Defining Collaborative Planning Forecasting And Replenishment Commerce Essay

Defining Collaborative Planning Forecasting And Replenishment Commerce Essay In manufacturing and retail, poor inventory control can lead to overstocking as a result of bad forecasting, this over stocking is called buffer inventory or safety stock which can lead to waste and inefficiency. In 1996 about $700 of the $2.3 trillion retail supply chain inventory was in safety stock. That is, almost 30% was tied up due to waste and inefficiency.(Lambert, Stock, 2001) Collaborative Planning, Forecasting and Replenishment (CPFR), is a business process using an internet based business model, as shown in figure 1. This model takes a holistic approach to information exchange and supply chain management between trading partners, by using a standard set of business processes in order to improve supply chain efficiencies, and is seen as a replacement to the old approach of electronic data interchange (EDI) (Fliedner, 2003). The objective of CPFR is to share data on a central web server that all of the trading partners can access to enable a more reliable forecast for long term future demand in the supply chain, this eliminates the problems associated with EDI such as: supply partners manually entering identical data in their records (Joachim, 1998), and the EDI process typically being done in batch transfers which can further add to delays in information (Cooke, 1998) etc. History of CPFR CPFR began in 1995 with the company Wal-Mart and was originally called C-FAR for collaborative forecasting and replenishment. The acronym has evolved into CPFR standing for collaborative planning, forecasting and replenishment. Wal-Mart found that the pharmaceutical company Warner-Lamberts in-stock averages were not up to par with Wal-Marts vendor performance standards. Wal-Mart, along with Warner-Lambert, Surgency (formerly Benchmarking Partners), and two software companies, SAP and Manugistics, launched an effort to define a process that would link customer demand with replenishment needs through the entire supply chain. The pilot focused on stock of Listerine mouthwash kept in stores. The group first tested the collaborative concept on paper, and then demonstrated in a computer lab that the Internet could be used for the information exchange. The results of the test were: Warner-Lamberts in-stock averages rose from 87% to 98%. Lead times dropped from 21 to 11 days, and sales increased by $8.5 million over the test period-even though the pilot was limited to one Warner-Lambert manufacturing plant and three Wal-Mart distribution centres. (free-logistics.com, 2010) Case study: West Marine Today West Marine is the largest boating-supply retail chain in the United States, with a product range of more than 50,000 products selling throughout more than 400 company owned retail stores, as well as their retail catalogue, generating annual average sales of $690 million. The company was founded in 1968 by Randy Repass as a mail-order firm selling to boating enthusiasts, and opened its first retail store in Palo Alto, California in 1975, three years later, the company created a separate sales channel to commercial customers such as boat yards and boat dealers. In 1997 West Marine a 73 store operation at the time acquired one of their East Coast competitors, EB Marine a 63 store operation. The consequences of the acquisition became quickly apparent: Sales fell by almost 8 percent, and peak-season out-of-stock levels raised more than 12 percent compared to the prior year, and after six years of steady growth, net income dropped from $15 million in 1997 to just over $1 million in 1998. (Highbeam Research, 2006) The main contributing factor of this was that following the transaction, West Marine discovered that internal EB operations were in worse condition than expected. The investment group that had been running EB had let the companys infrastructure deteriorate and inventories dwindle. This further compounded the acquisition by adding to the problem that it took six months to implement the most basic of systems integration due to the poor infrastructure, leading to stock outs within the stores. West Marines first impulsive reaction was to rebrand all the EB stores convert them to West Marines products and pricing, West Marines CEO John Edmondson (who was brought in after the acquisition to execute a company turn around) said regarding the acquisition, West Marine bought EB because it was different and unique. Then, they turned all the stores into West Marine stores and locked out the customer base. Adding to