Lesson 5 case Studies5

Case Study of Week 5thMaster TagBishnu DhamalaMGT 620 Operations Management & Supply Chain August 05, 2014

IntroductionMaster Tag is an international company committed to the production of horticultural care tags and merchandising solutions. Master Tag is an international company enthusiastic to the production of plastic horticultural care labels and merchandising solutions. The company was established in 1949 by Ludwig Schmidt as Master Products Company. At present the company is producing a line of plastic horticultural labels for seeds companiesAs we know that, currently company is facing a problem regarding its supply chain. The foremost problem is there is no match between supply of the producers and the demand of the consumers so that scarcity and excessive production of the plant tags usually occurs. To solve this problem company has derived one solution for achieving a match between supply of the producers and the demand of the consumers. They are scheduling to set a new supply chain management system by making a fairly large batch which would be produced and shipped directly to the growers instead of the seed companies.And later, when the grower results became available, a second batch would be produced using information from growers on how many additional tags are needed. The second batch / consignment would then be made and shipped to the growers.Revised approachAs we know that, the key benefit regarding to the revised approach is that the tags are being sent directly to the needy growers. The growers are able to order another batch of tag once the plants have grown if they have a surplus in plants. This type of process has reduced the inconvenience in the process of tag acquirement. It is also useful to avoid the duplication in the supply of tags from manufacturer Master tag. There are different kinds of pros and cons regarding the revised approach, some of the key points are as follows:Pros There will be a guarantee of exact numbers of plant tags. Quick reply of customers demand and suggestion The seeds will be planted with the tags and the tag wont go away the seed all the way from plantation until it reaches the retail customer. It reduces the cost of warehousing. The seed companies wont have a surplus of tags in their warehouse.Cons They are breaking the chain connecting seed companies which may dissatisfy them. They may not get same predictable coordination from Grower Company. It adds an extra step to the Growers manufacturing process which can lead to longer time to the process. Supply chain functions well from shared trust, here they are planning to supply directly to growers which were not in contact with them so growers may not believe them. Conclusion/RecommendationNormally, supply chain management is the management of flow of goods. It includes the movement and storage of raw material, work-in-process inventory, and finished goods from point of origin to point of consumption. Interconnected or interlinked networks, channels and node business are involved in the provision of products and services required by end customer in a supply chain. Lastly, we can say that to meet the demand / order appropriately there must be efficient supply chain of the company. Latest or new supply chain management system makes a quite large batch. Subsequent to that a second batch would be shaped using information from growers on how many additional tags are needed. Then products are made and shipped to the growers which might help the company to solve the problem in supply chain.

Reference: http://www.studymode.com/essays/Mastertag-Case-Stevenson, W. (2009).Operation Management(10th ed.). McGraw-Hill Irwin.http://www.mastertag.com