Question

Hi, can you answer this questions please.

Q1:

Three years ago, two college roommates - Pat Kelly and Jeff Speer - returned to their tailgating site after a football game only to find a troubling situation. A brief thunderstorm occurred during the game and it turned their tailgating tent into a twisted, unfixable mess. They had pooled some cash together only a few weeks prior to buy the tent. Now that investment was gone.

Frustrated, Pat created a tent that eliminated the metal frame which always seemed to be the fail point of the product. His prototype tent was supported by air-filled tubes that could quickly be inflated with a small battery-operated pump. Jeff created a marketing plan and the two entered a campus competition for new product innovations.

The team won $50,000 and rolled it into a venture called Inflate-a-Dome Innovations (IDI). They hired a friend to build a website, purchased the materials needed to build 50 inflatable tents, and were in business. Using social media and online advertising, IDI began to generate sales and soon had a sustainable business. A few catalog retailers offered to feature Inflate-a-Dome tents in their publications and sales grew.

Needing to manage the operations better, Pat and Jeff hired a friend who was a recent supply chain management grad. Vic Catella quickly assessed the situation and decided that to grow, IDI needed to better control its inventory, production, and transportation. So Vic found some Excel-based freeware and IDI soon had a somewhat better handled on its supply chain. The catalog retailers could transfer orders online, via email, or by phone and IDI was able to create basic production schedules, plan materials needs, and support fulfillment. An online link to the small package carrier made it easy to schedule pickups and track in-transit freight. Life was getting simpler at IDI.

The company was growing at a manageable pace and then life changed overnight. Unknown to the IDI owners, a Hollywood star used ten Inflate-a-Dome tents at her intimate wedding reception. Bad weather quickly rolled in but the tents performed well, saving the day. The story was picked up by the media and soon Pat and Jeff were being interviewed on national morning shows.

Soon thereafter, inquiries began arrive from sporting goods retailers, the NCAA licensing group, and Amazon.com. The IDI owners were elated that volume was about to explode.

In contrast, Vic was greatly worried that inventory variety was about to greatly expand with tents in new colors and emblazoned with college logos. Also, order size and shipment would no longer be one to four units but 50 to 500. He sensed that the simple Supply Chain Information System (SCIS) that he had built for spare change would no longer suffice. It was time for a real SCIS that could support major clients. It was time for a strategic planning meeting about technology with Pat and Jeff.

Based on the above case, answer the following questions:

1. As its customer base grows and becomes more diversified, how will the information requirements of the Inflate-a-Dome Innovations (IDI) supply chain change?(10 marks)
2. Given its anticipated volume growth and inventory variety expansion, what supply chain capabilities will IDI need?  (10 marks)
3. In preparation for the strategic planning meeting, what technology risks must Vic think about? (10 marks)

Answer 1

Future information requirements of IDI supply chain:

• Improved stock rates in the supply chain at different points.
• State of order and data efficiency.
• Advanced and reliable tracking system which takes higher loads into account.
• Estimate and estimate of order.
• Centralized application delivery infrastructure and system requirements.

Supply chain capabilities:

There is therefore a certain overlap between the knowledge requirements with the incredibly expected growth in volume that needs to be further established in the supply chain.

• Central control system. Central control system.
• Projected demand.
• Business planning incorporated.
• Optimization of the operation.
• Improved supply and procurement.

Technology risks:

Total risks – risks related to production, environmental risks and market risks; risks related to supply and physical plant risks, apart from risks related to scheduling and monitoring; uncertainty, manufacturing risk.

• Simple technological advances.
• System vulnerability and safety concerns.
• Risks of downtime and loss of data.