- Supply chain map
The supply chain mapping is necessary to consider for the “swift tires” company. As the company mainly manufacture the different components of the bicycle tire, including the foam used in the tubeless tire, it is necessary to construct the supply chain without having a breakdown. The breakdown within the disruptive supply chain may cause a failure in the resourcing and manufacturing process.
Here, the “supply chain mapping” will help to determine the factors upon which the suppliers are dependent. Along with that, it will also require to evaluate the possible location for proceeding further expansion of the manufacturing unit of tires (Lyngso, 2017). It is also possible that disrupt or breakdown in any stage of the supply chain may cause the overall mapping process, which will determine the efficiency of the managing process of manufacturing. - Critical path analysis
The “critical path analysis” (CPA), for the swift and sure company, will help to understand the most crucial task that needs to be done for the growth of the company. From the study, it has been assumed that the business model ultimately provides value by manufacturing tires with the foaming system. It also observed that the technology, machine, and foam used in this project are made at a medium scale. Not only that the statistics say that more than 80% of manufactured units are exported to foreign countries. This implies that the future expansion of the business and disrupt the free supply chain process is required to be in a simple form. The CPA is, therefore, the most crucial task that the “Swift tires” company needs to adopt to expand the market (De et al. 2017). The task for the CPA are given below:
● Increasing the manufacturing unit for producing the tire foam
● Importing or manufacturing the foam at a higher rate
● Increase in installation of the machinery required for the manufacturing
● Pricing strategy for the project.
● Developing a well-organized marketing strategy to enhance the global presence of “Swift tires”
● By negotiating the freight cost/custom clearance and Inland Haulage Charges.
● Finding more suppliers for tires raw material to help get competitive prices as well as short lead time to help meet uncertain demands.
For the advancement of the company manufacturing of tires, this company Swift Tyres needs to incorporate manufacturing and production strategies that are better than the imports of tires from other manufacturers. This increases the company sales as well because of the company’s unique manufactured products. This implementation of palmed strategies by this company to decrease the bargaining power of suppliers and increasing their production as well as machinery capacity is done by Matt. Along with that, the company may also need to look out on setting the time and budget, as the measure of achieved goal with respect to the time will help to identify the efficiency of the business plan and CPA (Flammer, 2018). The time duration is also needed within the CPA, and the company assigns a specific time duration for all the given tasks.
2.1. Failure mode and effect analysis
The failure of the tire manufacturing company mainly deals with the negative aspect that may impact the growth of the company. The first aspect of the failure mode is to identify the issue included in the plan that may go against the company’s growth. After observing the case study, it can be observed that the company “Swift tires” has already planned to expand its service to foreign countries. Though the uniqueness and usefulness of tubeless tire have largely impacted the tire industry. Due to high value, the company has seen a growth in its market, but a recent study states that the company has failed to maintain the product quality to a foreign country. Therefore, the product quality of the tire may do poor performance in the overseas market.
The second major problem occurring due to the import and export charge of the material is the high price of the product. Along with that, the price of the tire is also not consistent. Due to inconsistent in the import charges and value of the money in a foreign country, the pricing strategy for the company is not simplified yet.
The third factor included in the failure mode is the work environment. From the official source of the company, it has been observed that the behavior towards the workers and employees are not satisfactory (Isaksen, Tödtling & Trippl, 2018). This may harm the organizational structure in the future due to a lack of employee satisfaction.
