Supply Chain Management Supply chain management is the integration of activities that procure materials and services, transform them into intermediate goods and final products, and deliver them to customers. The production, distribution, and sale of both goods and services are bound by constraints in demand, supply, capacity, capability, and a myriad of other parameters. In this assignment, consider the strategic implications of how an organization produces and interacts with its partners, customers, and suppliers. Using online resources, and the Internet, research supply chain management processes. Based on your research, respond to the following: · How can an organization optimize supply chain management to improve results and remove obstacles? Support your answer with two current examples. Write your initial response in approximately 300–500 words. Apply APA standards to citation of sources. (This is the assignment) Executive Summary Presentation In LASA 2 (M6: Assignment 2), you were asked to prepare a company analysis report, choosing one company relevant to you. In that assignment, you provided information about the company’s strategic overview, an analysis of its supply chain, a plan to improve its operating processes, and an explanation of the outcomes obtained from this plan and its impact on human resources. In this assignment, you will create an executive summary of your findings from LASA 2. Your summary should include the following sections: · A statement of the problem or topic · A concise analysis of the findings and a recapitulation of any main conclusions or recommendations found in M6:Assignment 2 · Specific details to highlight or support the summary Develop a 10-slide presentation in PowerPoint format. Apply APA standards to citation of sources. Be sure to include the following in your presentation: · A title slide · An agenda slide · A reference slide · Headings for each section · Speaker notes to support the content on each slide Running head: COMPANY ANALYSIS REPORT1 COMPANY ANALYSIS REPORT13 Module 6, Assignment 2: Company Analysis Report Scott Jackson Operations Management: Solution s to Business Challenges B6029 August 4, 2012 Supply chain analysis A typical supply chain is a structure of organizations, people, technology, activities, information and resources engaged in conveying a product or service to customer from supplier. Supply chain involves transforming natural resources, raw material and components into a finished product that is distributed to the end customer. In complicated supply chain systems, used products may be brought back into the supply chain at any juncture where residual value is recyclable. This may involve a variety of stages. In food processing industry the supply chain stages include: Producers (raw material producer, farmer) Processors (processing factory) Wholesalers Retailers Consumers ProducersProcessors Wholesalers Retailers Consumer ...

1. Supply Chain Management
Supply chain management is the integration of activities that
procure materials and services, transform them into
intermediate goods and final products, and deliver them to
customers. The production, distribution, and sale of both goods
and services are bound by constraints in demand, supply,
capacity, capability, and a myriad of other parameters.
In this assignment, consider the strategic implications of how an
organization produces and interacts with its partners, customers,
and suppliers.
Using online resources, and the Internet, research supply chain
management processes. Based on your research, respond to the
following:
· How can an organization optimize supply chain management
to improve results and remove obstacles? Support your answer
with two current examples.
Write your initial response in approximately 300–500 words.
Apply APA standards to citation of sources.
(This is the assignment)
Executive Summary Presentation
In LASA 2 (M6: Assignment 2), you were asked to prepare a
company analysis report, choosing one company relevant to
you. In that assignment, you provided information about the
company’s strategic overview, an analysis of its supply chain, a
plan to improve its operating processes, and an explanation of
the outcomes obtained from this plan and its impact on human
resources.
In this assignment, you will create an executive summary of
your findings from LASA 2. Your summary should include the
following sections:
· A statement of the problem or topic

2. · A concise analysis of the findings and a recapitulation of any
main conclusions or recommendations found in M6:Assignment
2
· Specific details to highlight or support the summary
Develop a 10-slide presentation in PowerPoint format. Apply
APA standards to citation of sources.
Be sure to include the following in your presentation:
· A title slide
· An agenda slide
· A reference slide
· Headings for each section
· Speaker notes to support the content on each slide
Running head: COMPANY ANALYSIS REPORT1
COMPANY ANALYSIS REPORT13
Module 6, Assignment 2:
Company Analysis Report
Scott Jackson
Operations Management:
Solution

3. s to Business Challenges B6029
August 4, 2012
Supply chain analysis
A typical supply chain is a structure of organizations, people,
technology, activities, information and resources engaged in
conveying a product or service to customer from supplier.
Supply chain involves transforming natural resources, raw
material and components into a finished product that is
distributed to the end customer. In complicated supply chain
systems, used products may be brought back into the supply
chain at any juncture where residual value is recyclable. This
may involve a variety of stages. In food processing industry the
supply chain stages include:
Producers (raw material producer, farmer)
Processors (processing factory)
Wholesalers
Retailers
Consumers
ProducersProcessors Wholesalers Retailers
Consumers
Producers (raw material producer; farmer)
They are the key input in a supply chain; they provide necessary

