In the article analyzed, food markets in particularly are examined with regard to supply chain design. There are according to the authors, a number of food products that "can be characterized as functional products with volatile and unpredictable demand" (Beach, et. al, 2001). Thus demand uncertainty may allow for production flexibility. However, food products by nature are not very "innovative." As the author points out, because by nature the products are generally functional in nature and the food supply chain is relatively inflexible and uses perishable goods, the usefulness of a concept such as leagility is somewhat limited. There is not period in which demand will be certain. This is beneficial and would suggest that leagility is possible in the industry.
However, production options are limited with regard to food products that are perishable (Beach, et. al, 2003). The profit margins of these items generally tend to stay low, because of their functionality. Investments that a supplier might make into innovative techniques may or may not be paid back (Beach, et. al, 2001) thus one may assume that a supplier has more at stake and less to gain in this type of environment.
A key characteristic of an 'agile' organization according to the article is one that allows great flexibility. Thus the supply chain would demonstrate characteristics including being market sensitive, using information technology "to share data between buyers and suppliers," use process integration and collaborative working between suppliers and buyers and be networked based (Beach, et. al, 2001).
A lean company would might have zero inventories and capitalize on a JIT approach to supply and demand (Beach, et. al, 2001). Customer responsiveness of course is the goal of both of these principles.
Conclusions/Analysis
Leagility is thus a balance of lean and agile supply chain management processes. In an environment that is highly volatile and where demand is flexible, this concept may be applied almost universally. However there are some environments where establishing a supply chain design based on the foundations of the "leagility" principle may not be appropriate, as is the case with the perishable food industry.
One of...
Several bubble-like structures of rather minute size had formed within the cellular material, the primitive streak was no longer visible at al,, and there was a clear circular definition of a darker area within the larger blastoderm. The carbon (charcoal) that had been added to the blastoderm had also undergone fairly significant changes, having been spread out over a wider area of the blastoderm. The three initial points of
Optical Distortion The purpose of ODI was to develop a product that could partially blind chickens, which would lead to their consuming less and saving farmers money over the duration of the chickens' life. The product that ODI developed was a contact lens for chickens. This lens was to be an improvement upon the situation for chickens, which previously were debeaked by farmers to prevent the pecking order from getting out
Primarily, the company would be forced to implement equal pay practices. If it is to maintain its historical pricing practices, some workers will have to be fired to make up for the consequences of raising the payment for the workers in question. Both men and women would be likely to be fired, which could result in a severely negative workplace atmosphere for the remaining workers. Hostility could for example
Headless chickens describes an organization which is alive, and able to operate and continue to exist, but that has no sense of what it is, or where it's going. By calling itself a headless chicken, the group on the case study of a higher professional education organization correctly identified how it was feeling, but also identified how the organization got to the unfortunate position. Once these two factors are known,
Kentucky Fried Chicken as an organization, detailing some of the salient aspects. Company Introduction First established in 1939 by one Colonel Harland Sanders, the name of Kentucky Fried Chicken has perhaps today become hallmark for millions of people around the world as one of the most unique recipes and dishes made from chicken as the principle ingredient. This has been duly supplemented by the ever changing and innovative recipes, and the
Boston Chicken, Inc. Scott Beck founded Boston Chicken in the year 1989 with the business idea of operating and franchising food service stores with the company's conception to combine fresh, palatable, and alluring meals concomitant with customary home cooking with a high level of expediency and value. In essence, the company was attempting to generate the setting for a consumer of obtaining and accessing a home cooked meal at a price
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now