Supply chain map
Fig 1: "Supply chain mapping”
(Source: Creately.com)2.2. Critical path map
Fig 2: Project duration
(Source: Project Libre) I want it in a chart form
Name Duration Start Finish Predecessors
Critical path analysis 62 days? 11/16/19 8:00 AM 2/11/20 5:00 PM
Problem identification 3 days? 11/16/19 8:00 AM 11/20/19 5:00 PM
Determination of possible solution 5 days? 11/21/19 8:00 AM 11/27/19 5:00 PM 2
Installation of manufacturing unit 15 days? 11/28/19 8:00 AM 12/18/19 5:00 PM 3
Improving the DPT technology 15 days? 12/19/19 8:00 AM 1/8/20 5:00 PM 4
Expansion of distribution network 6 days? 1/9/20 8:00 AM 1/16/20 5:00 PM 5
Pricing strategy 8 days? 1/17/20 8:00 AM 1/17/20 5:00 PM 6
Execution of marketing at global level 8 days? 1/29/20 8:00 AM 2/7/20 5:00 PM 7
Analysis of the result 2 days? 2/10/20 8:00 AM 2/11/20 5:00 PM 8
Fig 2: Project duration
(Self-created)
2.3. Risk mitigation table
Failure No. Action Target completion date Responsibility taker Residual
L(1-5) Residual
S(1-5) Residual
D(1-5) Residual
CN
1 installation of the machinery for the manufacturing process 2.1.2020 GM 1 4 5 20
2 Improving the DPT technology to enhance the quality of the tire 10.2.2020 Designing team 2 4 3 24
3 Increasing the distribution network 11.3.2020 Chief officer 1 3 6 18
4 Developing a business model including the proper pricing strategy
Wait for budget Marketing department 1 5 5 25
Table 1: Risk mitigation table
(Source: Self- created)
- Risk mitigation and contingency planning
In this case study, the risk mitigation gives a clear idea regarding the risk exposure or the future risk that may impact the distribution and importation of the raw materials for the tire. The mentioned table of the risk mitigation describes the possible risk exposure that could be prevented within the approximate time duration. From dealing with the installation of the manufacturing unit to develop a pricing strategy, the risk mitigation also expresses the exposure level in the form of the Residual data of CN. [Referred to Appendix 1]
Again the contingency planning reflects the problem that may occur in the execution process (Patrucco, Luzzini, & Ronchi, 2016). Since the company is suffering due to the importation of the raw materials as the charge and quality of the imported material is inconsistent, it is essential to prevent the low pricing strategy.
3.1. Recommended action plan for each risk
The first recommendation of the pricing strategy is that the “Swift tires” company may look to develop a manufacturing unit of the foam instead of importing the materials. This will also solve the issue regarding inconsistent in quality and pricing of the products. [Referred to Appendix 2]
The second recommendation for the company is to focus on expanding the distribution network, as the majority of the business based on foreign countries (Piirainen, Tanner, & Alkærsig, 2017). Along with that, the company also needs to focus on improving the internal structure of the organization. It has been studied that, due to the lack of proper managing systems in the organization, many employees have resigned from the organization. Therefore improving the organizational structure will help to solve the issue regarding employee job satisfaction. Another thing that the company may look to improve is the improvisation in technology. It has been noted that the company has previously suffered due to the low quality of the product. The product quality such as tire quality includes various factors such as inconsistent in the importation; low quality imported foam and more. Therefore, by improving the DPT technology and developing the distribution network, “Swift tires”. The company may improve the overall efficiency and performance.
Fig 4: Recommendation for swift tyres company
(Source: Self- created)
3.2. Residual risk assessment table
Failure No Problem L likely hood of occurrence(1-5) Effect of failure S Severity of effect s(1-5) Cause of failure D Likelihood of Detection(1-5) CN (Criticality No.)s= LSD
1 The quality issue in the tire 4 Negative impact on the Brand reputation 5 Quality of the imported foam and other materials 3 65
2 Import of the raw materials 2 High pricing and delay in manufacturing 3 Due to lack of proper supply chain process 4 53
3 Pricing strategy 3 Unclear business plan 5 Loss and unclear revenue model of the business 5 41
4 Inconsistent in price 1 Lack of Customer loyalty 5 Due to lack of proper importation of materials 5 32
Table 2: Risk assessment table
(Source: Self- created)
PROPOSAL FOR MANAGEMENT OF CUSTOMER MARKET
- Analysis of manufacturing process
The engineering steps that are followed by a company for the manufacturing of a product is referred to as the manufacturing process (Tang et al. 2017). Several steps and qualitative raw materials are used by the manufacturers to produce the final product with proper designing and specification of material. Rubber is mainly an essential raw material that is used by tire manufacturers to produce tires. Both synthetic, as well as natural rubbers, can be selected and used by the tire manufacturers for the production of tires (Mangan and Lalwani, 2016). Natural rubbers are found in the bark of a tree named Hevea Brasiliensis. Polymers in Crude oil are the origin of synthetic rubber.