this Bruce Edwards (West Marines senior VP of store operations) said, We created a lot of damage to both chains, as well as losing ground on comparable sales as a combined organization. (Standford, Graduate School of Business, 2005) How West Marine Turned the Company Around In order to turn the company around after the acquisition Edmondson identified four supply chain problem areas: the distribution centres (DCs), transportation, replenishment, and the systems supporting these operations; his solution to these problems was to implement a CPFR programme. The first thing as part of West Marines CPFR programme was implement an aggregate ordering or multi-echelon replenishment process. A multi-echelon system is defined as A series of two or more production or supply facilities where any change in policy parameters of one facility affects the other facilities, either directly or indirectly.(Gopalakrishnan, 2004). According to (Standford, Graduate School of Business, 2005) prior to the implementing of the multi echelon system West Marine were using JDAs Merchandise Management System (MMS). The MMS was interfaced with the companys point-of-sale system in the stores (also provided by JDA) to keep track of basic inventory levels and product sales at the store level. West Marine also used JDAs Warehouse Management System (WMS) as the software engine for its distribution centre (DC) operations. As well as these systems West Marine also made use of JDAs advanced forecasting tools, both Advanced Store Replenishment (ASR) and Advanced Warehouse Replenishment (AWR). The problem with these systems was that while they were good on their own, none of the systems had the ability to directly interact with each other leading to extensive duplicate work and maintenance. At the time no software provider offered a fully integrated solution, it was left to West Marine as well as Matt Henderson a systems engineer and integrator from the San-Francisco based software company Amigo Inc. to design a system that integrated linkages between the point of sale systems to the DC systems. The system they designed was the first true multi echelon system in the retail sector. (bisg.org, 2005)The way in which West Marine implemented their multi echelon replenishment solution was to integrate data from the retail stores and warehouses with relation to seasonal forecasts, promotions and stock levels, enabling suppliers to deliver more accurate, on time orders to satisfied customer demands. West Marines multi-echelon replenishment solution resolves the store-warehouse disconnect. Warehouse replenishment immediately responds to all store-level overstocks and understocks. Similarly, all promotions and store level assortment changes are planned in the store system, and warehouse replenishment immediately responds to them. The solution eliminates duplicate forecasting tasks and creates more accurate supplier-order forecasts. (Reed Business Information, 2006) The West Marine multi echelon system is shown in figure 2. C:UsersAmyElizabethDesktopSCM0654WESTERN2.gif SUPPLIER INTERGRATION The next problem that West Marine encountered was to get its suppliers to buy into the idea of CPFR. In order to address this problem West Marine introduced a pilot program with 12 handpicked companies that were major suppliers to West Marine, that all had previous issues with their supply chains in some form. To these companies West Marine laid out specific performance levels and expected goals, although no formal written agreements were created each company was expected to comply to the performance standards. For the suppliers that joined West Marines supply pilot there was no capital investment outlay in technology, they were only required to designate recourses to act as counterparts to West Marines supply chain merchandise planners. With this set in place West Marine began sharing its forecasts on a weekly basis with its vendors, as a weekly update report on vendor performance. There was also the introduction of weekly meetings with cross functional teams made up of members from all the organisations involved, in order to discuss potential improvements as well as to maintain a holistic integrated perspective on each vendor relationship. The results of the CPFR programme were; in stock rates at the stores came close to the goal of 96 percent in every store, even during peak season. Forecast accuracy climbed to approximately 85 percent. On-time shipments, on the other hand, were improving but only reached 30 percent against a stated goal of 90 percent in 2002. However, West Marine expected them to climb