GENERAL OVERVIEW
Merloni Company was created in 1930 by Aristide Merloni. After the Second World War Merloni started to expand their range of products, and in the 60s and 70s Merloni was already the biggest producer of high quality domestic appliances, operating in both, Italy and Europe.
At some point in the 70s, the company became Merloni Group formed by four subsidiaries. Merloni Progetti for industrial projects; Merloni Igienico Sanitari for bath and heating products; Merloni Casa for built-in kitchen and bath furniture; and Merloni Electtrodomestici for domestic appliances. The latter is the subsidiary with the biggest percentage of consolidated sales.
COSTS AND BENEFITS OF MERLONI’S CURRENT DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM
When analysing the actual distribution model, we find out several faults. Firstly, the inventory management is much decentralized and there are few formal replenishment methods. The regional warehouses managers just define the stock goals and call central warehouse daily with a list of restocking needs. This lack of control can lead to an excess of stock, creating a higher inventory cost, or to a situation of stock out. When the latter happens, regional warehouse manager must order the required product from central warehouse and in order to compensate costumers he offers a discount of 4.000lires per piece.
We also realized that transportation costs are particularly high because every finished good, no matter where it came from, must be taken to the central warehouse and just afterwards it is sent to a regional warehouse. However, in some cases the products are just “travelling” across Italy creating useless transportations costs. For example, a dishwasher produced in Bonferraro goes to the central warehou...
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...uld invest in training programs.
Having an alternative mean of transporting the products available in cases of predictable storm situations or other problems with the trucks. For instance by airplane, or ship (only applicable to long distances).
Besides this contingency plans there are some changes that we recommend to the integrated distribution system of Merloni’s:
In order to reduce transportation costs we recommend the creation of another central warehouse strategically located. Far from Fabriano and near a region with high demand.
The sales manager should be responsible for all sale process.
Despite we do not have enough information to make such an important decision, Merloni should consider outsourcing for the transportation of the products.
Lucio Proni is an engineer and cofounded of the company with his high school buddy Jim Birch. During the mid-1970’s when they were on their summer break from the University of Florida, Lucio and Jim decided to mess around with component speakers and wound up building home loudspeakers for fun. They worked out of a garage in Lucios home and showed some of their speakers to their friends and some. Later on, a few of them even bought some, so they built a couple more to sell on the flea market. Lucio’s early success inspired him to start a speaker business so he could make a living from his work. In 1975, he joined fellow business partner and friend, Jim Birch and founded JL Audio; their company name being an amalgamation of the first letters of their names. They didn’t really start out their business with a solid business plan, their early days were instead marked by a lot of trial and error. At first they tried to sell JL Audio products to local audio shops. They found some success doing this since a couple of the loca shops were interested in selling their home speaker systems and kits. In 1977, business became scarce and they encountered financial difficulties as a result. In troubling times like this, it was Jims’s business skills, Lucio’s quality workmanship, and their combined tenacity that got them through it all. As a child, Lucio was given some valuable advice from his father; he said that “if you’re not willing to put your heart into something, then don’t bother doing it”. This work philos...
Journal of Commerce (2010). Home improvements on the supply chain. Vol. 11 Issue 22 p.8A May31, 2010 https://ehis-ebscohost-com.csuglobal.idm.oclc.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=52342ec7-8554-49a1-88b5-f7ab8125403b%40sessionmgr4001&vid=9&hid=4111
Carfagna’s Kitchen, located at 2025 Polaris Parkway, Columbus, Ohio, is a fast casual, family-owned Italian restaurant. The authentic handmade dishes are synonymous with Carfagna’s pledge to serve quality dishes, made with only the freshest ingredients. Saturnino Carfagna immigrated to the United States in 1919 (“Carfagna’s Kitchen”). After working as a laborer, he returned to his home in the Abruzzo-Molise region of Italy (“Carfagna’s Kitchen”). In 1925, he brought his wife and three children to the United States and settled on a farm in New Albany, Ohio (“Carfagna’s Kitchen”). In 1937, Saturnino established his own store in Columbus. Saturnino often said, “Give our customers what they want, not what you want” (“Carfagna’s Kitchen”). Today, his grandsons, Dino and Sam, run the restaurant. Dino and Sam have made excellent choices in helping to keep traditions, values, and service alive for years, along with serving upscale handmade specialties at affordable prices in just minutes.
In the retail stores, managers are complaining of frequent stock outs even though the DC is full of merchandise, which is not moving enough through the supplier, DC, and retail stores. The inventory issue also ties in with transportation problems where accurate lead and delivery times are non-existent. The inventory turnover is not at its full potential because if the DC has merchandise yet the stores are stocked out, the inventory is frozen and will become obsolete.
