Supply Chain Management And E-Business Assignment Part 1

Assignment (Report/Essay) 50%  

Report Deliverables 

• Professional Report/Essay style of about 1600 words excluding table of contents and appendix. 

Requirements 

Select two Australian organisations for this assessment (or one overseas and one Australian organisation).  

Part A (Report 1) 

For this part you will need to  provide operational background for each organisation and your report should cover the following aspects: 

1. Introduction / background of the two organisations identifying the similarities and differences in their supply chain and logistic goals, operations and issues. (5 marks) 
2. Literature review describing how such supply chain and logistics issues are addressed in other similar case studies found in literature. (10 marks) 
3. Research methodology you would adopt and identify the type of tools; methods and data collection techniques that would be used to address the supply chain and logistic issues of the two organisations. (5 marks) 

Part B (Report 2) 

This part of the report builds on Part A. You are a student at the Melbourne Polytechnic and working part-time as a supply chain analyst at both organisations you have identified in Part A. The director of supply chain of each organisation has asked you to analyse the status of the organisation’s supply chain and in the context of  Australian supply chain and e-business environment.  As a supply chain analyst, you will analyse and evaluate the two organisations' supply chain management, logistics processes and their use of e-business technologies, and recommend improvements to their strategies and processes. Write an essay of your findings in a report that should cover the following aspects: 

1. An abstract or executive summary of the assignment. (5 marks) 
2. Analysis and evaluation of the two organisations’ supply chain and logistic processes and their use of e-business technologies using collected data from literature. (10 marks) 
3. Discussion of the findings including recommendations and conclusions (10 marks) 
4. References. (5 marks)

Introduction

Out of 2.1 million companies in Australia, 1.4 million companies are reported to have supply chain and logistics functions. (ABS, 2015). The current business environment has created many challenges for business operations through globalization, politics, environmental implications and safety issues. In day-to-day operational front, companies are subjected to intense competition, changing consumer behavior, an increase in consumer awareness level and high business costs.

For efficient operations, companies are in dire need of integrating business standards and processes through the entire supply chain – from end consumers to retailers to manufacturers to raw material suppliers. Such integration requires best practices, standards, tool and technology, and business strategies.

This report considers the supply chain framework adopted by two Australian companies – Blackwoods, a wholesale distributor and Cement Australia, a manufacturer as well as a distributor.

Company Background – Blackwoods & Cement Australia 

Blackwoods

Blackwoods is one of the leading suppliers of industrial and safety products in Australia. It is considered a single source supplier for workplace needs for large and small businesses in Australia. Blackwoods is a part of the industrial and safety division of Wesfarmers group. Wesfarmers Limited is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.

Wesfarmers Industrial and Safety division caters to customers across different industries, including mining and extraction, construction, manufacturing, retailing, health, infrastructure, and government. These customers rely on Wesfarmers' generalized as well as specialized businesses. (Wesfarmers, 2015)

Blackwoods' products include electrical products, industrial supplies, safety supplies, janitorial supplies, pipes, valves and fittings, gas products and material handling products. Services offered by Blackwoods include vending, online retailing, vendor managed inventory and store management, product customization and training and audit. (Bloomberg, 2015)

Blackwoods is also involved in product export to South Asia, Africa, and South Pacific countries. The company's business-to-business and online ordering solutions are managed by the in-house team. The activities of the e-business team support the requirements of different customers of varying sizes and those using different technologies and processes.