LOGISTICS MANAGEMENT

Logistics management

Acknowledgements

Writing this thesis has been very demanding, challenging and time-consuming, but also remarkable, informative and above all fun. Nevertheless, it feels great to have finally completed my bachelor's or master's thesis and I am now looking forward to a nice relaxing period for recovering. It has been both advantages and drawbacks with the limited amount of earlier research conducted within this area, even though I faced serious troubles but sometimes the advantages of this research luckily were in my favor and have made this research both challenging and interesting.

I would like to thank my supervisor -------, professor at -------University, who has been great in guiding me through this thesis, helping me through the difficulties I faced during the entire process and motivated me to work hard. Furthermore, I would like to thank all my friends, for their contributions by sharing their perceptions and opinions with me. Above all I would like to thank my family and teachers that provided me with valuable and constructive criticism.

Abstract

The redesign of a product supply chain, in terms of production, cost and delivery capabilities can be effectively accomplished by mapping, analyzing and simulating the changes in the supply chain prior to implementation. The case being discussed pertains to the apparel industry in the UK. The beginning of 2005 marked the end of a 30-year old quota on the apparel market in the UK. This has led many western apparel manufacturers to outsource their production to low-labor cost countries. This in-turn has led to increased customer lead-times. This paper aims to discuss how the implementation of proper IT systems and supply chain measures can reduce lead-times and also reduce total cost. An integrated approach is utilized to model the impact of apparel outsourcing added to a UK apparel producer supply chain by studying the process map, data analysis, and simulation of the supply chain using Visio, Excel and @Risk simulation software. Using Monte Carlo simulation, the hypotheses on responsiveness and relative costs were tested with and without the outsourcing feature in the UK apparel producer supply chain. The cost savings through outsourcing in the low-cost labor countries in Asia for the UK apparel producer supply chain can be huge and the lead-time is quite substantial. Thus, outsourcing is not a viable solution for meeting short-term market demands. However, for large seasonal orders, outsourcing could be an enormous cost-saver. The lead-time of the UK apparel producer supply chain could be improved if certain controllable factors such as order processing could be made more efficient. The contribution of the research results from the apparel industry application, where simulation studies of this kind have recently not been executed for a UK apparel manufacturer. It also showcases an innovative approach in analyzing outsourcing strategies for a UK apparel producer supply chain. The study makes a business case that process improvement can be effectively accomplished with an integrated approach of using widely available inexpensive and user-friendly computer-based tools.

Table of Content

ABSTRACT3

CHAPTER ONE5

INTRODUCTION5

Aims and Objectives5

Current market6

CHAPTER TWO9

LITERATURE REVIEW9

Filling up the ...