Zara Supply Chain Case Study

928 Words2 Pages

The following paper analyzes the supply chain strategies conducted by Zara, European based retail store, with the aid of “Zara Clothing Company Supply Chain,” a recent article that analyses Zara’s success through its supply chain. Further, it highlights the strengths and key practices that allow Zara to be able to have such a successful supply chain in regards to efficiency and responsiveness.

“Zara Clothing Company Supply Chain” (2016) is a study conducted by SCM Globe, an online supply chain design and simulation tool. The article highlights the main components of Zara’s supply chain and practices that have allowed them to developed a global comparative advantage over many other multinational retail corporations. Zara was founded in Spain …show more content…

JIT eliminates waste by finishing production just in time for delivery while reducing inventory holding cost. Thus, allowing them to also have short lead times given their vertical integration in which instructions and process are linked closely to each other in their supply chain. Therefore, short lead times enable Zara to “to offer customers more styles and choices, and yet still create an urgency to buy because items often sell out quickly” (“Zara Clothing Company Supply Chain,” 2016). In support, during class, we learned that short lead times are beneficial to a company because that increases efficiency and allows the final product to be ready for sale much …show more content…

While I had a good understanding of the supply chain components needed to achieve strategic fit without compromising cost or responsiveness, the article allowed me to dive deeper into the main elements that drive a company’s levels of responsiveness and effectiveness. Further, it allowed me to understand that each company is unique and must execute a supply chain that meets its corporate mission and vision. While Zara’s supply chain has allowed them to become one of the leading retail stores in the world, it cannot be useful for companies like Walt-Mart or K-Mart who are proactive and not reactive to changes in demand. In addition, I was able to place further analysis on the importance of customer criteria and brand loyalty when deciding a supply chain strategy. As well as been able to further understand that minimizing cost is not always the best strategy for a firm, thus, Zara places more emphasis in speed and

Show More
Related

  • Wal Mart's Supply Chain

    1889 Words  | 4 Pages

    A supply chain is a system through which organizations deliver their products and services to their customers. The network begins with the basic ingredients to start the chain of supply, which are the suppliers that supply raw materials, ingredients, and so on. From there, it will transfer the supplies to the manufacturer who builds, assembles, converts, or furnishes a product. The chain now needs to get the product to the consumer by transporting the finished product from the manufacturer through a warehouse or distribution center. An example is that Wal-Mart has a nearby distribution center where products are delivered there and then split up to be delivered to a retail Wal-Mart. “Wal-Mart will take responsibility for breaking down larger loads and delivering the product to other Wal-Mart stores” (Ehring 1).

    Read More

  • Home Depot Supply Chain Management Case Study

    883 Words  | 2 Pages

    Understanding the changes in the market and the growth of e-commerce prompted the organization to invest heavily in its supply chain management forecasting and management system. The development of a network of distribution centers and Direct Fulfillment Centers to position the company to capitalize on the growing e-commerce market indicate a strong understanding of the need to adapt to changing market forces. The company spent over $300 million on new distribution center facilities in 2014 alone, and continues to expand to maintain efficiency in product movement (Cassidy,

    Read More

  • Zara: Information Technology For Fast Fashion

    863 Words  | 2 Pages

    Analysis & Recommendation: Zara’s main strategy is the ability to respond very quickly to the demands of target customers which called for identifying trends of the customer in advance. The company has been able to identify the trends and meet the demand with the help of its autonomously organized structure and its effective value chain systems. The present system followed by Zara has been very effective and very easy to maintain, which as a result has persuaded the company to continue without any change in the present system so far. The problem that Zara faces right now is that the system that they use, P-O-S (Point of Sale terminals), runs on DOS which Microsoft does not support anymore and any hardware change in the POS terminal will not be compatible with the current POS software. Although the sense of urgency for the change may not be that high, investing in IT infrastructure is a must as MS Dos is an obsolete technology and there is no contract or guarantee from their POS terminal vendor that they will continue supplying the same terminal with out much changes in the hardware for any specific period of time, therefore change is unavoidable. The other main issue that Zara faces is that the stores don’t share inventory information electronically and hence inventory management becomes highly difficult and manual. The decision making process is based on the judgment of employees throughout the company instead of relying on a small set of decision makers; the majority of the decisions were made by store managers and as a result they placed orders for the items rather than simply accepting and displaying what headquarters decided to send them.

