Boston University Supply Chain Management Case Brief

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Business Finance

Boston University

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Case Review Template:

  • What are the key managerial issues to address (choose the role (i.e. manager, VP, President, etc. based on guidance from the case study)
  • What is your specific recommendation (i.e. not the range of options – choose one)
  • Highlight the benefits to your recommendation(s)
  • Articulate any inherent risks associated with your recommendation) note: This is intended to address risks associated with your recommendation – not general risks that impact the business.

does NOT begin with an introduction, background, or summary of what is going on in the case and write-ups should not include those sections.Rather, assume that the audience and instructor are familiar with the facts of the case, so follow the Case Review Template above.Grading of the work will be limited to the four aspects outlined in this template.

write should follow the case template the questions on case can be an inspiration.

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Case Study Strategic Solutions Inc. Strategic Solutions (SS) is a small 3PL provider that was started by Scott Crash in 1992. Scott began his career working in the logistics division of a large trucking company. He worked with fleet scheduling, customer support, and route scheduling before he saw the opportunity to start his own business offering similar services. Strategic Solutions provides logistics services to small businesses in Columbus, Ohio, and has recently acquired major accounts with two wellknown grocery store chains. Their core competency is specializing in the movement of cold and frozen food products. Refrigerated trailers can be expensive, and if not transported using reliable equipment, it can prove to be very costly for all parties. Scott started his company by strategically combining LTL (less-than-truckload) shipments for small stores such as gas stations, pharmacies, and small grocery stores. He found his niche in climate-controlled trailer movements. Business has been growing since. The Business Strategic Solutions operates by arranging customer shipments with the best for-hire transportation service they can find. Two of their main transporters are Frigid Movements and Problem Solved Shipments. Strategic Solutions has long-term contracts with most of its customers, but they also accept one-time shipments and business from random customers on a regular basis. Customers can either call or e-mail Strategic Solutions with the details, such as identifying the products that need to be shipped, the destination, and required time of delivery. Once Strategic Solutions has this information they can then arrange for the outbound shipments from the customer’s distribution centers to the desired location. The customer base has increased substantially as a result of the company’s success in the cold food movement area, and they have acquired new contracts with major grocery store chains. The Problem Scott’s company has begun to struggle with the business growth due to information technology constraints. Their current method of telephone and e-mail information exchange has become outdated, and customers have found it hard to communicate with Strategic Solutions. Customer satisfaction has dropped in the recent past, and Scott fears the loss of some of his top business clients. Something must be done so that Strategic Solution’s reputation isn’t damaged and no customers are lost. The Need for EDI or TMS Scott understands that logistics depends on accurate real-time information, but isn’t sure what type of system would be best suited for his operation and has decided to take a customer-oriented approach. He personally spoke with each of his customers to find out what would be the best system for them and how the two companies could best work together. He also spoke with his transportation providers to see what type of information exchange and transportation scheduling arrangements would best work for them. It seems that the ideal system would be a single point of contact for customer orders where information is updated in real time. It is inconvenient and time consuming for a customer to call and deal with busy phone lines and unanswered phone calls, or wait for an e-mail reply. There could also be clerical errors when transferring the information between different parties. The EDI versus TMS Expansion Scott is not sure which system to implement and what would be the best investment. He assumes that electronic data interchange (EDI) can accomplish real-time information sharing with all of their customers as well as potential carriers. For customers, information can be available online with proper access codes so that scheduling arrangements involving shipments, equipment, and time schedules can be made with a single point of contact. The downside of an EDI system is the expense. Also, system failure could halt the business, potentially resulting in significant financial losses. Another option is a transportation management system (TMS), which is a software system designed to manage transportation operations. TMS would enable Strategic Solutions to directly link to their transporters’ systems to more efficiently identify and find potential routes. They wouldn’t have to arrange shipments through telephone or e-mail, but could simply schedule them using the TMS. A downside to TMS is that it would leave out noncontracted carriers. If a certain time or route wasn’t available through Frigid Movements or Problem Solved Shipments, Strategic Solutions would have to find other ways to schedule the transportation of their customers’ goods. Scott has estimated the following costs for both systems as well as customer preferences: Customer rank (13) Systems considered Cost EDI (for real-time information and single point of contact) $15,000 3 TMS (to link into transporters system and find routes and lanes) $20,000 2 Both systems $35,000 3 Case Questions 1. Identify the characteristics of an ideal information system for this logistics environment. Gather information on both EDI and TMS, and compare their suitability for this environment. 2. Help Scott decide if he should invest in either EDI or TMS, or both. Is there another type of system that you would believe would be better? What kind of benefits, including performance and customer satisfaction, can Scott expect by making these proposed changes to the business process? 