Category: Supply Chain Management

Please write this as if it is a discussion forum.
Based on material from chapters 6 (Reverse Logistics and Closed Loop Supply Chain Processes). Answer CO 7 in a concise, yet inclusive manner.
CO7: Examine government and commercial applications of reverse logistics for service and manufacturing such as remanufacturing/overhaul operations.
Lengthy posts and answers do not correlate to better grades.
Please refer to this week’s reading material and objectives.
Part II: Research an article from the Supply Chain Brain (https://www.supplychainbrain.com/) and explain how your article relates to reverse logistics. Write a summary/review of the article and include the link. You can use this source for the case study or your final paper.

What are the key points of the article?
What are the most impressive or important things you have learned from the article?
Present your personal opinion on the article. You can enrich it by adding other relevant articles or sources to reference in your opinion.
News Article:
https://www.proquest.com/docview/2643358695/fulltext/7F66E54DA63F404FPQ/12?accountid=14575&parentSessionId=oaSoYtUFK9w2J2Ji7SNiLcAv9uUgXlTZA5bGmcjIVmE%3D&sourcetype=Newspapers

Please provide a response to the follow. (Supply Chain Management has evolved within the United States in order to meet increasing demands due to population growth in the 1950’s and 1960’s through mass production. From then the need for Materials Resource Planning (known as MRP) developed in the 1960’s and 1970’s a more defined approach to coordinating materials through the supply chain process. With cost containment being a focal point due to economic standings in the United States, systems such as Just-In-Time and Supply Chain Management were formulated in the 1980’s and 1990’s. This has progressed into ethical considerations such as ethical sourcing and sustainability in the 1990’s and since then developments that have improved both functional capacity and efficacies into today’s times. Supply Chain Management is vital to the success of businesses and business relationships since it offers the sharing of information, goods, and logistics across the supply chain process. This includes the planning, procurement, and production of raw materials into finished goods which are warehoused and then sold to stores and customers. By keeping track of points in the supply chain businesses can be agreeable with one another and meet demands properly to create sales and control costs.
With the pandemic disrupting every business one way or another, adaptive and agile strategies were needed to maintain profits. With more people staying home than ever, brick-and-mortar companies adopted or strengthened their drop-ship strategies which essentially removes the retail store location from the supply chain process when customers make purchases with said company and delivers directly to the customer. As more and more people use Amazon for online shopping, companies like Macy’s and Wal-Mart must vie for consumers by expanding within the digital space. Another approach taken on from the pandemic’s effects in terms of supply chain management was longer lead times for goods. With ports severely overloaded and additional time-consuming protocols as protection against COVID-19, container delays were frequent and hard to manage. Longer lead times were essential as government restrictions such as factory shutdowns created a ripple effect through the supply chain channel and because of this, suppliers and manufacturers needed to lower customer expectations unfortunately of restock dates and availability. While conditions have improved gradually, the approaches have been more insightful as a result to prevent any unforeseen circumstantial delays in the process.)

Allison Luck
Week 1 Discussion
COLLAPSE
Based on this week’s reading, supply chain management originated in the 1960s or 1970s, but really started to evolve within the United States about 30 years ago. According to Wisner et al (2019), “Thirty years ago, many large firms were vertically integrated…Thus, a collaborative approach to buying, making, and distributing goods and services has become the best way to for firms to stay successful- and it is central to the practice of supply chain management” (p. 5). Supply chain management is essential for businesses in that it makes the process of buying and shipping a lot smoother and easier. This helps suppliers gain the respect of customers involved with a supply chain. According to Wisner et al (2019), “Product quality [is] considered the most important when evaluating strategic suppliers, followed by on-time delivery, service/support, and finally, price” (p. 16). When suppliers ensure their business meets all these standards, they ensure they will have many returning customers. They are also showcasing these benefits to customers and making the buying and shipping of products a lot simpler. Because of smooth supply chain management practices, the company and the customer both have a satisfying experience.
One of the ways in which supply chain management changed during the pandemic is the method of shipping products and their location. One case is related to the healthcare industry. According to Alicke et al (2021), “Healthcare players stand out as resilience leaders. They applied the broadest range of measures, with 60 percent of healthcare respondents saying they had regionalized their supply chains and 33 percent having moved production closer to end markets. By contrast, only 22 percent of automotive, aerospace, and defense players had regionalized production, even though more than three-quarters of them prioritized this approach in their answers to the 2020 survey” (para. 5). By moving production closer to their home base, they were able to continue shipping their products out and making a profit while respecting pandemic guidelines. Additionally, supply chain management also changed due to the overall challenges of the pandemic. According to Helper and Soltas (2021), “Entire industries that shrank dramatically during the pandemic, such as the hotel and restaurant sectors, are now trying to reopen. Some businesses report that they have been unable to hire quickly enough to keep pace with their rising need for workers, leading to an all-time record 8.3 million job openings in April. Others do not have enough of their products in inventory to avoid running out of stock. The situation has been especially difficult for businesses with complex supply chains, as their production is vulnerable to disruption due to shortages of inputs from other businesses” (para. 2). With the challenge of more customers than inventory or workers, businesses have had to get creative with advertising open positions and attracting more workers to get the job done. They have also had to rely on outside vendors more in order to obtain enough of their product on time. Although supply chains come with many challenges, it is fascinating to see how smoothly things come together to create a great outcome.

