Brief description on what company does?
- Supply chain management and service provider focusing mainly on the manufacturing sectors.
- Distribution of broad range of renowned brands plastic and polymer related raw materials. Examples of brands (business partners such as RTP and Teijin
- We also run our own factory for coloring of the raw materials.
Question 1
Why do customer buy the company’s product?
- OPS is able to deliver within a very short lead-time. OPS has many warehouse all over the region. Competitors take a longer time to deliver the products.
- Not many competitors as well
- OPS is known to be very fast in the market
- The speed of processing the order is the same day or next day.
- KPI is gauge is on how fast the staffs are able to process the order.
- OPS are the approved vendors by the end customers
- We bring in sufficient stocks on customers’ orders
- We ensure customer do the pull system of the product base on forecast given by end customer
- Follow up strictly on purchase order.
Question 2
How is the company delivering the value proposition?
This is a winning point for us because we have strong customer base on Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia and all our warehouses and third party transporter are in these countries nearby.
Our customer will call in our products in a daily and weekly basis. Therefore, we are able to fulfill our delivery to our customer on short notice.
If we have customer faces quality issues with the product. They do not need to wait because the replacement could be done straight away replace from warehouse.
Value Proposition is SPEED.
We have our own factory, lab, warehouses, truck for delivery to fulfill customer requirement.
In the event of quality issue, our factory is able to do some basic test such as the melt flow index on the resin, besides, our lab in Singapore is able to do test on the resin impact strength. With these basic test we are able to determine whether the product has been degraded that causes the quality issue (such as crack) or is it due to the incorrect process flow by the moulders themselves when they manage the production for the molded parts .We are fast in supply SAMPLE for new project spec in as customers tested our resins fast, we will send by DHL or Fedex when required by end customer (such as Dyson or HP) to courier sample for mold trial in overseas- our competitive (most of the time) unable to fulfil these sample in a very short lead-time.
Question 3
How should the value position be delivered (identifying the GAPS).
Gaps in the factoryGap 3
QC takes a longer time to approve because they will wait for the full batch example (10 tonnages) to complete in production then carry out the test so normally takes 2 days to approve.
Recommendation:
QC base on small batches which has completed production to do their test.
Production Output before 12pm, delivery on next working day (AM).
Production Output after 12pm, delivery on next working (PM)
Gaps in OPS warehouse
(Gap 3)
In Malaysia, factory (Nehon) and warehouse (OPS) which are 2 different companies but under the same boss. Located side by side and are sharing the same inbound compound.
Factory is not sharing the outbound with OPS because not able to delivers out 40-foot containers. The area is not suitable therefore for outbound the factor uses another side of the factory.
What do Nehon and OPS share
OPS- inbound
Nehon- Inbound
Problem
- When haulier arrives , they are not sure where to go as both factory and OPS building lack of signage.
Recommendation:
- To put signage around the area and paint the names on the factory and OPS building so no confusion will take place.
- Do re-scheduling such as out bound for OPS to do done every Morning only (give the haulage company timing slots to come for pick up)
- Inbound will take place during afternoons for both OPS and Nehon.
Since both company doing inbound. The schedulers for both company will need to work together and inform the haulage company. Since it is the same haulage company , the haulage company will not have issues. Easier to plan.
Put signage and paint on the floor at the inbound area . 1 for OPS and 1 for Nehon.
- Security guard will need to work closely and need to direct the drivers to the correct lane.
- If the driver is late, they will need to wait till the.
- The haulage company will need to plan according to the slots provided to them for delivering.
- This will make things more efficient than before.
Gap 3
Another gap is on the poor network In Malaysia. Not many areas are developed with micro-fiber. Not many industrial areas are develop with micro fiber. Our document, delivery order, purchase order, sales order etc. using SAP is link to the Server in Singapore. Not strong network so the line is cut off frequently. Very instable network. Therefore, line always cut off.
Why cannot put server in Malaysia?
- Due to security reason cannot put server in Malaysia
Recommendation: approaching government bodies to get the micro fiber installed.
Other circumstances of increasing SPEED
- Through innovative measures. Such as to build up a robotic warehouse in Malaysia because to make warehouse more efficient in handling cargos, less dependable on human resources which is prone to make human errors to happen.