This includes a step of collecting raw material that is rubber according to the demand. The liquid form of the rubber that is collected is mixed with certain acids that solidifies the liquid latex of the rubber. Excess water is squeezed out from the resulted rubber by pressing. This results in the formation of rubber sheets. Drying of the rubber sheets is done in the smokehouses that are big enough for big productions in the manufacturing processes of Swift Tyres (Fernie and Sparks, 2018). After the death, the material achieved is pressed into huge bales. The end product now gained is a rubber tire. This is then transported to the tire factories that include “Swift Tyres” as well.
The production of tires is basically by the design that is focused on during the manufacturing process. Different designs are required for the designing of tires for different vehicles.
In the case of Swift Tyres, this tire design that is focused on the bicycle. This tire company manufactured tires by the use of foam. The foam after injecting into the tires results in the manufacturing of tire that has a foam core. The foam was used by Matt instead of water pressure for squeezing the tread pattern of tires.
1.1. Possible sources for agility and complexity reduction
There are several possible resources that act for the reduction of agility as well as complexity. Complexity in the business models owned by the Swift Tyres can be made simple by the restructuring of their business models. This can result in the increasing of customer demands as well as sustainable production of the company’s products (Wang et al. 2016). This includes controlling and managing suppliers, operators, technology as well as organizational procedures by the management of Swift Tyres by strategic decisions. The decision-making process involves monitoring the workplace practices of workers in the company to assess their involvement in the company productions. Therefore, Matt needs to change some of the operations based on the short-term goals for the reduction and avoiding of agility as well as complexity (Isaksen, Tödtling & Trippl, 2018). The practices that Matt needs to include consists of:
Focusing on the customers: It is important for the production company to be more focused on the needs and wants of the customers along with their advantage. The preferences of customers from the research on the market can result in a detailed report of the changes that are needed in the procedures. [Referred to Appendix 3] (De et al. 2017)
Planning for long term goals and objectives with short term goals: Short term decisions and goals are always helpful in the completion of longterm goals and objectives in an organization (Stadtler, 2015). The accomplishment of short-term goals for achieving aims, missions, and visions of this tire company is a helpful resource to the agility and complexity in Swift Tyres.
The adaptability of the supply chain: Maintenance of supply chain and its management for sustainable production is necessary for the implication to be reduced. The right balance of the production and the demand from customers are to be managed properly for the reduction in complexity and agility in Swift Tyres. (Stadtler, 2015)
1.2. Bottlenecks in the manufacturing process
In the current market size and competition, production companies need to improve their productivity for improved manufacturing. This includes the improvement of quality of productions along with improved raw materials from suppliers. To gain a competitive advantage in the competitive industry, improvement in the quality of products along with the meeting of demand from customers with appropriate quantity is necessary. The chain processes in the Swift Tyres that are responsible for reducing and limiting the capacity of the whole supply chain in the production of Swift Tyres. This problem is to be mitigated as it can lower employee involvement in the company productions (Fan & Stevenson, 2018). The bottleneck that is likely to occur in this tire production company may involve:
Production rate: The production rate that is most likely to occur in a production company is fluctuating production rate. In some cases, it can be possible that the production of a company is low, but the demand of customers is high. This results in the main problem. In some cases, there can be much production by a company, but the customer demand is low. This can lead to a huge wastage of production as well as loss. Material requirements and a low-quality supply chain can act as the increasing of the bottleneck in the manufacturing process as well. (Fan & Stevenson, 2018)
- Proposals for management of customer market demand uncertainty analysis
This is a phase that is faced by many companies in their production and manufacturing processes. This is a phase when the business organizations are not certain about the demand for their product in the future years. This is due to the decreasing and increasing the demand for the same product over a certain period (Nie et al. 2017). This results in the fluctuation of demand and demand uncertainty. For the context of the supply chain of the same product, this tire company is uncertain about the demand for its products after some time. The uncertainty of their sales in the future years results in these steps by Swift Tyres. However, this can be managed as well. The management of customer markets can be resulted in the management of production according to customer demands and preferences. This can change and influence the positive reactions of customers by strategic supply chain management. This includes approaches and strategies to increase flexibility in the demand of the supply chain (Nie et al. 2017). The approaches include:
Safety stock: This is the most effective and efficient strategy that can be incorporated by a business company in terms of its productions. This results in the reduction of problems during the huge demand of customers regarding their products. (Fan & Stevenson, 2018)
Backup for suppliers: This is also an important step that can be used by production companies by arranging and managing backup for suppliers. This also is working with multiple suppliers to increase their input and output as well (Vaidya and Campbell, 2016).