4. material which needs to be processed to get the final desired
product by the consumer. In Archer Daniels Midland Company
(ADM) they include cocoa farmers, soy farmers, palm farmers
and beef and dairy farmers. As a producer the following inputs
are of necessity to influence the quality of the end product to
the consumer quality of seed planted, care given to the plants
during growing period, harvesting stage, post harvesting
practices and delivery to the factory.
Quality of seed planted
Quality of seed planted is the varietally of pure seed with a high
germination percentage, free from disease and disease
organisms, and with a proper moisture content and weight.
Quality is guaranteed through both proactive and retroactive
methods. These comprise precautionary maintenance, for
example growing and appraising every seed lot, as well as
constantly choosing for accurateness to type, vigorous quality
programming from the ground to pack, third-party quality
authentication, customer quality contribution, and retroactive
quality response to the seed producers. All the way through this
diverse-pronged advance, ensures that only the highest quality
organic seed is presented to the farmers for planting. Seed
quality considerations offer precious information on the
appropriateness of seed for planting, exactingly their potential
for germination, the rapidness of their emergence from the soil,
their ability to ascertain uniform, energetic seedlings, and their

5. creation of healthy crops with good yields. consequently, in the
food processing industry, quality of seed planted by the farmers
serves as the basis for price differentials, facilitates the analysis
of seed shared problems and their apparent causes, and provides
seed producers with a decision tool for their a range of
operations, including storage and marketing. In conclusion seed
planted by the farmer directly affects the yields that the farmer
delivers to the industry.
Human capital and machinery
Cultivation is essentially intended at growing the variety of
crops inhabitant to each diverse local area within the world's
ecosystem. Special technologies and mechanization systems
should be provided that suits the state of the cultivation carried
to certain locations for each production phase. In meeting the
demands of each local area it is compulsory to form an
assimilated system in which researchers, developers,
manufacturers, and distributors are in attendance locally and are
involved in joint efforts to solve farmers’ mechanization
problems locally (Clarke, 2000). as a result the agricultural
production and productivity has witnessed much increase. The
form of human resource or machinery the farmer utilizes in the
farm has to greater extent influence on quantity and quality of
the yields, which also directly affects the products that are
processed or manufactured by the company.
Processing factory (Archer Daniels Midland Company)

6. There are many factors or inputs that influence processors in the
supply chain; they can be grouped into internal and external
inputs. The challenges include twisting costs, a multifaceted
supply chain, ever changing consumer preferences and food
safety and compliance.
Processing industry is exemplified by a complex supply chain
relating multiple channels from the persons/ranches to the
manufacturer and to the distributor. Inclusive precision is
required across functional processes to build real time and fact
founded choices. Resolution that puts together the processes of
procurement, planning, manufacturing and distribution tackles
this need.
Distribution is also one of the key challenges. Most processors
have evolved from processing to stock actions to a demand
determined type where the completed product is shipped
directly to retail outlets. Products nowadays do not stagnate in a
distribution center after production. Every order fleeting
through the plant is tailored for a specific customer, and has a
definite delivery date. This implies that operations need to be
well managed, ensuring that production orders are programmed
and carried out on time, and delivery conditions are regularly
achieved.
The pressure to reduce operating costs, develop top line
revenue, control procurement instability and integrate planning
and execution, not excluding customer pressures to improve

7. customer service and provide visibility into inventory status are
also key challenges. Therefore there is need to balance the often
conflicting goals to be able to maximize operations.
The solution provides a elastic planning system with
actualization into inventory status of both raw material and
finished goods. Such system allows the company to minimize
inventory of both raw materials and finished products, advance
customer service and enhance capacity utilization.
Food safety compliance is an increasingly crucial matter in the
food industry, brought about by an increase in media and
regulatory attention, and associated penalties for aimed
organizations. This leads to tarnishing the brand image and
eroding of market share. Improved process supervision through
quality management systems and food safety standards requires
to be monitored during the production process.
Today’s consumers; from those who want healthier options to
others who require more handy packaging and exclusive flavors.
The increased volume and diversity of products is influencing
plants to design their lines supported on shorter production runs
with extra changeovers. Achieving these requirements requires
operational flexibility. Companies must be in a position to
easily insert new products to the mix, make changes and quickly
implement new operational procedures. These changes must be
executed while meeting high sanitation and environmental
regulations. This helps the organization drift from a manual

