lean inventory helps in the fast manufacturing process and also this removes factors necessary manufacturing. From the context of Rowntree’s Fruit Pastilles it can be said that Nestle holders 25% to 30% cost in the inventory. This is a beneficial method for supply chain management.
Effective and ineffective in the product’s operations processes and highlight the relevance, pros, and cons of lean management
Pros
There are advantages of operation management, it can be said that the entire process of manufacturing products in the organisation is done in an effective manner because of these factors (Um, 2017).
From the perspective of profitability management, it can be said that the production authority or the company is able to do a better job as they understand the work is better. On the other side, the employees in the organisation and the suppliers in the supply chain find out different ways to complete their job in an effective manner as they come up with unique ideas for enhancing productivity.
Another advantage is better resource management. Here it is found that operation management focuses on the effectiveness of the resources (Tjahjono et al., 2017). During the emergency situation, there can be multiple situations that make it harder to send raw materials on time. On the other side, as an advantage, this report management involves a physical machine and a source of labour that helps to bring the essential raw materials from other resources on time.
Competitive advantage is another advantage of operation management. It has been found that manufacturing in the organisation must be able to run for a long run for providing sustainability in the company. Here the competitive advantage in the market provokes the company to maintain the quality of product (Marodin et al. 2019). On the other hand the competitive advantage in the organisation helps to enhance the production of the company. In order to get the lead position in the market, Nestle keeps focusing on the production of product and on time delivery of the product in the market. Also as an advantage it focuses on the factor that the primary delivery is great.
Cons
Like the advantages there is disadvantage as well in the operation management. It has been found that multi-level dependency is a disadvantage in this case. The major disadvantage if this is regarding the success implementation of the operation management in the organisation. Here the procedure involves coordination among multiple companies (Blitzen-Heineke et al. 2019). Hence the pressure of success is vast. The effective plans are not able to carry out in the proper manner by all components. There are high chances of concept failure.
On the other side, the other disadvantage is regarding the human error. The other similar issues regarding manufacturing operations. Humans make mistakes and it is very common to attempt mistakes (Ivanov and Dolgui, 2020). It is known that operation management involves a large number of human resources. The process of engineering, operating machines, accounting, finance sector of the organization. On the other side, marketing operations are also done by the humans in the organisation. Hence they made mistakes sometimes. This human error is the disadvantage of the operation management.
Recommendations for improvement citing practical examples for the management of the Supply chain of the product
Rowntree’s Fruit Pastilles can be recommended with multiple strategies that can affect the supply chain of the company for betterment in future.
Setting up your own supply chain can be recommended to the company to reduce critical factors in the supply chain. It is known that importing and exporting goods from the outside of the region can be difficult and also it takes lots of time. On the other side, supplying the materials from one place to another covers lots of distance (Lamba, and Singh, 2017). Here it has been identified that the supply chain includes a lot of money to cover the distance. Hence setting up your own supply chain would be helpful for saving time and money as well.
Enhancing own farming of fruit can be another recommendation for the company. On the other hand, making candies with seasonal fruits can be helpful as well. Here Nestle Company is producing 14 raw material for the business (Min, Zacharia and Smith, 2019). It can be identified that manufacturing the raw material in own factories can be helpful for saving the time and money. Their raw materials include sugarcane, cocoa, coffee, milk, soya and many other products. Hence in order to make Fruit Pastilles there is a need for raw fruits. Hence, setting up a firm for the fruit can be useful to maintain the quality as well as it can reduce the issues of the supply chain (Dubey et al., 2021).
Reducing chemical uses in the product can be recommended to enhance the quality of the product. It has been found that suppliers are the people who stay close to the customer and know the demand of the customers. The domain of the customers comes to the suppliers at first. Hence, sometimes it can hammer the emotional side of the suppliers. As a result, the relationship with the suppliers gets affected. Here it can be said that maintaining the quality of the product can develop the business growth of the company. Though mostly focus on developing the process and it focus on the better health of humans (Nguyen et al., 2018). Here reducing the amount of preservative and the other chemical factors can enhance the quality of food and the suppliers will get good reviews for the customers and eventually the relation will be maintained.
All in all, the effect that the nick of time stock had on production network productivity is positive. The huge retail location’s store network effectiveness was improved because of this stock administration. This investigation could shape the premise of different associations fusing this style of stock administration. This is by all accounts more advantageous than the fair on the off chance that methodologies that are regularly utilized by associations.
The strategy has advantages like aiding in the achievement of neighborhood providers, lower protection rates, saving money on capacity costs, lower capital expenses, expanded effectiveness, and expanded income and benefits. It has weaknesses too (Chen, 2017). One being that, if there is a breakdown in the chain the crude material may not be sufficient and more should arrange. This can defer the interaction and lead to despondent shoppers.
This can likewise happen if the interest is excessively high and is more than the estimate that was determined by the organization. The advantages appear to exceed the hindrances and it is by all accounts helpful all in all for the association. It improves the productivity of the inventory network which is the premise of any association and this is an essential piece of why it should be executed in enormous retail locations.
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