    Read More

  • Zara Case Study

    684 Words  | 2 Pages

    Problem Recognition is the first step in the consumer decision making purchase. When customer passes through this step, it moves to the second step which is known as information search. Zara focuses on this step. When customers starts collecting information to know about a particular brand or various alternatives available in the market. As per the customers of Zara, various factors can influence their decision to choose Zara. Some of the factors that can influence the decision of its customers are products, brand image and brand identity, coming up with new products every two to three weeks and ambience of Zara stores and outlets. The decision factors differs from a person to person are unique for every person. Zara has to focus on factors like brand image, brand identity, products, ambience of its stores, so that it can influence the consumer’s decision and attract more customers to choose Zara. (Vaxjo, K. 2011)

    Read More

  • Just In Time Inventory System (JIT)

    1292 Words  | 3 Pages

    The basic premise for JIT is fairly simple: a company only produces an item when there is a need, or just-in-time for a company or individual to purchase it (Manoocherhi, 1988). The theory of JIT also accepts that there may be a need for an item at another work station and this would also create the need for production. Rather than utilizing the common practice of mass production and attempting to sell and distribute the products after they are created, JIT waits until there is a defined need that must be met. By doing this, JIT systems allow companies to decrease the level of production, decrease the necessary manpower hours utilized in mass production modes of supply, and eliminates the waste inherent in over-production. These techniques are especially effective for small companies, who are far less able to absorb the impact of unsold products. JIT has been shown to significantly impact reductions in overhead costs that reduce re-investments, and encourage stabilizing business practices(Manoocherhi, 1988).

    Read More

  • Somerset Case Analysis

    834 Words  | 2 Pages

    The global supply chain variability is causing customer delivery delayed by around 40% and also experiencing quality problems that is introduced by the humidity difference between the locations of Chinese manufacturing plants. Moreover, it is taking much longer to deliver products, and the spare parts preventing any timely customer services. The goal is to come up with a faster product delivery and product cycle employing strategic and tactical changes that might improve supply chain problem and address the quality and increase customer

    Read More

  • Fashion Case Study: Marks And Spencer And Zara

    1077 Words  | 3 Pages

    The business model that sets Zara apart from other clothing retailers is how rapidly the company changes stocks and releases new product lineups. The company averages 12-16 collections annually which equates to more than one lineup a month. Due to stock being limited and the rapid production Zara brings forth, their items are viewed as exclusive promoting further business. Their customers are happy knowing that their specific article of clothing is more “rare” due to only having an average of a two-week window to purchase the clothing. The company specifically targets current trends and has them in the store within 30 days. This maintains the brand’s uniqueness and relativity in fashion.

    Read More

  • Pampers Case Study

    925 Words  | 2 Pages

    Supply chain management has been defined as that process that involves the management of information, materials, and all the finances that are handled within and across the entire supply chain process (Christopher, 2016). The management is usually done through out the entire supply chain management from that moment when the suppliers are involved through all the manufacturing activities, different distribution activities, and the way that the products are served to the final product consumer (Turban, et al., 2002). The process also includes all the activities that different organizations offers to their customers as after sale services for purposes perfecting their services and products towards their highly valued customers (Christopher,

    Read More

  • Zara’s Business Model, Information and Communication Technologies, and Competitive Analysis

    10348 Words  | 21 Pages

    Capabilities of Zara, or the required resources needed to exploit the opportunities and execute this conceptual strategy, are numerous for Zara. Zara maintains tight control over their production processes keeping design and manufacturing in-house or with some strategic partnerships located nearby Headquarters. Currently, Zara maintains 80% of its production processes in Europe, 50% in Spain which is very close to La Coruña headquarters. They have strategic agreements with local manufacturers that ensure timely delivery and service. Through these strategic partnerships and the benefits brought by this proximity of manufacturing and operational processes, Zara maintains the flexibility necessary to design and produce over 12000 new items annually. This capability allows Zara to achieve their strategy of expedited response to consumer demand.