8. system to a fully incorporated system. The benefits is in
inclusion of full supply chain visibility, managing stake
holders, customers and vendors, managing appropriate inventory
positions, controlling manufacturing and combating frequent
change of personnel through the deployment of industry best
practices.
Wholesalers
There functions are not only to facilitate an affective
functioning of manufacturers and retailers, but also help them
accomplish more with less cost.
One function of wholesaler is to eliminate the need for a
different distribution channel by the producers themselves.
Determining the order of a product in the market is very
cumbersome for the producer. Wholesalers help producers know
how to adjust their production capacity with the changing
demands of the market. Wholesalers sometimes buy huge
inventory that transmits the risk of selling the products.
Wholesalers have also got outstanding transportation facilities
for delivering the stocks in time and appropriate the customer
feedback.
Impacts of e-commerce and IT
Electronic commerce and the Internet are essentially changing
the nature of supply chains, and redefining how consumers
study about, select, purchase, and use products and services.
E-commerce permits company of all sizes to exchange cargo

9. documents electronically over the Internet. Using e-commerce,
company reduces costs, get better data accuracy, restructure
business processes, enhance business cycles, and alleviate
customer service.
It will give the company more flexibility in managing the
increasingly composite movement of products and information
between businesses, their suppliers and customers. It closes the
link between customers and distribution centers.
E-commerce is a crucial support of logistics and transportation
services for both internal and external customers. E-commerce
helps companies deliver better services to their customers that
accelerate the growth of the e-commerce enterprises that are
critical to their business, and reduces their operating costs.
Impact on Human Resource
Human resource management is the process of interrelating and
copping with the internal workforce of the company to
manipulate their working patterns and persuade their
performances to better the prospects of the company they are
working for. It has allowed human resource managers to
distribute their routine administrational duties in an effective
way.
Plan to improve Operating Processes
One of the important parts of the Company is the operating
systems. There are different operating processes in any given
Company in connection with the supply chain (Harmon, 2003).

10. The main supply chin elements include Transportation, Supply,
Inventory, Location, Production, and Information. The three
specific operating processes of the Archer Daniels Midland
Company that we are going to create an improvement plan for
are; information, transportation and production.
The first process that we are going to come up with an
improvement plan for is production. The performance
improvement for this element is taking the production team for
refresher courses. Production is the main process in any
production Company like The Archer Daniels Midland. This
Company produces food ingredients, feed ingredients and
animal feed, biofuels and generally products that are used to
make food. Its production process will determine everything
else in the Company for example the sales, income etc (Harmon,
2003).A good production plan is hence vital for this Company.
The improvement plan is to come up with a system of retraining
the production team by the Company sponsoring them for
refresher courses in turns. The aim of these refresher courses is
to make sure that the team is up to date with the latest
technologies in the Agricultural sector and food technology.
When the team acquires these new and improved skills then they
will be able to use them in the production of the Company’s
products hence promoting efficiency, productivity and quality
of the products (Wisner & Stanley, 2008).
The second process that we are going to look at is the

11. transportation process. The performance improvement for this
element is improving the reliability of the workforce team to
and from work and also increase the number of delivery vans
for the Companies products to the customers. Transportation
process in any given Company is very key for its operations and
growth (Wisner & Stanley, 2008). A good transportation plan
needs to be put into place in order to keep the flow of goods at
its best. Since the Archer Daniels Midland Company deals with
production then a good transportation process in the Company is
quite vital. Transportation ranges from the transportation of the
workforce team to the transportation of goods and services
offered. The existing transportation process in the Archer
Daniels Midland Company needs some improvement as
sometimes the transportation of employees to work is not
reliable. The improvement which needs to be made is organizing
the transportation of employees from the start of the year and
reviewing the arrangement after every two months. When the
transportation arrangement becomes reliable then efficiency of
work is going to improve as there will be good management of
time by the employees (Bolstorff & Rosenbaum, 2012). This is
also going to improve the productivity of the employees as they
are going to reach to work on term all through the year. Also an
increase of the vans for making deliveries to customers is to be
considered in this plan since the productivity is expected to go
high and so the demand for the products is expected to go high