Written Assignment
Presentation 10 Marks
(Includes formatting, layout,grammar, referencing and etc).
Abstract (200 words) 10 Marks
- Brief summary of the report
- What are you doing?
- What did you find?
Introduction (200 words) 10 Marks
- What is your understanding of strategic supply chain management?
- What do you intend to do à objectives/Questions.
Literature review/Practice
Peered review journals of 30 references
- Why do customers buy the company’s product/service? 20 Marks
- How is the company delivering the value proposition? 20 Marks
- How should the value proposition be delivered? (identify the gaps) 20 Marks
Conclusion (200 Words) 10 Marks
- Explain alignment supply chain activity with supply chain strategy
Instructions on Assessment:
The assessment consists of two components, which each component MUST be completed by students. The passing mark will be calculated as overall.
Assignment
The assignment is in two parts with a sub-section [(i) and (ii) in part a] and will require you to:-
- Teamwork Oral presentation (20% of total Mark)
This part of the assignment is a team – based activity.
- (i) As part of a Group, organize, implement and produce a Power point Presentation on an evaluation of a supply chain organization (ie part of a Supply Network in either a Manufacturing; Retail or Service Industry) and make an oral presentation of your findings. Your Presentation should include your Primary selected data on the organization. Also regular group meeting minutes should be produced and included in a hard copy submission of meeting minutes taken during the course of the assignment with a copy of your presentation sides. Your consideration should be to the organizations’ approach to its supply chain strategic focus.
(ii) Make a 20 minute Grouppresentation to the class analysing the strategic role of the organization within its supply chain and assessing its operation in terms of its supply chain strategy.
Task a) (20% of the overall Mark)
The Presentation should be planned for a group of 4 people(everyone presents) and should take place in the semester. A level of Primary research is expected and should be ideally conducted via an organisation visit but electronic means of interview can be considered as an alternative.
When arranging the visit and interview, the group must agree with the management of the location, and must prepare a briefing sheet to be handed out or sent electronically before the visit and interview. When making a visit the group must organize transport to and from the site. All groups must prepare a summary of the research, analyse the role of the organisation with regard to its supply chain strategy and assess its operation in terms of the supply chain practice you believe is appropriate identified from the Lecture and Seminar Sessions of this module. Also organize appropriate thanks to the host organisation where you gained the primary research. All additional material such as Group Meeting Minutes should be in the Appendices. Plans must be discussed and agreed with the tutor, and a suitable visit confirmed by week 6 of the semester.
The group presentation should aim to comment upon the strategic role of the organization within its supply chain, and its efficiency and effectiveness in performing that role. You should draw on and use reading and learning from the whole module, and position the organization in terms of strategic supply chain best practice. Marks will be awarded for quality of presentation as well as content. AssessedPresentations will be made to the class in teaching weeks 11 and 12 and agreed with the Tutor.
- Individually to prepare a 3200 word +/-10% document using your group analysed organization as a Case Study to compare their supply chain strategy against a comprehensive Literature Review of supply chain appropriate practice which you individually identify as you see appropriate to evaluating the case study organization. You should develop a significant individual literature review during the course of the assignment.
Students are expected to undertake significant research and literature review to develop their case and this MUST be evident in their portfolio and oral presentation.
- Individual – based Assignment (80% of total Mark)
The Individual written report should be no more than 3200 words +/- 10% in length and the individual skills that you need to show here are that you can analyze your Case Study organization fromyour case study analysis in Part a, and compare their supply chain strategy against a comprehensive Literature Review(30 references) of appropriate practice that you individuallyidentify as appropriate to your case study organization, developed during the course of the assignment. All references to be shown in a Reference section at the end of the report.
Include an Abstract (200 words max not in word count)
Introduction 100 words and Conclusion 200 words ( both included in the word count)
Students are expected to use minimum 30 peer reviewed academic journal articles as part of their critical evaluation in both introduction and main body. Please, note the expectation is for 30 individual articles, not 30 in-text citations.
