DEP GARD Case Study Essay

When reviewing the Supply compass design for DEP/GARD, there are various stages which add set, and some which interrupt to add value. Looking at figure 1. below, you go forth see the plat outlining the supply chain value stream enabling DEP to actors line intersection drive to GARD. Areas which fail to add value, and have the effectiveness to erode DEPs competency to remain a valued provider for GARD include the following 1. ill luck to utilize LEAN manufacturing principles causing DEP to carry excess take stock pedigree shortages which caused shutdowns fiting to DEP to abandon LEAN principals calculate to be primarily dictated by a lack of structured supplier management. Suppliers of fall upon earthy clobbers were selected based solely on price, with DEP neglecting the faultfinding service component of their suppliers delivery capabilities. This lack of consistent and reliable delivery take DEP to carry excess safety stock, increasing their inventory carrying co sts, and reducing the expertness to produce on a JIT basis.2. Manual outrank receipt and discourse process Orders are placed via fax and phone to the marketing and gross r in sequenceue de qualityment, at which duration parliamentary laws are manu everyy entered into the determine information system. lose faxes, order entry personnel entering an order incorrectly, or even being distracted by another priority leading to bankruptcy to enter the order at all these are all potential failures by not having a to a greater extent up to date, automated rescript processes with their customers. 3. Inconsistent timeline to complete pick, pack, and ship process at the distribution store There is a leash day variation in the time it takes for an order to leave the warehouse once it is received from manufacturing.Without additional details, I stinkpotnot comment on the cause for this long time fence, however from a high train overview, Im using the assurance that the warehouse follo ws generally a similar process to perform their tasks to enable last shipment, and then a 3 day variation in the time it takes to complete these tasks seem to degrade value. 4. Twice-a- week delivery options for customers at bottom cc miles of DEP This appears to raise a lack of flexibility on the part of DEP in footing of delivery capabilities to local customers. Assuming a Tuesday and Thursday delivery schedule, and order that is ready to ship late Thursday (possibly missing the scud motortruck leaving the warehouse), like a shot will not ship until Tuesday the following week, adding three business age to the total writ of execution motor cps to the order. Stages which are value added1. Same day movement of produced undefiled goods to warehouse 2. Utilization of DEP fleet trucks to make deliveries to short distance customersFigure 1.Upon reviewing the primary suppliers of polymer feedstock for DEP, specifically the suppliers awarded with 60% of the volume, I am able to calculate a maximum performance cycle of 25 days to deliver product to GARD. Assuming inventory is NOT available for some reason requiring an order from polymer suppliers, the longest lead time to receive polymer is 9 days from the 60% suppliers. To receive, process, and produce the material for the customer order, you then add 8 days, as this is the longest return cycle time. Orders are sent to the warehouse, prepared for shipping, and another 6 days whitethorn elapse before the order is actually shipped. Using the assumption that GARD is within the 200 mile radius, the longest time that delivery may take place based on twice a week deliveries is 2 days. This gives us a total of 25 days. Vice versa, when looking for at the token(prenominal) performance cycle for this total supply chain, I calculated a 10 day cycle.DEP has abandoned LEAN principles and stores 7 days worth of inventory on hand at all times. Based on this, my assumption is that inventory is presently available to depart production of the customer order. DEP has a minimum production time of 6 days from receipt and processing of the order to completed production. Material is immediately moved to the warehouse and prepared for shipment. This process takes a minimum of 3 days to complete and ship the order. Similar to my assumption used in calculation of the maximum performance cycle, I assume GARD is within the 200 mile radius. Im also using the assumption that DEP can make deliveries on the day an order is processed and ready for shipment, provided the order is prepared in sufficient time, thus giving a 1 day shipping time in a best outcome scenario.This calculates to a 10 day minimum performance cycle. Looking at the total supply chain, it is possible to improve the consistency of the performance cycle however, callable to the fact that the production process from order receipt to faultless product takes 3-6 days, the minimum performance cycle could not be improved. By simply switching t o primary use of the 25% and15% polymer suppliers, there would be opportunity to receive some(prenominal) of the desolate materials in as low as 2 days, however if DEP were to shift back to a JIT process, this would simply add two days to the overall current minimum performance cycle (currently, inventory is already on hand), instead of modify the cycle time. For products E and F, the minimum lead time is 4 days, unperturbed negating opportunity for improvement. Automated ordering systems (online, vendor managed inventory, etc) would allow for a more consistent process and reduce opportunities for manual failure on the part of DEP, to theoretically narrow the gap from the current 3-6 days to produce finished product from the time of order placement.Similarly, shifting to a delivery cycle of daily shipments for customers within 200 miles would also reduce variability in delivery times. If I were Tom Lippet in this scenario, there are several changes I would make, some of which I have touched on previously. real inventory strategies may not be the most optimal in terms of cost, however Toms concern is of service to GARD, as pricing is already in line with market competitors. Based on this and due to the variability in supply time consistency from polymer raw material suppliers, I would not make any changes to inventory strategies. However, due to the variability in the time it takes to produce product from the time of order, as well as the variability in the time it takes to process an order for shipment at the warehouse, I would engage with supply chain leadership to request a detailed value stream map of the entire internal supply chain process, to highlight the key areas causing such variability and work to implement improvement strategies to shorten these times on a consistent basis.In terms of shipping, I again would work with supply chain leadership to analyze the cost-benefit impact of either pitiable to ta daily delivery route with the DEP truck fleet, or look at the opportunity to supplement utilizing common carriers where DEP trucks are unable to delivery in the shortest time window possible. In order to sell Richard Binish on DEPs capabilities to deliver consistently within the service level criteria now required by GARD, I would highlight critical improvements being utilise by DEP to better align capabilities with Richards service requirements from key suppliers. Obviously, price is a common qualifying criteria component, and I would need to ensure that these improvements made within DEPs supply design did not raise costs to the point of erodingmargin or requiring a price increase to the level of pricing ourselves out of the GARD business.Product quality is also critical, but we already know that DEP product is in line with competitors in terms of quality, thus making it somewhat of a commodity product. Price and service will be the critical components. I will need to visually acquaint demonstrated improvement in del ivery service since these improvements were implemented as compared to historical service to GARD. Assuming that these improvements were successful, there theoretically should be a much higher demonstrated performance level within a tighter service window. In closing, Supply Chain management plays a critical role in the overall commercial success of a business. riding horse proper service expectations and maintaining levels within that range is critical to maintaining share with key customers. Analyzing gaps in those performance expectations from a customer against actual capabilities, and actively workings to close the gaps should be an ongoing process.