Business report written for CEO on supply chain management

Table of Contents

Introduction3

Company Profile3

The issue4

Customer Profile4

The business5

Products5

Skateboards5

In line skates5

Surfboards6

Snowboards6

Analysis of the business7

Where does the supply chain start?8

Push or Pull?8

No action?8

Action9

Desirability Model10

What is happening in New Zealand?11

What is happening in the industry?11

What is happening in operations?11

Industry Dynamics12

Order winning and order qualifying matrix13

Competitive advantage13

Porters 5 forces14

PESTEL Analysis14

Political14

Economic15

Social15

Technological15

For the CEO, how is this going to impact on the supply chain?16

4Vs of Supply Chain Operations16

Volume16

Variety17

Variation17

Visibility18

Push and Pull18

Conclusion and Recommendations19

Revised Supply Chain Map20

References21

Business report written for CEO on supply chain management

Introduction

The apparel industry in New Zealand has been struggling since the past many years and Dragons has been no exception. An overall look at the industry shows that the workforce employed in this industry fell by 10,000 in the decade 1996 to 2006. This is because in the two decades 1980s to the 1990s, the tariffs on imported clothing, footwear, textiles and other related products were lowered. This resulted in them being cheaper to the similar products manufactured in New Zealand. Hence, the New Zealand manufacturers failed to compete with the foreign products. A slight surge in the industry was noticed during 2007 as sales went up. However, the recession of 2008 took its toll and apparel industry is struggling to cope with sales. As for Dragons, it posted no profits from 2008 to 2010 and after that has been posting losses. Many efforts were made to address this deficit, but the situation has only worsened. therefore, there is a stronger need to implement new policies and strategies that would address the shortcomings. These need to be made with the supply chain management.

Company Profile

Dragon Boards NZ Ltd (DRAGONZ) is a limited liability company with its head office in Auckland, New Zealand. The main business of the company is the manufacture of leisure apparel for the leisure industry of New Zealand. The company has a main office and show room plus demo station at Symond Street and a warehouse in Albany in Auckland. It has franchised outlets that sell its products in all major towns in New Zealand.

The issue

The main problem that the company is facing is the emergence of substitute products in the market at a relatively lower price. This has lowered the customer base and also made the market more attractive to the customers because the suppliers do not have much power over them. The availability of substitute products has increased the buying and bargaining power of customers, making them stronger against the company's demand (Cooper & Kaplan, 1988). This is a bad situation for the company because it is losing its clientele and customer base to competitors. Pricing has reached saturation. Any increase in price is not likely to be acceptable, except with custom designed leisure products. If DRAGONZ is to augment its margins, it must lessen costs, or change its operating and logistics processes.

Applying the appropriate supply chain design is essential to managing the changes that have been brought in the business landscape by globalization. Dragons need to address many important questions that are ...