References
Alicke, K., Barriball, E., & Trautwein, V. (2021, November 23). How covid-19 is reshaping supply chains. McKinsey & Company. https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/operations/our-insights/how-covid-19-is-reshaping-supply-chains
Helper, S., & Soltas, E. (2021, June 17). Why the pandemic has disrupted supply chains. The White House. https://www.whitehouse.gov/cea/written-materials/2021/06/17/why-the-pandemic-has-disrupted-supply-chains/
Wisner, J. D., Leong, G. K., & Tan, K.-C. (2019). Principles of Supply Chain Management: A Balanced Approach (5th ed.). Nelson Education Ltd.

How and when did Supply Chain Management evolve within the United States? What is the importance of Supply Chain Management and what are some of the benefits for business environments? With the recent events of the pandemic and the disruption to supply chains, give two examples of how Supply Chain Management trends or approaches may have changed?

Overview
As a supply chain professional, you will be asked to manage a company’s inventory based on a projected forecast. The Master Production Schedule (MPS) is a tool that allows you to schedule material for your company in concert with the production of goods to be sold. Your job for this assignment is to take an MPS and plan out the amount of material needed for each week of production.
Directions
Complete this activity using the MPS Planning Grid Worksheet linked in the What to Submit section below. The Excel sheet has been filled in for the first three weeks to give you an example. For this assignment, you will need to fill in the rest of the spreadsheet. Show your work by inserting MS Excel formulas to calculate the correct values for all cells containing “x”.
The Excel sheet shows the following notes:
Sales for the first three weeks in the Excel sheet add up to 64 units.
The sales for SME are projected to be 25 units every week.
The first three weeks in the Excel sheet are using the sold units because they are in the past and have already been realized. Campaign Weekly Periods Four through Eight are projected.
Specifically, you must address the following rubric criteria:
Complete all MPS Planned Order Receipt and Planned Order Release fields.
Accurately calculate the Projected Available Balance values for Campaign Weekly Periods Four through Eight using MS Excel formulas.
Accurately calculate the Net Requirements values for Campaign Weekly Periods Four through Eight using MS Excel formulas.
What to Submit
Using the MPS Planning Grid Worksheet, complete all cells in the Campaign Weekly Periods table. Save your completed Excel spreadsheet by adding your first and last name in the file name (QSO 330 MPS Planning Grid – Your Name). Submit the completed spreadsheet for grading.

Discuss competition within intermodal transportation. Points of discussion may include strategies, the impact of regulation/deregulation, competition between the various modes of transport, safety, rates, supply and demand, port ownership, equipment, etc.

Examine government and commercial applications of reverse logistics for service and manufacturing such as remanufacturing/overhaul operations.
Research an article from the Supply Chain Brain (https://www.supplychainbrain.com/) and explain how your article relates to reverse logistics. Write a summary/review of the article and include the link.

Transportation plays a vital role in the business logistics/supply chain management process. Compare and contrast how regulation versus deregulation has impacted transportation. Ask yourself what were the major influences on both regulating and deregulated the transportation industry. What effects has globalization had on regulations? How have customers benefited from regulation or deregulation?
The paper should be a minimum of 1000 words and 7-10 references. APA format should also be used. You will be graded on content, grammar, and format. Your work should be supported by peer-reviewed articles from the University library, Government websites, and/or GAO reports.

Go through the 3 documents provided. The pckback reading is what we will be focusing on, Improving the Processes STEINWEY is a powerpoint presentation with explenations. From the Pckback reading consider the data in Exhibit 7 and write a 500 word paper answering the following questions from Exhibit 7:
1) Is the new process an improvement? Why?
2) Is the machine capable of producing adequately high-quality parts for Steinway? Why?
Use Assignment 4-Kristina as an example on what to do but do not plagiarize the work. Use the same equations and idea but the numbers are different.
Support you argument with examples and numbers.