Evaluate the Supply Chain of a Chosen Small Business

The Company’s Inputs

Choose an existing small business, or a start?up. Refrain from using companies that you have no association with, and are located on the Internet. You are to ensure that you know the owner(s) or someone in the organization who can
answer any questions posed to them.
Your task in this assignment is to evaluate the supply chain of the chosen company, applying the knowledge that you have learnt in this subject, whether the company’s supply chain, as implemented, is achieving its objectives i.e., being responsive or efficient to its customers’ needs. The process of assessing the company’s supply chain must meet the following requirements:
1. Introduction (500 words)
• Explain how the company, and by consequence its supply chain, competes in its industry. You can look at the competition, the suppliers in the industry, and the regulations that govern them, customer expectations in the supply chain, including those of the end consumer, and so on, which would justify the approach the company is taking. The statements that you make must be supported by evidence from credible and independent references.
• You need not attempt to address this section using PESTLE, Porter’s 5 Forces, SWOT, etc. Base your assessment on anecdotal evidence
obtained from the owner(s) of the company themselves, or publicly available information.
2. The Company’s Inputs (500 words)
• Look at the processes that are involved in the purchase of goods and
services for the company, either to meet planned or actual demand. Your emphasis is on how the company selects its suppliers, establishes policies to facilitate these processes, schedules the receipt of the deliveries, and consequently assess the suppliers’ performance.
• Explain how the input processes are set up in the company, and how it supports the company’s stated objective to its customers, using concepts learned in this module, and correlated by observations and interviews from the company.
3. The Company’s Operations (500 words)
• You are then to explore and explain whether the processes that transform the purchased inputs from (2) to a finished product or service, to meet demand. The focus here is to discuss the scheduling of production, the measurement of its performance, and the management of the inventory. Provide evidence to support your views.
• Explain how operations of the company addresses or not, the challenges of balancing supply and demand in the supply chain. Based on the concepts learned in the module, explain the ways that the company could address this primary issue, therefore, satisfying the needs of both the company’s customers and its suppliers.
4. The Company’s Outputs (500 words)
• This concerns the company’s processes that provide the finished goods and services to its customers. Identify and explain the workings of the
company’s order management, warehouse management, and transportation management.
• Make a brief assessment as to whether the company and its supply chain is achieving its objective of being responsive or efficient in meeting the needs of its customers. This can be done by evaluating the business performance of the company, to assess whether revenues are increasing, decreasing or staying stagnant.