Supply Chain Design Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Supply Chain Design - Essay Example Customer service in the industry within which Meditech is operating is a crucial consideration, owing to the urgency of medical operations. Failure to deliver equipment in a timely manner, therefore, places the Company at a risk of incurring losses and losing its competitive advantage. For Meditech to retain its current share of the market, drastic supply chain management measures must be executed (Simchi-Levi et al., p. 18). Introduction Acute competition in the contemporary international markets, continuous introduction of commodities with short life spans, as well as, increased customer expectations are some of the factors that have prompted most businesses to focus extensively on management of supply chains. The mentioned aspects, coupled with constant progress in procurement and communications technologies, also motivate the uninterrupted development of supply chains and techniques for their effective management. In an ordinary chain of supply, manufacturers procure raw material s, produce commodities and ship them to warehouses for transitional storage, later shipping the products to customers or retailers. This is not any different from the procedure followed by Meditech. However, logistical problems are bound to occur in a supply chain, warranting better management of the interactions between suppliers, manufacturing departments, storage facilities, and retail outlets. Problems may also arise in management of raw materials, work-in-process (WIP) inventory, as well as, the inventory of finished products (Simchi-Levi, Kaminsky, and Simchi-Levi, 2003 p.1). This paper seeks to establish these problems in Meditech’s context and propose possible solutions. Problems in Introduction of new products The chain of development is a series of processes and activities linked to introduction of new products. This chain encompasses the design stage, the related abilities and information that must be developed within a company, sourcing decisions, as well as, plan s for production. Meditech decided to adopt a unique development chain over the past few years. This strategy involves constant introduction of innovative products into the surgical instruments market, by primarily updating the existing ones. Even though the new products are generally accepted in the market, each introduction appeared to bring about a wide array of supply troubles (Simchi-Levi et al., p. 22). For instance, customers began to get tired of the low quality service accompanying each new product introduction. The Company also constantly suffered acute shortages with each product launch. Demand forecasting became increasingly difficult for Meditech, and to make matters worse, establishing the extent of damage was hard. Additionally, irrespective of the high inventory levels, the actual level of service declined sharply, largely undermining the Company’s objectives. Overall, the principal problems faced by Meditech include lack of communication between the marketing department and the procurement department, as well as, constant introduction of innovative products, which had a significant impact on the production line. Further, the supply chain management process jammed up, delaying the release of customers’ orders. Problem Drivers One of the potential causes of Meditech’s poor inventory management problem is â€Å"panic ordering† by affiliates and dealers. This is a phenomenon which occurs when a customer is not sure about timely delivery of products. As a result, the

Peace Treaties and Blame for the War__WWI Term Paper

Peace Treaties and Blame for the War__WWI - Term Paper Example try with biggest responsibility over the war was attributable to the belief by other allies that Germany was responsible for the war.3 Countries that participated in the war were exhausted and their economies destroyed. Almost every family was a casualty of the war. In particular, French land was completely in a mess and Germany was held responsible for the damage. France wanted revenge over Germany and wanted her to be punished and crippled for causing her destruction. This was meant to teach Germany a lesson to deter her from instigating another war. With tremendous growth in the Europe in the 20th century, there were tension that this kind of growth could lead to emergence of war to maintain the levels of trade and technologies. The increase of social unrest and political struggle characterized the tension. Before the 1870s, Germany was made up of several minute kingdoms instead of one united nation. In the 1860s the kingdom of Prussia instigated a series of conflicts aimed at uniting German kingdoms. In 1870s, the North German Confederation entered into conflict with France and Bismarck. This led to the Franco-Prussian war that forced German rout the French. In early 1871, the country was united and the treaty of Frankfurt ended the war. Although Germany wanted to unit its kingdoms and become one nation, the events that followed saw the emergence of war that led to destruction of the economies of the allies. Boundaries were a common goal of Germany in the effort to unit its kingdoms. However, the method used led to involvement of other territories such as France, something that led to war and loss of life of territories that were not concerned with the interest of Germany. Therefore, the punishment of Germany could be argued to be justified since she had already caused political differences between countries bordering it. Although the war had a positive impact in that Germany was later united, the means of acquiring the one state was not justified. Besides,