    Read More

  • Advantages And Disadvantages Of Jit

    1002 Words  | 3 Pages

    According to Srinidhi and Tayi (2004), companies that are flexible enough and are able to change from a JIT system to a traditional inventory system will have a competitive advantage over other firms who do not switch. In such uncontrollable environments, the major benefit of JIT becomes a handicap with the increase in delivery times and the added data handling and coordination required in such times. This leads to a decrease in quick response time, which ultimately leads to increase in costs to the firm.

    Read More

  • Walmart Inventory Management Case Study

    1260 Words  | 3 Pages

    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 from 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 seeing 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;

    Read More

  • The Marketing Strategy Of Zara's Fashion Industry

    1058 Words  | 3 Pages

    Today’s fashion market is highly competitive and aggressive. Indeed to meet the demand of quick changing trends, fashion industries have to be responsive and flexible as much as possible. Other competitors are not able to copy Zara’s business model unless they copy its supply chain, and considering that this chain is composed by people, technologies and processes, it cannot be replicable. The company has spent more than 30 years to reach this perfect combination between machines and people working together, and providing to costumers always what they want in the right place at the right time. Zara’s differentiate itself from other fast-fashion chains for its service marketing. Thanks to the strategic position of stores but also to its dynamic

    Read More

  • The Benefits Of Supply Chain

    955 Words  | 2 Pages

    This is the activity carried out by organizations that own production sites, and their performance has a major impact on product cost, quality, speed of delivery and delivery reliability, and flexibility [8]. As it is quite an important part of the supply chain, production needs to be measured and continuously improved. Suitable metrics for the production level are as follows. Order lead-time, the total order cycle time, called order to delivery cycle time, refers to the time elapsed in between the receipt of customer order until the delivery of finished goods to the customer. The reduction in order cycle time leads to reduction in supply chain response time, and as such is an important performance measure and source of competitive advantage [9]. It directly interacts with customer service in determining competitiveness. Range of product and services: According to [8] a plant that manufactures a broad product range is likely to introduce new products more slowly than plants with a narrow product range. Plants that can manufacture a wide range of products are likely to perform less well in the areas of value added per employee, speed and delivery reliability. This clearly suggests that product range affects supply chain performance. Effectiveness of scheduling techniques is another important measure of supply chain effectiveness. Scheduling refers to the time or date on or by which

    Read More

  • Zara Case Study

    978 Words  | 2 Pages

    Therefore their consumer promise is also the force behind the combination of their environmental and preservation guidelines used through the group 's supply chain. Zara, has been a groundbreaker in conveying new fashions, new designs, and new ideas rapidly to its stores. Zara’s tenacious thrust of on-trend products into the supply chain channel keeps its stores in stock on the latest fashions at lucrative prices. Lots of their new concepts have come from some of the fashion shows that just ended in New York, Paris and Milan will soon be on Zara’s racks.

    Read More

  • Crocs Case Study

    1052 Words  | 3 Pages

    Traditional shoe manufacturers have tended to use an inflexible supply chain management model (Hoyd & Silverman, 2008). In this model, retailers submit bulk orders several months in advance of a selling season and manufacturers fill these orders exactly as submitted (Hoyd & Silverman, 2008). This process is inefficient because retailers must anticipate how many shoes they will sell before the selling season starts and are unable to modify orders according to customer needs during the season. Such a system leads to missed revenue opportunities, waste and ultimately reduced profits as retailers e...

    Read More

More about Zara Supply Chain Case Study

Open Document