12. too. This is going to help in the delivering of products to
customers on time and in tern improving the efficiency of the
Company (Bolstorff & Rosenbaum, 2012).
Information is the other process that we are going to come up
with an improvement plan for. The performance improvement
for this element is to organize seminars for famers with
agricultural professionals to help the improvement of their
agricultural products which are brought to the Company for
processing. Information is used in this context to mean creating
awareness of a certain product, service or need to intended
buyers or purchaser and is mostly done through electronic
media, print media etc. Information is so essential in any profit
making business or Company like the Archer Daniels Midland
Company (Blecker & Bajic, 2008). Information has a big
influence on the sales that the Company is going to make hence
good Information plan and strategies are vital for the growth of
a Company. The Archer Daniels Midland is Company dealing
with agricultural processing producing food ingredients, feed
ingredients and animal feeds. The Information strategy of this
company needs to be well formulated as it will help in making
good sales of these products. This is because there are so many
other different companies which are competing with it and
therefore the advertising structure is going to determine how
well it will do compared to those other Companies. The newest

13. advertising strategy of the Company is the establishment of
good advertisements related or focused to the famers since
everything the Company does is related to the famers (Blecker
& Bajic, 2008). This Information strategy can be improved by
coming up with a new plan that incorporates civil education to
famers on the best crops to grow at different specific places.
This is to be done by professionals who are contacted by the
Company to reach to a group of famers selected by the
Company too. The professionals will offer advice and guidance
on the best farm products suitable for the given environment
and on how to grow or practice agriculture in the best way
possible. This plan is going to motivate the famers to look into
ways in which they improve their agricultural products and this
in turn is going to help the Company at the long run. This is
because the famers are going to bring good agricultural produce
to the Company which in turn is going to help the Company
produce quality food ingredients and animal feed. This therefore
improves the quality of the products of the Company and its
productivity too (Blecker & Bajic, 2008).
Explanation of the Results of Performance Improvements
Regarding Product or Service
This improvement process in the supply chain is going to bring
great results in the products that are produced by the Archer
Daniels Midland Company. This is because when the production
team goes for refresher courses they are going apply the new

14. skills that they get in producing the products a factor which is
going to contribute to improvement of better and quality
products. Reliable transport is also going to make efficiency
improve and as a result services in the Company will be
improved (Harmon, 2003). The seminars with the famers are
going to improve their agricultural produce a factor which is
going to improve on the quality of the products made by the
Company from the produce of these farmers. These changes are
quite important to the customers of this Company because they
are going to improve the quality of the services provided to the
customers for example the delivery of goods to the customers
and they are also going to ensure that the customers enjoy using
the products because the quality of is going to improve owing to
the improvement in production measures by the production
team. The changes will very much improve the value
proposition and competitive position of this Company as
services to customers will improve while at the same time
quality and effective production is applied (Harmon, 2003).
This will make the Company gain more customers for its
products compared to its competitors and gain more popularity
too. These changes will bring about lasting capabilities and
improvements like opportunities to come up with new improved
skills of production by the production team and also new and
improved skills too for the famers through the training seminars
with the agricultural professionals. These lasting capabilities

15. will work well for the improvement, enlargement and boosting
of sales for the Company (Harmon, 2003). These are major
improvements for the Company and if applied to the later then it
is evident that they will yield good results. The key
performance indicators here are good customer service and
product quality improvement.
References
Blecker, T., Huang, G. Q., & Bajic, E. (2008). RFID in
operations and supply chain management: Research and
applications. Berlin: Erich Schmidt Verlag.
Bolstorff, P., & Rosenbaum, R. (2012). Supply chain
excellence: A handbook for dramatic improvement using the
SCOR model. New York: American Management Association.
Harmon, P. (2003). Business process change: A manager's
guide to improving, redesigning, and automating processes.
Amsterdam: M. Kaufmann.
Poirier, C. C., Walker, I., & APICS--The Educational Society
for Resource Management. (2005). Business process
management applied: Creating the value managed enterprise.
Boca Raton, Fla: J. Ross Pub.
Wisner, J. D., & Stanley, L. L. (2008). Process management:
Creating value along the supply chain : text & cases. Mason,
OH: Thomson South-Western.