This article – the sixth in a series dedicated to electronic supply chains – presents, using the example of a manufacturing company, a scenario for selecting an electronic supply chain model that will yield the highest profit for the manufacturer under the conditions of a given logistics system. The choice is made from among three supply chain models, which were presented in detail in previous articles in this series. These are: a model with a virtual warehouse and a physical warehouse (Model 1), a model with a virtual warehouse and a direct delivery strategy (Model 2), and a mixed model with a virtual warehouse, a physical warehouse, and a direct delivery strategy (Model 3). A detailed description of the selection method was presented in the previous article in this series.
Scenario
ABC Automatyka is a company involved in the production of programmable controllers. The end buyers of its products are manufacturers of industrial equipment who install them in the products they manufacture. ABC Automatyka’s devices are used, for example, as controllers for remotely opened and closed door mechanisms in high-security facilities, as components ensuring constant boiler temperature maintenance in power plants, or as controllers for elevator lifting mechanisms. End customers purchase ABC Automatyka’s products through a network of intermediaries – industrial accessory wholesalers. A market study recently conducted by ABC Automatyka revealed that:
– the role of intermediaries is mainly limited to transferring goods to end customers (industrial equipment manufacturers) and charging a high margin for it,
– end customers are technologically advanced and would be able to cooperate directly with ABC Automatyka using e-business solutions.
The company has therefore decided to transform its current supply chain into an electronic one. The remaining task is to choose one of the possible electronic supply chain models described in previous articles in this series.
– end customers are technologically advanced and would be able to cooperate directly with ABC Automatyka using e-business solutions.
The company has therefore decided to transform its current supply chain into an electronic one. The remaining task is to choose one of the possible electronic supply chain models described in previous articles in this series.
The article comes from the magazine “Logistyka” No. 5/2006.