to at least 50 percent by the end of 2003. (Standford, Graduate School of Business, 2005). Even after the pilot programme with the evidence to back up that CPFR works, West Marine still had problems getting supplies to buy into the CPFR programme, West Marines solution to this was to offer its suppliers an incentive in the form of a guarantee. This guarantee was that based on the forecasts, West Marine promised to purchase one hundred percent of the forecasted stock. This meant that if there were any errors in the system, then West Marine would bear the brunt as a result. It was this action that was responsible for convincing and instilling vendor trust in West Marines CPFR forecasts. The knock on effects of having the suppliers buy into West Marines CPFR programme were that the company were able to use their demand forecasts to stream line their shipping and receiving activities. The forecasts enabled West Marine to maximise efficiency in its inbound and out bound shipments and to use its dock space more effectively, in turn allowing West Marine to smooth demand spikes. Conclusion In conclusion as the evidence shows in both the Wal-Mart pilot programme and the West Marine case study CPFR is a powerful logistics stock forecasting tool http://www.free-logistics.com/index2.php?option=com_docmantask=doc_viewgid=268Itemid=26 http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-145836210.html http://www.lomag-man.org/cpfr_industrie_achat_distribution/documentation_cpfr/WestMarineA_CPFRSuccStorySupChManReManNet_an.pdf http://www.stanford.edu/group/scforum/Welcome/White%20Papers/Multi-Echelon%20Inventory%20Optimization%20-%20Evant%20white%20paper.pdf Gopalakrishnan, P., 2004. Handbook of Materials Management, Prentice-Hall of India Pvt.Ltd http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:1UbbYNftcc8J:www.bisg.org/docs/West_Marine_Case_GS-34_FINAL_092704.doc+matt+henderson+amigo+inc+cpfrcd=2hl=enct=clnkgl=uksource=www.google.co.uk

Divorce and American Culture

Culture surrounds us everywhere we go. It reflects the people of the times and when it changes, so do the very people it reflects. A general definition would say that culture, related to society, is a set of norms that govern behavior. Within this set of norms the people of a society do certain rituals and behaviors to fit in with the world around them. Different trends rule the times. Whether it be anti-war protests, to civil rights movements, to legalization of same sex civil unions and even divorce-the people of the times roll with many different ideas and tendencies. The idea of marriage is an old and sacred one. In the Bible, a marriage is seen a holy sacrament between a man and woman that leads to the raising of a family. There is one man and one-woman involved- then with the addition of the holy spirit, the union is supposed to be ever lasting. â€Å"Christian marriage is a sacrament (sacred act approved by God). As a result marriage was very difficult to end, and before the nineteenth century usually ended with death,† (Chan and Haplin, 2001). In the world today, marriage is interpreted in many different ways. Very rarely is it seen as an everlasting contract that can withstand all tests. The revolutions of the 60s, 70s, up through today have severely changed the way people think of marriage. The drug culture has helped redefine the meaning of peace and love and of course, holy unions. People today do not get married out of the idea of love. If they do, it is most often between two young and naive children or young adults that believe that love can conquer all. â€Å"People expect too much from specialized love marriages, and when the love goes so might the marriage. Other cultures unite families through arranged marriages, and these social functions may make them more stable,† (Chan and Haplin, 2001). People have begun to take advantage of the system and get married because of benefits they can receive. For the military couple, extra cash is a big incentive as well as extra leave time. A lot of times the benefits outweigh the costs and people today go into marriages knowing that it will be just as easy to exit the marriage. For a marriage to end, there needs to be either a death or a cause for divorce. Grounds for divorce include; a cheating spouse, an abusive partner, and mishandling of funds. Every so often though, there is no direct cause, but instead the couples just are not compatible. The constant fighting and disagreements make it difficult to raise a family and have a stable home. As society grows and culture changes, divorce still remains. In the early parts of the 20th