Referencing your work
The APA method of referencing uses the author’s name and the date of the publication. In-text citations give brief details of the work you are referring to in your text. References are listed at the end of the text in alphabetical order by the author’s name. The general format of an electronic journal reference in the APA style is shown below:
Coutu, D. (2009). Why Teams Don’t Work. Harvard Business Review, 87(5), 98-105. Retrieved 29th April 2012 from EBSCO http://searchebscohost.com
Author/s name and initials are listed first, followed by year of publication in brackets. Then there is the title of article and the journal where the article appears, which is in italics. Then state the volume and issue number (in brackets) along with the pages where article can be located. Finally add the date the article was retrieved and then the name of the database, followed by the web address. Wherever possible use the homepage URL rather than the full and extended web address.
For further information on why it is important to reference accurately go to the Referencing and Plagiarism topic in Skills Plus available from the Library website:
www.northumbria.ac.uk/skillsplus
You will find other useful help guides on Skills Plus to help you with the skills involved in writing your assessments and preparing for exams.
For further information on the APA style of referencing see the Concise Rules of APA style and the APA website
Word limits and penalties
If the assignment is within +10% of the stated word limit no penalty will apply.
The word count is to be declared on the front page of your assignment and the assignment cover sheet. The word count does not include:
| · Title and Contents page | · Reference list | · Appendices | · Appropriate tables, figures and illustrations |
| · Glossary | · Bibliography | · Quotes from interviews and focus groups. |
Please note, in text citations [e.g. (Smith, 2011)] and direct secondary quotations [e.g. “dib-dab nonsense analysis” (Smith, 2011 p.123)] are INCLUDED in the word count.
If this word count is falsified, students are reminded that under ARNA page 30 Section 3.4 this will be regarded as academic misconduct.
If the word limit of the full assignment exceeds the +10% limit, 10% of the mark provisionally awarded to the assignment will be deducted. For example: if the assignment is worth 70 marks but is above the word limit by more than 10%, a penalty of 7 marks will be imposed, giving a final mark of 63.
Students must retain an electronic copy of this assignment (including ALL appendices) and it must be made available within 24hours of them requesting it be submitted.
Note: For those assessments or partial assessments based on calculation, multiple choice etc., marks will be gained on an accumulative basis. In these cases, marks allocated to each section will be made clear.
Time limits and penalties for presentations
The time allocated for the presentation must be adhered to. At the end of this time, the presentation will be stopped and will be marked based on what has been delivered within the time limit.
Academic Misconduct
The Assessment Regulations for Northumbria Awards (ARNA) contain the Regulations and procedures applying to cheating, plagiarism and other forms of academic misconduct.
The full policy is available at:
You are reminded that plagiarism, collusion and other forms of academic misconduct as referred to in the Academic Misconduct procedure of the assessment regulations are taken very seriously by Newcastle Business School. Assignments in which evidence of plagiarism or other forms of academic misconduct is found may receive a mark of zero.
Mapping to Programme Goals and Objectives
This assessment will contribute directly to the following Postgraduate programme goals and objectives
Goal One: Be independent, reflective critical thinkers
| x | 1. | Demonstrate awareness of their personal strengths and weaknesses through critical reflective practice. |
| x | 2. | Understand and challenge personal patterns of thinking and behaving.
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Goal Two: Be culturally and ethically aware
| x | 1. | Demonstrate their ability to work in diverse groups and teams.
|
| 2. | Reflect on their own ethical values.
|
Goal Three: Have developed leadership and management capability
| x | 1. | Demonstrate their personal contribution to team effectiveness.
|
| x | 2. | Communicate complex issues effectively.
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| x | 3. | Demonstrate decision making and problem solving skills.
