Task 2: Supply Chain International Component

Task 2: Supply Chain International Component

Analysis of Simulation Result

The company Zeus Tech Pvt. Ltd., started off by employing limited number of sales force, with initial level of inventory. The name was chosen as the company aspires to be the best microcomputer manufacturer in the world. The brand Pegasus represents the traveler category; Olympus is for the Workhorse category while Hercules was developed as a high performance “Mercedes” computing machine.

The company initially focused on the two major segments of the industry and deliberately didn't committed the resources to the 'Mercedes' category. The aim was to establish the perception of the brand in the market and then target the premium segment based on this prestige. New York, North America and Paris-Europe represented the largest markets so the company opened sales offices in these cities. Initially the manufacturing capacity booked was limited to the 1625 units as the company didn't expected the sales to be significant as the company was new. The advertisements, which were developed in the first quarter, failed to attract the traveler segment and resulted in the other brands taking the lead in sales and popularity. The company didn't hire the sales person in first quarter but built the factors for the micro computers. Zeus faced losses in its year of operations. The excess cash, remaining at the end of the first quarter was invested at 1.5% per quarter.

In the second quarter, Zeus Tech hired sales officers and adjusted the advertisement and brand composition after reviewing the high ranking competitor brand. Production forecasting was carried out in order to plan manufacturing operations (Heizer & Render, 2010). The company earned some revenues from sales in 2nd quarter. The company incurred losses as the sales force hired and the marketing efforts, created more demand then the company had planned the production. It created an ill will and company faced an opportunity loss. The company opened up another sales office in Tokyo, Japan as it the manufacturing facility was located in the same country. It received the first mover advantage but was unable to capitalize on it due to its limited production capacity. The company stuck to the two brands and improved in their visibility and adjusted them to receive popularity. The investment provided the return, but as the company went short of working capital, it had to take an emergency loan in order to fulfill its operational needs. The sales force compensation packages were revised and production capacity was enhanced.

Third quarter showed signs of profit and the company restructured Olympus brand and introduced a premium brand Hercules to compete in the Mercedes segment. The company received good sales but still the loss of sales due to stock unavailability was very high. The demand was not forecasted properly and the company could have gained from this opportunity (Heizer & Render, 2010). The company invested in the more plant capacity to minimize the sale loses. It was noticed that the compensation packages of sales person were higher than ...