century, divorce was a taboo idea that meant that you ultimately failed as a wife or husband. People viewed it as the easy way out and very rarely did they agree with it. In the 1950s, divorce was only 5 per 1000 women, as opposed to the rate of 20 per every 1000 women in the early 21st century (Relationships, 2008). The times influenced peoples decisions and instead of doing what might have been best for all the parties involved, couples stayed together so that they would not be viewed as such a failure to their friends, family and children. Culture put the message out to society that a divorce is an end all be all decision that means that you have failed. Of course, logically that is not true. Occasionally things do not go according to plan and you have to change your idea of the future accordingly. The idea of being a failure comes from the society that surrounds the couple. As the times began to change, so did the overall idea of separation and divorce. The more married couples got divorced, the more casual the idea has become. When a couple divorces and they have children, the children see the process and although it might hurt them tremendously, it also makes them learn and see things. As they see the process, the idea becomes to seem â€Å"normal† to them. According to a recent journal article, â€Å"growing-up in a divorced family can instill offspring with less unfavorable attitudes towards divorce (Greenberg and Nay 1982, Amato 1988, Trent and South 1989, Axinn and Thornton 1996, Kapinus 2004 as cited by Hiller and Recoules 2011). Sometimes the children involved begin to think that this is a normal thing that happens and makes it easier to do themselves. This could explain the rising divorce rates today. On the other hand, often times when a child witnesses the struggles of divorce, they are sometimes more reluctant to get a divorce themselves (Hiller and Recoules, 2011). The inevitable hurt and suffering from witnessing countless hours of parental figures fighting, getting sometimes physical, and the mental and emotional strains that the fighting causes sends some children into a downwards spiral. Their whole attitude on love in general is questioned. And from first hand experience, the sanctity of marriage itself is questioned. An idea that some children used to find so uplifting and amazing, now seems bleak and not worth it. If the two people I love the most in the whole world cannot seem to get along, and cannot make it work, then what are the chances that my marriage will fail? What is the point in even trying? Is love just another silly Disney ideation that really cannot exist in our world today? â€Å"American society may have erased the stigma that once accompanied divorce, but it can no longer ignore divorce's massive effects† (Fagan and Rector, 2000). Married couples do not always understand that their fighting and arguments are a lot bigger than just the two of them. It reaches out and branches down to all the people they know. Subsequent relationships between children and their partners become affected. Sometimes girls go crazy and give up on the concept of love and become promiscuous at a young age. They eventually fall into a routine and thanks to the invention of birth control, have no qualms and avoid the pregnancy scare that might have once deterred them otherwise. Boys may become rude and hostile towards their partners and begin to treat their ladies badly in response to how they see their fathers treat their mothers. Coworkers, neighbors, children, friends, everyone is affected. Some articles claim that the divorce rates among young adults today are lower than that of the past. This might be true, but this does not take into account the idea of young relationships failing. Couples that never got married, but might have had children at a young age with no intention of getting married and consequently leading to a single parent and broken home anyways. There was no sacrament done, but the damage still is the same. Repeatedly it is seen that parents will reluctantly â€Å"stay together† for the kids. This is a great idea on paper. It would seem that if the parents were to stay together, that the children would not suffer from the emotional and psychological damage done to a child because of a divorce. What is often overlooked is the fact that if parents stay together, and clearly are not compatible and cannot communicate like adults and actually raise the children, then the child will most likely suffer just as much or even more so than the child with divorced parents. Often times negative traits are learned from the parents