Safety of workers: The safety of workers is also an important step that is to be maintained by every business entity for the safety of their employees. In the manufacturing of tires, several processes are included that can result in the accident of employees. In Swift Tyres, Maintenance of these points is necessary for the better involvement of employees in the company production.
Design processes: The design that is required for the preferable vehicles are to be included in the production of tires. This results in the production of the most demanded tire and can reduce the demand uncertainty as well. (Nie et al. 2017)
Preference of customers to be valued: Preferences of customers according to the vehicle is necessary. Besides, the customers must be able to pay for the exclusive price range that will be included in the rate of the buying of tires for customers. This is a strategic step to decrease the demand uncertainty. (pdfs.semanticscholar.org, 2015)
2.2. Sources of uncertainty in terms of demand and supply
The case study of the tire company illustrates the issue regarding the supply chain and distribution of the product. It has been seen that the company mainly focuses on importing and exporting raw materials and products. The major issue of importing products is the inconsistency in the quality of the products such as foam. The recent case study describes that the company has suffered due to a quality issue (Walsh & Dodds, 2017). Not only that the foam quality, but the durability of the tire is also a major concern that needs to be fixed as soon as possible. Along with that, the durability of the tire needs to be consistent in all the countries. From the study, the sources are defined as poor distribution and the lack of a proper supply chain. The supply chain within the organization is found poor as more than 80% of the products are imported, which increases the overall pricing. The company could fix the issue by installing the manufacturing unit in the same country. This will also help to enhance the product durability and quality. Another uncertainty of the company is found as the lack of a “supply chain management” system. It has been observed that the supply chain system, including the resourcing sources and manufacturing unit, lacks consistency and productivity. As a result, the company fail to maintain the overall standard of the product
- Strategy for managing demand and uncertainty formulation
Strategic planning processes are required for the management of the demand uncertainty that can be faced by the manufacturing companies in their business productions. Fore such uncertainties, several approaches that include traditional and professional approaches are important. Predictions of the market of the future by detailed market research helps make strategic plans for the elimination and management of demand uncertainty. Well, certain strategic steps are included by Matt for the reduction of uncertainty of demands in Swift Tyres
The strategic techniques include:
Detailed market research: This is a step that is required by manufacturing companies to get an outline as well as an overview of the intended product among the customers in the current market. This research is based on national as well as international market sizes.
Competitor analysis for strategic cost and capacity: An analysis of the competitors, their productions, their production companies, as well as their unique specifications are necessary to make strategic plans (Bakar et al. 2016). This can result in the strategic advancement and gaining of competitive advantage among the industry rivals.
Value chain analysis: The internal activities of this business firm are to be analyzed well by Matt to reflect a good influence on the production of this company. This recognizes the essential activities that are worked on by the company and employees to gain an advantage in cost and differentiation. (Walsh & Dodds, 2017)
The framework of five forces: Competition in the business owned by Matt that can affect the improvement of Swift Tyres are important. This also acts as a planned strategy to eliminate the demand uncertainties that can be faced by this company (Christopher, 2016).
