I interviewed John Erick, the Supply Chain Manager at Shryne Group company located in Los Angeles, California. Shryne is a new company dealing with timber supply. The thesis for the interview was the importance of effective supply chain activities to the Shryne group organization. I learned the effective supply chain’s roles in customer service and the connection between supply chain and cost leadership. It was clear from the interview that the supply chain is integral to ensuring excellent customer service, especially in timely delivery. Customer service is the best way to master a competitive advantage over other competitors in the supply chain industry (Madhani, 2019). Mr. Erick elaborated that an efficient supply chain ensures that the most needed materials are held in an inventory so that the company does not experience stock-out costs, including losing clients.
Additionally, regarding the link between cost leadership and supply chain, I learned how a properly planned supply chain process has been aiding Shryne Group company in gaining the cost leadership advantage. The manager stated that the company has been buying in bulk to enjoy the economies of scale, such as free transportation and huge discounts, thus reducing shipping expenses. Huge discounts aid a company in selling its products at relatively lower prices than its competitors who buy products in small quantities and thus do not receive any discount (Chong et al., 2017). He similarly mentioned that the company tries to practice transport consolidation to reduce its expenses in both its inbound and outbound logistics expenses.
Lastly, I learned about the roles of technology in inventory management to prevent companies from experiencing stock-out issues due to theft and pilferage. John Erick held that Shryne company initially suffered losses due to stock out due to warehouse insecurities and late order placement. He added that the storekeeper (Japheth Ham) was suspected to be having personal hardware, which sold the same brand of timbers as Shryne Group. The company started experiencing stock out when Mr. Ham started his company. Shryne Group decided to implement radio frequency identification (RFID) to aid in tracing the products to stop Mr. Ham from stealing the company’s products to his business. Similarly, these systems helped the Shryne organization ensure on-time order refilling since RFID could notify the management when the minimum level is reached for the order to be refilled on time to eradicate stock-out cases.
References
Chong, A. Y. L., Ch’ng, E., Liu, M. J., & Li, B. (2017). Predicting consumer product demands via Big Data: The roles of online promotional marketing and online reviews.International Journal of Production Research, 55(17), 5142-5156.
Madhani, P. M. (2019). Building a customer-centric supply chain strategy: Enhancing competitive advantages.The IUP Journal of Business Strategy, 16(2), 28-42.