user user I’d - 30360449Password - monkey123$

SUPPLY CHAIN ASSIGNMENT
Question 51 - Discuss how a minor change in demand at the retail level can significantly impact supply chain variation at distributors, manufacturers, and suppliers.
Answer 51 - Retail level is the lowest level in complete supply chain before the consumer & forecasting any item at retail level is next to impossible. This demand fluctuation can happen in positive terms or negative terms & to counter any such situation, the whole supply chains works on below concept -
· Positive Fluctuation due to increase in demand - Concept of Safety Stock comes in
· Negative Fluctuation due to decrease in demand - Concept of JIT comes in
Above concepts can overcome the impact of demand fluctuation at retail level up to certain level only, however, if the fluctuation is too high, e.g. gets exceed the safety stock level, it will have a bullwhip effect down the entire supply chain function. The whole burden is shared by Distributors, Manufacturers & Suppliers
Question 52 - Seven economic drivers that influence transportation cost were presented.  Select a specific product and discuss how each factor will impact determination of a freight rate.
Answer 52 - There are multiple factors which influence the transportation cost such as Fuels, Labour Cost, Government Policies etc. Other than this, there are other 07 economic factors which has an indirect impact on transportation cost are –
· Distance
· Weight
· Density
· Stowability
· Handling
· Liability
· Market
Let us understand each economic factor by taking an example of a Two-Wheeler in which a finished product is delivered to authorized dealers & subsequently to end users
· Distance – As the finished vehicle will get transported to dealers from manufacturing location, there are various cost associated with it. The variable cost component associated with it is Fuel Cost, Transit maintenance cost, Transit Insurance cost which is directly proportional to the distance where the dealer is located
· Weight – There are multiple models in two wheelers segment & various type of variants in each model. When the vehicle is loaded, there is a mix of higher weight vehicles & lower weight vehicles to maintain the average weight of full load truck intact. So, though there is not a direct impact of weight on transportation cost but transportation cost component on each vehicle may vary based on the weight of the vehicle
· Density – Trucks used for transport of finished vehicles are designed for a specific purpose. In such case, density parameters are taken into consideration at the time of designing, hence there is a least possibility that the transportation cost vary based on density in the example
· Stowability – As density is taken into consideration at the time of truck designing, similarly, stowability is also taken into consideration at the time of designing truck. We can conclude that there is a least possibility that the transportation cost vary based on stowability in the example
· Handling – Handling plays an important role while loading, unloading & transit of two wheelers from one place to another. Though there are various precautions taken into considerations due the above activity, still highly skilled labour are deployed for this task. Therefore, based on the weight & design of two wheeler handling charges will not vary
· Liability – Usually, the truck owner does not take the responsibility of transit insurance. It either remains in the scope of manufacturer or with the dealer where the vehicle is to be delivered. Hence, it remains out of scope
· Market – There are limited players in market who provides such kind of transport services to manufactures. Is such case, there is a standard mechanism defined to fix the rates which are more or less on the similar line as per market
Question 53 - Select a component or finished good that you are familiar with that is sourced from a low-cost country. Develop a total cost value proposition to evaluate the potential of continued sourcing from a low-cost country. For each of the cost components (material, manufacturing, transportation, packaging, inventory, handling, damage, risk, and security) identify the major...