3.1. Describe changes in processes both inside the company and along the supply chain
For gaining competitive advantage, the production of tire manufacturing companies is to be maintained and advanced as well. This is an important step that is required for the improvement of company productions. The production of tires by the Swift Tyres, therefore, involved manufacturing by themselves only using Foam core instead of water pressure. Using qualitative supply chains are also important for the improvement of company productions (Pan and So, 2016). The application of Six-sigma is also an important step that can be incorporated by Matt to gain a competitive advantage. This included the involvement and incorporation of the five phases of six sigma in the manufacturing process of tires by Swift Tyres (nrcresearchpress.com, 2019).
The phases named as the DMAIC are described below.
Define: Defining of the short term and longterm goals
Measure: Measuring of the attributes that are based on performance
Analyze: Identification and analyzing the possible ways that are necessary for accomplishing the goals, missions, and objectives.
Improve: Alternative ways and strategies are planned for the improvement of manufacturing processes by Swift Tyres. (spendmatters.com, 2019).
Control: Maintenance of the success of Swift Tyres by incorporating the steps as changes in company processes.
3.2. Describe implementation steps
Implementation of Six Sigma requires planned strategies that are to be incorporated in the introduction of the new and improved changes in the company productions.
Project: The most important as well as essential steps to implement Six Sigma in the production of Swift Tyres are the steps of starting with a planned project. (Richards and Grinsted 2016)
Training: The employees of the organization that are going to be involved with the new and improved changes in the company procedures and manufacturing needs to be knowledgeable. This requires training from trained personnel.
Teaming up: Teaming up of all the employees along with a skilled and highly qualitative team leader is the next step towards this strategic step of this company. This ensures high employee engagement in the manufacturing of tires according to the new policies. (Tradeready.ca, 2019)
Planning: The whole planning and applying the strategies requires good and qualitative leaders as well as company management.
Executing: Executing the project that is planned by the management for the initiation of the necessary changes is an important step of the whole implementation process.
Evaluating: Evaluation of the whole incorporation by this company raised the last and essential step that requires evaluation of all the parameters as well as criteria. (Richards and Grinsted 2013)
3.3. Improved supply chain
Fig 5: WBS
(Source: Project Libre) make it more clear ,the words are hidden in the chart.make it more readable
The presented analysis map for the swift and sure company illustrates the critical task that needs to be either improved or changed for the betterment of the growth. The critical map shows the first critical task as problem identification. From the case study, many problems and issues have been notified, which needs to be solved with a better-planned business strategy. Along with that, the critical map also described the need for improving the manufacturing rate. Due to the highly dependent business model, it is important to improve the manufacturing rate by installing more manufacturing units.
This will prevent the company from delivering inconsistent product quality. At the same time, the product cost will also be controlled as the import of foam used in the tire will be manufactured within the country. The updated critical path helps to deliver an improved and better quality of the tire (Piirainen, Tanner & Alkærsig, 2017)
Reference List
Books
• Fernie, J. and Sparks, L. eds., 2018. Logistics and retail management: emerging issues and new challenges in the retail supply chain. Us: Kogan page publishers.
• Lyngso, S. (2017). Agile Strategy Management: Techniques for Continuous Alignment and Improvement. US: Auerbach Publications. Retrieved from: http://www.ittoday.info/Excerpts/Team_Building_for_a_Strategic_Initiative.pdf [Retrieved on 3.11.2019]
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• Christopher, M., 2016. Logistics & supply chain management. Pearson UK.
• Richards, G. and Grinsted, S., 2016. The Logistics and Supply Chain Toolkit: Over 100 Tools and Guides for Supply Chain, Transport, Warehousing and Inventory Management. Kogan Page Publishers.
• Richards, G. and Grinsted, S., 2013. The Logistics and Supply Chain Toolkit: over 90 tools for transport, warehousing and inventory management. Kogan Page Publishers.
