Attempt all the problems.
Section-A
problem1) How Production Scheduling is done to make sure effective Supply Chain?
problem2) The efficiency and effectiveness of the distribution channel is the function of a proper logistics programme. Describe.
problem3) describe the strengths and weaknesses of centralized and decentralized warehouses.
problem4) What is integrated Logistics management?
Section-B
Amazon.com sells books, music and other items over internet and is one of the pioneers of consumer e-business. Amazon, based in Seattle, started by filling all orders using books purchased from the distributor in response to customers order. This practise defers from that of the traditional bookstore, that usually purchased directly from publishers and stocks books in anticipation of customer orders. Today, Amazon has six warehouses where it holds inventory. Amazon stocks best- selling books, although it still gets other titles from distributors of publishers. It uses US postal Services and other package carriers like UPS and Fedex to send books to customers.
Amazon has continued to expand set of products which it sells online. Besides books and music, Amazon has added many product categories like toys, apparel, electronics, jewellery and shoes. After several years of losses, Amazon has been profitable since 2003.
Several brick-and-mortar players including traditional booksellers like Borders and Barnes & Noble have also started selling using internet channel. Banns & Noble has setup Barnes&Noble.com as the separate company, while Borders uses Amazon to fulfil its online orders after initially trying to operate the online business. In the case of Barnes & Noble, the retail store and online supply chains share warehousing in transportations to some extent. This is the departure from the company’s original strategy, when Barnes& Noble.com was not visible in any Barnes & Noble bookstore.
Case problems:
a) Why is Amazon building more warehouses as it grows?
b) What advantage and disadvantage does selling books via internet provide over the traditional bookstore?
c) Should traditional booksellers like Barnes & Noble integrate e-commerce into their current supply chain or manage it as a separate supply chain?