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| x | 4. | Carry out presentations and lead discussions. |
Goal Four: Have developed and applied knowledge of international business and management theory
| x | 1. | Acquire, interpret and apply knowledge of international business, management and organisational functions. |
Goal Five: Have developed a range of research skills and project capabilities
| x | 1. | Plan and complete a major individual piece of research on a contemporary business, management or leadership topic of their choice. |
| x | 2. | Demonstrate skills of analysis and synthesis in the application of research methods to the exploration of contemporary business issues. |
Goal Six: Have developed specialist knowledge about the theory and practice of your programme of study
| x | 1. | Demonstrate specialist functional knowledge in relation to your programme of study. |
Individual Assignment Marking Grid
| Criteria | Excellent
| Good
| Acceptable
| Poor
| Very Poor
|
| Introduction (purpose of this assignment, rationale behind selecting the specific global organisation in relation to the focus of this essay, and the brief structure of the rest of the work) | 9-10% | 7-8% | 5-6% | 3-4% | <3% |
| Appropriate focus on elements of question, presented goals and challenges in the assignment case | 9-10% | 7-8% | 6-5% | 4-3% | <3% |
| Extensive appropriate theoretical and literature contribution with underpinning adequate theories and strategies
| 25-30% | 21-24% | 16-20% | 11-15% | <10% |
| Practical contribution and appropriate connection to the assignment case study
| 9-10% | 7-8% | 6-5% | 3-4% | <3% |
| Critical evaluation and in-depth analysis and providing insight to promote argumentative discussion
| 17-20% | 13-16% | 9-12% | 5-8% | <4% |
| Concluding remarks (summary of understanding, recommendations, future works, practical implications) | 9-10% | 7-8% | 5-6% | 3-4% | <3% |
| Quality and quantity of Referencing (more than 30 good academic peer reviewed journal articles and books is appropriate level), Citation, Structure, Grammar… | 9-10% | 7-8% | 5-6% | 3-4% | <3% |
| Grand Total
| 70-100% | 61-70% | 51-60% | 41-50% | <40% |
| Where is the most important area of improvement as PG student?
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Generic Assessment Criteria
| Trait | 0 Fail | 1 – 39 Fail | 40 – 49 Fail | 50 – 54 Pass | 55 – 59 Pass | 60 – 69 Commendation | 70 – 100 Distinction |
| Knowledge and Understanding | Work not submitted OR Work giving evidence of serious academic misconduct (subject to regulations in ARNA Appendix 1) OR Work showing no evidence of the knowledge, understanding and skills appropriate to level 7. None of the learning outcomes are met. | Work is not acceptable and provides little evidence of the knowledge, understanding and skills appropriate to level 7. Few of the learning outcomes are met. | Work is not acceptable in providing evidence of the knowledge, understanding and skills appropriate to level 7. However a majority of the learning outcomes are met and others are nearly satisfied | Adequate work providing evidence of the knowledge, understanding and skills appropriate to level 7 but only at a bare pass level. All learning outcomes are met (or nearly met and balanced by strengths elsewhere). | Satisfactory work providing evidence of the knowledge, understanding and skills appropriate to level 7. All learning outcomes are met. | Commendable work providing evidence to a high level of the knowledge, understanding and skills appropriate to level 7. All learning outcomes met, many are more than satisfied. | Excellent work providing evidence to a very high level of the knowledge, understanding and skills appropriate to level 7. All learning outcomes met, many at high level. Marks at the high end of this range indicate outstanding work where all learning outcomes are met at a high level. |
| Structure, Alignment and Research | Inadequate in some of the following aspects or seriously inadequate in at least one: use of relevant material; development of analysis and structure of argument; evaluation of theory; application of relevant theory, research methods and findings to the problem in question; presentation of information to the intended audience. | Adequate in most but not all of the following aspects: use of relevant material; development of analysis and structure of argument; evaluation of theory; application of relevant theory, research methods and findings to the problem in question; presentation of information to the intended audience. | Adequate in all of (or most of, with balancing strength elsewhere): use of relevant material; development of analysis and structure of argument; evaluation of theory; application of relevant theory, research methods and findings to the problem in question; presentation of information to the intended audience. | Satisfactory in all or most of: use of relevant material from a variety of sources; development of analysis and structure of argument; evaluation of theory; application of relevant theory, research methods and findings to the problem in question; presentation of information to the intended audience. | Good in all or most of: use of up-to-date material from a variety of sources; development of analysis and structure of argument; critical evaluation of relevant theory, research methods and findings to the problem in question; presentation of information to the intended audience. | Excellent in all or most of: use of primary sources of literature from a range of perspectives; development of analysis and structure of argument; critical evaluation and creative use of theory, research methods and findings; presentation of information to the intended audience. |
Note: For those assessments or partial assessments based on calculation, multiple choice etc. Marks will be gained on an accumulative basis. In these cases, marks allocated to each section will be made clear.