Journals
• Bakar, N.A., Peszynski, K., Azizan, N., Sundram, K. and Pandiyan, V., 2016. Abridgment of Traditional Procurement and E-Procurement: Definitions, Tools and Benefits. Journal of Emerging Economies & Islamic Research, 4(1). Retrieved from: https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/148367306.pdf
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• Patrucco, A. S., Luzzini, D., & Ronchi, S. (2016). Evaluating the effectiveness of public procurement performance management systems in local governments. Local Government Studies, 42(5), 739-761. Retrieved from: https://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/51177825/PUBLISHED_Evaluating_the_Effectiveness_of_Public_Procurement_Performance_Management_Systems_in_Local_Governments.pdf? [Retrieved on 3.11.2019]
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• Stadtler, H., 2015. Supply chain management: An overview. In Supply chain management and advanced planning (pp. 3-28). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. Retrieved from: http://www.academia.edu/download/60519716/scm-and-adv-planning20190907-38397-eh1j9.pdf#page=22
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• Vaidya, K. and Campbell, J., 2016. A multidisciplinary approach to defining public e-procurement and evaluating its impact on procurement efficiency. Information Systems Frontiers, 18(2), pp.333-348. Retrieved from: https://collaboration.worldbank.org/content/usergenerated/asi/cloud/attachments/sites/collaboration-for-development/en/groups/e-procurement/documents/jcr:content/content/primary/blog/multidisciplinaryap-guQf/Multidisciplinary-approach-to-defining-public-e-procurement-and-evaluating-its-impact-on-procurement-efficiency..pdf
• Walsh, P. R., & Dodds, R. (2017). Measuring the choice of environmental sustainability strategies in creating a competitive advantage. Business Strategy and the Environment, 26(5), 672-687. Retrieved from: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Rachel_Dodds/publication/316176162_Measuring_the_Choice_of_Environmental_Sustainability_Strategies_in_Creating_a_Competitive_Advantage_An_Analysis_of_North_American_Hotels/links/5a6f7428aca272e425eaa7fc/Measuring-the-Choice-of-Environmental-Sustainability-Strategies-in-Creating-a-Competitive-Advantage-An-Analysis-of-North-American-Hotels.pdf [Retrieved on 3.11.2019]
• Wang, G., Gunasekaran, A., Ngai, E.W. and Papadopoulos, T., 2016. Big data analytics in logistics and supply chain management: Certain investigations for research and applications. International Journal of Production Economics, 176, pp.98-110. Retrieved from: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Samuel_Fosso_Wamba/publication/325607788_Big_data_analytics_in_supply_chain_and_logistics_an_empirical_approach/links/5b18525ba6fdcca67b629a02/Big-data-analytics-in-supply-chain-and-logistics-an-empirical-approach.pdf
Online articles
• nrcresearchpress.com (2019). A simulation-based optimization approach to integrated inventory management of a sawlog supply chain with demand uncertainty. Retrieved from: https://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/cjfr-2014-0373#.Xc-BNFczbcc [Retrieved on 3.11.2019]
• pdfs.semanticscholar.org, (2015), Adoption of E-Procurement Strategy and Procurement Performance in State Corporations in Kenya, Retrieved from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/e1f7/da1a1f008ba147436806bc2b874c565b7bc9.pdf [Retrieved on 3.11.2019]
Websites
• spendmatters.com (2019). Strategies Every Procurement Professional Should Know to Reduce Inventory Levels and Cost, Retrieved from https://spendmatters.com/2017/06/19/strategies-every-procurement-professional-know-reduce-inventory-levels-cost/ [Retrieved on 3.11.2019]
• tradeready.ca, (2019), The 7 steps of the procurement process, retrieved from http://www.tradeready.ca/2017/fittskills-refresher/7-steps-of-a-strategic-procurement-process/ [Retrieved on 3.11.2019]
Appendices
Appendix 1: Supply chain management
(Source: http://www.agilexsc.com/services/)
Appendix 2: Strategic Procurement & Inventory Management
(Source: https://www.cgnglobal.com/blog/impact-of-technology-on-sourcing-procurement)
Appendix 3: DMAIC of Six sigma
(Source: https://www.smartsheet.com/all-about-six-sigma)