The Home Depot Supply Chain Management model is based on integrated inventory management through a centralized network of 20 distribution centers, called Rapid Deployment Centers (RDCs) and three Direct Fulfillment Centers (DFCs) aimed at the e-commerce market (Bond, 2015). Orders are processed and managed to meet current and forecasted demands, sent to the regional RDCs, which service approximately 100 stores each, and sent to retail outlets to meet stock requirements (Bond, 2015). Direct Fulfillment Centers are e-commerce distribution systems. Home Depot delivers within a two-day timeframe to 90% of US based customers, and the system also leverages in store stock for same day pick-up (Bond,
Production and distribution issues will also be addressed. Many production issues will be corrected as the facility is updated. Distribution is less of an immediate problem and future growth will resolve many of these concerns.
...pital resources like distribution vehicles and storage warehouses should be outsourced to help reduce the high cost of operation which in turn can lead to reduction of its products price. The company should concentrate on product development and evolution and delegate distribution roles to outsourced firms. Such initiatives have worked well in the new Indian market and should be implemented in other areas.
At the age of seventeen, Fred Deluca decided to open a submarine sandwich shop as a way to help pay for his education of becoming a medical doctor. Dr. Peter Buck offered Fred a $1,000 loan and became his partner and 1965 the first Subway store was opened in Bridgeport, Connecticut. They learned through experience how to run a business, with the integrity of serving a high quality product, and providing excellent customer service. Today, Subway is the world's largest sandwich chain with more than 41,000 locations around the globe. The goal is to serve the highest quality foods, and make sure everything produced meets the safety standards from the time it is grown, to when it is put into a sandwich. To insure this, sustainable agricultural practices such as cover cropping, and crop rotation this restores nutrients and minimizes pesticide and fertilizer use. With thousands of restaurants throughout the world, subways supply chain needs to be sustainable and efficient in order to cut costs. Many vendors and suppliers worked with Subway to add or move locations closer to our distributors, and we have implemented many re-distribution centers which help reduce emissions, and provide lower shipping costs. Subway has a Distribution Operational Efficiency program that’s purpose it so find ways to ensure all traveling routes and techniques are optimized, and all the trucks are shipped with full loads to reduce mileage, and be as efficient as possible. Recently, Subway has introduced a process in the United States that consolidates all orders of equipment into a single shipment for new restaurants, and restaurants being remodeled. This helps eliminate excess packaging, and unnecessary non-value added activity at the building site. Subway...
Change is the most crucial aspect of management. In a rapid competitive business environment, change is not only recurrent but also becoming complex. The case study Bega Cheese highlights how the firm has achieved change management from satisfying the needs of local market to being limited company of more than 50 countries globally. Through the case study, it is seen that Bega Cheese has undergone different stages of change process by implementing various effective cultural perspectives, to traditionally organizational designs concerning with structures and new forms, processes and boundaries to adapt to organizational change and eliminate resistance to change. Change is inevitable, and vital to achieve strategic objectives and competitive advantage in the market.
For this topic, we have some important point need to mention about. Firstly, we would like to discuss how the Penske Corporation locate their facility. Secondly, is about the factors influencing the facility location. Thirdly, we would like to talk about how the Penske design the warehouse to their customers. Fourthly, is the way to find out the lowest-cost location. Lastly, we also will discuss about the important of facility relocation and facility closing.
Inventory management is a method through which a business handles tangible resources and materials to ensure availability of resources for use. It is a collection of interdisciplinary processes including a full circle of the demand forecasting, supply chain management, inventory control and reverse logistics. Inventory management is the optimization of inventories of manufactured goods, work in progress, and raw materials. According to Doucette (2001) inventory management can be challenging at times; however, the need for effective inventory management is largely seen more as a necessity than a mere trend when customer satisfaction and service have become a prime reason for a business to stand apart from its competition. For example, Wal-Mart’s inventory management is one of the biggest contributors to the success of the company; effective and efficient inventory management is of critical importance.
Rajagopal. "International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management." Emerald. Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2011. Web. 21 Feb. 2014
All choices made by Seven-Eleven are structured to lower its transportation and receiving costs. For example, its area-dominance strategy of opening at least 50 to 60 stores in an area helps with marketing but also lowers the cost of replenishment. All manufacturing facilities are centralized to get the maximum benefit of capacity aggregation and also lower the inbound transportation cost from the manufacturer to the distribution center (DC). Seven-Eleven also requires all suppliers to deliver to the DC where products are sorted by temperature. This reduces the outbound transportation cost because of aggregation of deliveries across multiple suppliers. It also lowers the receiving cost. The information infrastructure is set up to allow store managers to place orders based on analysis of consumption data. The information infrastructure also facilitates the sorting of an order at the DC and receiving of the order at the store. The key point to emphasize here is that most decisions by Seven-Eleven are structured to aggregate transportation and receiving to make both cheaper.
Inventory management involves planning, coordinating, and controlling the acquisition, storage, handling, movement, distribution, and possible sale of raw materials, component parts and subassemblies, supplies and tools, replacement parts, and other assets that are needed to meet customer wants and needs (Collier & Evans, 2009). In order for business and supply chains to run smoothly, they must meet all the listed requirements for effective inventory management. Thus, inventory management must be managed wisely in order to be a successful an...
Refrigerators and stoves are the main product lines in which Atlas Eléctrica has its core competences. They are also working fine due to the production system.