during times of arguments that will debilitate the growth of the child. Negative traits would include, harsh tempers, awful communication skill development, and negative views of either parent based on the idea that parents will most likely isolate the children and try to get each on â€Å"their side. The strain of choosing between the two parents puts many over the edge. Children will sometimes develop different drinking or substance abuse problems in order to deal with the problems that they are facing at home leading to failing or dropping out of school, unwanted pregnancies, and even dangerous automobile accidents. â€Å"†Don't stay together just f or the sake of the children. † â€Å"If divorce is better for you, it will be better for your kids. † (Spohn, n. d. ) As the times are continually changing, so do the basic ideas that fuel society as a whole. Divorce rates will rise and fall with the times depending on society and culture. It is a trend that cannot be predicted and cannot be ignored. The overall effect of divorce is an everlasting one and before any decision is made about either marriage or divorce, all the options and pros and cons should always be weighed. Reference: Hughes, R. (2008, August 20). What is the current divorce rate in the United States? Has the divorce rate changed much over the past 5 to 10 years?. MissouriFamilies. org Home. Retrieved July 20, 2011, from http://missourifamilies. org/quick/divorceqa/divorceqa3. tm Fagan, P. , ; Rector, R. (n. d. ). World and I Magazine – The Effects of Divorce in America. Online Magazine: The World ; I Online Magazine. Retrieved July 20, 2011, from http://www. worldandi. com/specialreport/divorce/divorce. html Sociology of Divorce (GCSE). (n. d. ). The Adrian Worsfold Website. Retrieved July 20, 2011, from http://www. change. freeuk. com/learning/socthink/divorcesi mpler. html Spohn, W. C. (n. d. ). The American Myth of Divorce. Santa Clara University – Welcome. Retrieved July 16, 2011, from http://www. scu. edu/ethics/publications/iie/v9n2/divorce. html

Dark Knight Rises Essay

The Dark Knight Rises is a 2012 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan, who co-wrote the screenplay with his brother Jonathan Nolan and the story with David S. Goyer. Featuring the DC Comics character Batman, the film is the final installment in Nolan’s Batman film trilogy, and it is the sequel to Batman Begins (2005) and The Dark Knight (2008). Christian Bale reprises the lead role of Bruce Wayne/Batman, with a returning cast of his allies: Michael Caine as Alfred Pennyworth, Gary Oldman as James Gordon, and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox. The film introduces Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway), a sly, morally ambiguous cat burglar, and Bane (Tom Hardy), a mercenary bent on destroying Gotham City. Drawn back into action by new threats facing the city, an older Bruce Wayne is forced to come out of retirement and become Batman once again. Christopher Nolan was initially hesitant about returning to the series for a second time, but agreed to come back after developing a story with his brother and Goyer that he felt would conclude the series on a satisfactory note. Nolan drew inspiration from Bane’s comic book debut in the 1993 â€Å"Knightfall† storyline, the 1986 series The Dark Knight Returns, and the 1999 storyline â€Å"No Man’s Land†. Filming took place in various locations, including Jodhpur, London, Nottingham, Glasgow, Los Angeles, New York City, Newark, and Pittsburgh. Nolan utilized IMAX cameras for much of the filming to optimize the quality of the picture, including the first six minutes of the film. A variation of the Batplane termed â€Å"The Bat†, an underground prison set, and a new Batcave set were created specifically for the film. As with The Dark Knight, viral marketing campaigns began early during production to help promotion. When filming concluded, Warner Bros. refocused its campaign; developing promotional websites, releasing the first six minutes of the film and theatrical trailers, sending random pieces of information regarding the film’s plot to various companies. The Dark Knight Rises premiered in New York City on July 16, 2012. The film was released in Australia and New Zealand on July 19, 2012, and in North America and the United Kingdom on July 20, 2012. It received a generally positive critical response and grossed over $1.081 billion worldwide. The Dark Knight Rises is currently the 7th highest-grossing film of all time,  the second highest-grossing film of 2012, and the second highest-grossing superhero film of all time.

