Hot Exam Topic: P3 (BA) - Supply Chain Management Restructuring

 

Note: Supply chain management, value chain, e-marketing are Examiner Steve Skidmore’s favourite examinable topics. You definitely want to focus on how to provide solutions for a specific case scenario. 

Special Note: Steve Skidmore is known for inserting "new knowledge" on Exam Answers, so you won't find the information below in your textbooks. 

 

What is Supply chain management?

Supply chain management involves the coordination of all supply activities of an organization from its suppliers and delivery of products to its customers.

Supply chain management includes not only supplier and buyer, but also the intermediaries such as the supplier’s suppliers and the customer’s customers.

To illustrate the Food Supply Chain, see the pictures below. 

 

Farm : Cow Herds as the Upstream Supply chain

Processing Meat Factory

Logistics to deliver to Restaurants, Outlet, Retail/Hyper marts.

Final Product a Platter

Ummm... Do I need to explain this?

What are the Six Challenges in Supply chain management? 

According to Dave Chaffey, there following are: 

1.    Pressure to reduce costs of manufacturing and distributing products in order to remain competitive

2.    Demand forecasting

3.    Failure to deliver products on time consistently or lack of items on shelf in retailer

4.    Failure to deliver or ship correct product

5.    High inventory costs

6.    Time for new product development

Question: How can Genting Hotel and Casino restructure its supply chain? Recommend any hardware infrastructure and software solutions applicable to your restructuring solutions. [15 marks] 

Suggested Answer:
Assume we apply Genting Hotel supply chain that requires restructuring supply chain.  

 

$9.99 to travel to Genting Casino Hotel?! What are we waiting for?

Link to Airline Supply Chain

Link to Land transport Supply Chain

Add value to Value System Stream - Restaurant for guests

1.     Cooperation relationship with linkage to upstream supply chain with airlines like Air Asia, Ryan Air to determine how many tourists are arriving. This will assist in planning the forecasting of demand based on seasonal needs.

2.     On linkage with upstream air line companies, install SAP’s Enterprise Resource Planning allowing tourist-marketing offices to have access real time on Genting Hotel’s booking records for the year. The information flow seamlessly between the suppliers and company itself.

3.     Collaboration relationship with exchange of expertise such as market research knowledge. Genting can do market research to determine which countries are most likely to visit Malaysia only casino. They use internet connection to linked with different government offices around the world to determine the countries most likely to have large tourists number.

4.     On exchanging market research, install Technological Interface Management (TIM) that allows suppliers, intermediaries and customers to focus on collection, collation, interpretation and dissemination of vast amount of information. B2B relationship that will allow Genting management to know surplus idle room capacity that will influence tactical pricing and promotion.

5.     Power based relationship to reduce the cost of services. Genting can invite tenders for its food supply, linen laundry and cleaning contracts. Potential bidders need to submit online to Genting group and then selection based on best specification and pricing are made.

6.     On attracting suppliers, install Website with extranet to approved suppliers that could submit e-tender. There is time savings and thus the supply chain could quickly select suitable suppliers that it selects online.

7.     Arms Length relationship where Genting Hotel can link with neutral platform hotel bookings website like Agoda.com. This way, there is a meeting between suppliers of hotel rooms and demand generating secured sales.

8.     On marketing on neutral platform for travel/hotel trading website that basically allow Genting to compete with other hotel suppliers. The website will attract a large pool of customers who in turn can choose the wide hotels selection.

9.     Collaborate with transport sector and airline company to offer a one package tourist package. This saves time and add value to customers with ease of choosing tour destinations.

10. Cooperative relationship in having real time linkage with tourism companies accessing number of hotels still available for booking during the year.

11. Strategic intelligence in analyzing the demand patterns of its linked up partners such as airline to determine the estimated number of tourist arrivals. Data analytics software is required to ascertain number of website visitors on Genting website.

12. Cooperative relationship with airline and transport sector to know real time and determine the estimated arrival time. Each bus couch should be equipped with a GPS system in order to determine the arrival time.

13. On Buses tracking system, install Global Positioning System (GPS) is more suitable than Trace Chip Tracking devices as the bus movements are relevant to the tourism industry.

14. Cooperative relationship linking food suppliers with its restaurants food requirement so that Just In Time inventory can be installed. Assuming that hotels would have restaurant services too.

15. On Restaurants, install Materials Requirements Planning (MRP) and Just In Time (JIT) systems enable suppliers to determine real time the re-order levels to replenish food, laundries and replacements for toiletries. This avoid risks of no stocks within Genting Hotel.

Conclusion

Genting supply chain should focus downstream marketing and devices by adopt Information technology infrastructure such as cloud computing, e-mobile and e-tablet browsing capabilities to widen its market appeal.