3. What are the key considerations for Scott when deciding on the best possible systems to implement? . Case Study Strategic Solutions Inc. Strategic Solutions (SS) is a small 3PL provider that was started by Scott Crash in 1992. Scott began his career working in the logistics division of a large trucking company. He worked with fleet scheduling, customer support, and route scheduling before he saw the opportunity to start his own business offering similar services. Strategic Solutions provides logistics services to small businesses in Columbus, Ohio, and has recently acquired major accounts with two wellknown grocery store chains. Their core competency is specializing in the movement of cold and frozen food products. Refrigerated trailers can be expensive, and if not transported using reliable equipment, it can prove to be very costly for all parties. Scott started his company by strategically combining LTL (less-than-truckload) shipments for small stores such as gas stations, pharmacies, and small grocery stores. He found his niche in climate-controlled trailer movements. Business has been growing since. The Business Strategic Solutions operates by arranging customer shipments with the best for-hire transportation service they can find. Two of their main transporters are Frigid Movements and Problem Solved Shipments. Strategic Solutions has long-term contracts with most of its customers, but they also accept one-time shipments and business from random customers on a regular basis. Customers can either call or e-mail Strategic Solutions with the details, such as identifying the products that need to be shipped, the destination, and required time of delivery. Once Strategic Solutions has this information they can then arrange for the outbound shipments from the customer’s distribution centers to the desired location. The customer base has increased substantially as a result of the company’s success in the cold food movement area, and they have acquired new contracts with major grocery store chains. The Problem Scott’s company has begun to struggle with the business growth due to information technology constraints. Their current method of telephone and e-mail information exchange has become outdated, and customers have found it hard to communicate with Strategic Solutions. Customer satisfaction has dropped in the recent past, and Scott fears the loss of some of his top business clients. Something must be done so that Strategic Solution’s reputation isn’t damaged and no customers are lost. The Need for EDI or TMS Scott understands that logistics depends on accurate real-time information, but isn’t sure what type of system would be best suited for his operation and has decided to take a customer-oriented approach. He personally spoke with each of his customers to find out what would be the best system for them and how the two companies could best work together. He also spoke with his transportation providers to see what type of information exchange and transportation scheduling arrangements would best work for them. It seems that the ideal system would be a single point of contact for customer orders where information is updated in real time. It is inconvenient and time consuming for a customer to call and deal with busy phone lines and unanswered phone calls, or wait for an e-mail reply. There could also be clerical errors when transferring the information between different parties. The EDI versus TMS Expansion Scott is not sure which system to implement and what would be the best investment. He assumes that electronic data interchange (EDI) can accomplish real-time information sharing with all of their customers as well as potential carriers. For customers, information can be available online with proper access codes so that scheduling arrangements involving shipments, equipment, and time schedules can be made with a single point of contact. The downside of an EDI system is the expense. Also, system failure could halt the business, potentially resulting in significant financial losses. Another option is a transportation management system (TMS), which is a software system designed to manage transportation operations. TMS would enable Strategic Solutions to directly link to their transporters’ systems to more efficiently identify and find potential routes. They wouldn’t have to arrange shipments through telephone or e-mail, but could simply schedule them using the TMS. A downside to TMS is that it would leave out noncontracted carriers. If a certain time or route wasn’t available through Frigid Movements or Problem Solved Shipments, Strategic Solutions would have to find other ways to schedule the transportation of their customers’ goods. Scott has estimated the following costs for both systems as well as customer preferences: Customer rank (13) Systems considered Cost EDI (for real-time information and single point of contact) $15,000 3 TMS (to link into transporters system and find routes and lanes) $20,000 2 Both systems $35,000 3 Case Questions 1. Identify the characteristics of an ideal information system for this logistics environment. Gather information on both EDI and TMS, and compare their suitability for this environment. 2. Help Scott decide if he should invest in either EDI or TMS, or both. Is there another type of system that you would believe would be better? What kind of benefits, including performance and customer satisfaction, can Scott expect by making these proposed changes to the business process? 3. What are the key considerations for Scott when deciding on the best possible systems to implement? .
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Explanation & Answer

Attached.

Running head: BRIEF OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT CASE

Brief of Supply Chain Management Case
Author’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Date

1

BRIEF OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT CASE

2

Brief of Supply Chain Management Case
One of the main managerial issues to be addressed by the manager is poor
communication due to information technology constraints that the company has. Scott's company
uses outdated systems of communication. In this case, Customers have found it difficult to
maintain their communication with the organization. Some of the customers are required to hold
on for long periods for their telephone call to be answered. Some of them get responses of line
being busy. This is very inconvenient to customers. This causes the organization to lose its
customers which may cause it to perform poorly in terms of profits and revenues.
The other issue is on making decisions of the organization. Scott has not consulted other
staff members on the best approach to take in relation to the kind of system that should be
installed in the organization. Apart from consulting and speaking to the customers, Scott should
also speak to the other managers and staff members of the organization to determine the kind of
system that is appropriate for their work.
The best recommendation that can help the organization to overcome its challenges of
communication constraints is purchasing and implementing...


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