Extemporaneous speech on Steve Job and his legacy - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 3 Words: 956 Downloads: 10 Date added: 2018/12/17 Category Business Essay Type Speech Level High school Tags: Apple Inc Essay Steve Jobs Essay Did you like this example? I am (insert name) and I will be giving a speech on Steve Jobs and his legacy. The reason behind choosing this topic is because, Steve Jobs is an impactful name not only in the U.S. but worldwide. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Extemporaneous speech on Steve Job and his legacy" essay for you Create order Furthermore, through him jobs have been created, creativity enhanced and trade links widened. Steve Jobs died on the eleventh day of October, 2011 and he was born on the twenty-fourth day of February 1955 There are several titles that can describe him some of them are inventor, industrial engineer, entrepreneur and business magnate. He is famous for his Apple products that have circulated the world (Moses, 2011). Steve Jobs is the co-founder and was the Chief Executive Officer as well as chairman of Apple Inc. Apart from being involved with Apple Inc., Steve Jobs was also the founder and chairperson of NeXT as well as major shareholder and CEO of Pixar. His contribution to the economy of the U.S and technology has revolutionized many technological sectors and the Apple products. Moreover, the products are a competitive technology in the global market today. His legacy left at Apple Inc. is one of the most extraordinary accomplishments of Jobs (Dormehl, 2017). His vision and legacy in the technology lives on six years after his death. Apple Inc. is a U.S. based global technology company whose headquarters is in Cupertino, California. The company specializes in designing, developing and selling customer electronics, online services and computer software. Some of the popular hardware products the company manufactures are smartphones commonly known as iPhones, Mac book which is in the category of Personal Computer category, other electronics such as Apple digital television, Apple smart watches, iPods and smart speakers called HomePods (Dormehl, 2017). Other than hardware, the company designs software such as iTunes media players which carries out all downloads on the companys hardware, Safari Web browser, operating systems called iOS and macOS. The software has been integrated into different aspect of life which displays the creativity level of the company and the diversification of its services and products. This is seen through iWork as well as iLife that is present in the productivity and inventiveness suites. Furthermore, in connection to diversity, the company has famous online services like iCloud, Apple Music, iOS application store, Mac application store and iTunes store (Dormehl 2017). Therefore, with the hardware and software products that are mentioned above, the company has been and still is a powerful competitor in the technology business. The significance of his legacy to the U.S. and the world The significant aspect about Jobs legacy is that it transverse borders to reach millions of peoples and impacted on different nations and their economies. Apple Inc. has several branches spread in different nations and has managed to provide employment opportunities to approximately 123,000 individuals (Goel, 2016). In general, it sparked several innovation ideas in the technology industries. The company and its product managed to keep competitors on their toes to better their products or lose their consumers to Apple Inc. Furthermore, through sparking technology competitiveness and making huge sales in the global market, the company has benefited the U.S. economy especially during the past recession period (Bajarin 2012). His resignation to support his legacy In 2004, Steve Jobs made an announcement to the workers at Apple Inc. on his medical condition after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He did undergo complicated surgical procedures to boost his health through having whipple procedure. In attempts to treat the disease and take proper care of himself, he took numerous leaves of absence in the subsequent years which includes 2009 to undergo liver transplant surgery. While on his leaves, Tim Cook acted as the acting CEO of Apple Inc. and assumed all Jobs responsibilities. When the illness progressed, Steve Jobs saw it fit to resign from his duty as the CEO of Apple Inc. This was done on 24th August 2011. Other than his health issues, his main aim of resigning were well captured by his resignation speech where he showed his efforts to see his legacy live on beyond him. In his speech he pointed out his first sentiments that he would willingly resign if faced with a situation that prevents him from fulfilling his duties as CEO of A pple Inc. and failure to meet crucial objectives of the company. He stepped down and offered to serve the company and its vision in the position of an employee and as the chairperson of the board in regards to the decision the board makes. His resignation led to Tim Cook becoming the next CEO of Apple Inc (Moses, 2011). Conclusion The name Steve Jobs cannot be separated from Apple Inc. and its product. Steve Jobs has been an influential figure in the technology sector and plays a role in the high-quality telecommunication and multimedia gadgets as well as innovative software that are present in the world today. His greatest achievement which is his legacy still lives on even after his death. The hardware like iPhones and software such as iOS as well as online services like iCloud form part of his legacy. During the course of his life he tirelessly worked to ensure his legacy serve the consumers needs to the best of his ability and when he could not fulfill due to illness, he resigned and continued serving as an employee. Furthermore, his legacy has served as a great contributor to the U.S. nations economy. Reference Ben Bajarin. Big Picture: Why America needs Apple? Published by Times, 2012. Dormehl, Luke. Today in Apple history: Apple becomes a corporation. Cult of Mac. Published on 2017. Goel, Vindu. How Apple Empowers, and Employs, the American Working Class. The New York Times. Published on 20th November, 2016. Moses, Asher. Who was Steve Jobs the man? The Age. Melbourne. Published on October 7, 2011.