Through improved supply chain management and the adoption of new technologies, Lego has transformed its operations and overcome financial crisis. They centralized distribution by closing 5 European warehouses and opening a new one near Prague. This, along with outsourcing logistics to DHL, reduced costs. Lego also shortened its supplier list, calibrated designer creativity with sustainable operations, and increased transparency around costs. These supply chain improvements allowed Lego to focus on increasing customer satisfaction and once again become one of the world's most successful toy producers.
The Lego case study, the great turnaround 2003 - 2013John Ashcroft
In presenting his report to management in June 2003, Jørgen Vig Knudstorp, then head of strategic development had pulled no punches, “We are on a burning platform, losing money with negative cash flow and a real risk of debt default which could lead to a break up of the company. In 2013, LEGO reported profits of $1.5 bn on sales of $4.5 bn. Quite a turnaround! Here's how.
In presenting his report to management in June 2003, Jørgen Vig Knudstorp, then head of strategic development had pulled no punches, “We are on a burning platform, losing money with negative cash flow and a real risk of debt default which could lead to a break up of the company. In 2013, LEGO reported profits of $1.5 bn on sales of $4.5 bn. Quite a turnaround! Here's how.
Juan Carlos Garcia, Dir., Global eCommerce & Omnichannel, Grupo Elektra; David Marcotte, SVP, Strategic Advisory Services, Kantar Retail, WPP; Marti Urrutia Islas, Head of Retail Innovation, Retail Experiences, The Lego Group
The Lego case study, the great turnaround 2003 - 2013John Ashcroft
In presenting his report to management in June 2003, Jørgen Vig Knudstorp, then head of strategic development had pulled no punches, “We are on a burning platform, losing money with negative cash flow and a real risk of debt default which could lead to a break up of the company. In 2013, LEGO reported profits of $1.5 bn on sales of $4.5 bn. Quite a turnaround! Here's how.
In presenting his report to management in June 2003, Jørgen Vig Knudstorp, then head of strategic development had pulled no punches, “We are on a burning platform, losing money with negative cash flow and a real risk of debt default which could lead to a break up of the company. In 2013, LEGO reported profits of $1.5 bn on sales of $4.5 bn. Quite a turnaround! Here's how.
Juan Carlos Garcia, Dir., Global eCommerce & Omnichannel, Grupo Elektra; David Marcotte, SVP, Strategic Advisory Services, Kantar Retail, WPP; Marti Urrutia Islas, Head of Retail Innovation, Retail Experiences, The Lego Group
Case 12 LEGO Group An Outsourcing JourneyMarcus Møller Larsen.docxwendolynhalbert
Case 12: LEGO Group: An Outsourcing Journey
Marcus Møller Larsen
Torben Pedersen
Dmitrij Slepniov
PROLOGUE
1The last five years’ rather adventurous journey from 2004 to 2009 had taught the fifth-largest toy-maker in the world—the LEGO Group—the importance of managing the global supply chain effectively. In order to survive the largest internal financial crisis in the company’s roughly 70 years of existence, resulting in a deficit of DKK1.8 billion in 2004, the management had, among many initiatives, decided to offshore and outsource a major chunk of LEGO’s production to Flextronics, a large Singaporean electronics manufacturing services (EMS) provider. In this pursuit of rapid cost-cutting sourcing advantages, the LEGO Group planned to license out as much as 80 per cent of its production, besides closing down major parts of the production in high-cost countries. Confident with the prospects of the new partnership, the company signed a long-term contract with Flextronics. “It has been important for us to find the right partner,” argued Niels Duedahl, a LEGO vice-president, when announcing the outsourcing collaboration, “and Flextronics is a very professional player in the market with industry-leading plastics capabilities, the right capacity and resources in terms of molding, assembly, packaging and distribution. We know this from looking at the work Flextronics does for other global companies.”1
2This decision would eventually prove to have been too hasty, however. Merely three years after the contracts were signed, LEGO management announced that it would phase out the entire sourcing collaboration with Flextronics. In July 2008, the executive vice-president for the global supply chain, Iqbal Padda, proclaimed in an official press release, “We have had an intensive and very valuable cooperation with Flextronics on the relocation of major parts of our production. As expected, this transition has been complicated, but throughout the process we have maintained our high quality level. Jointly we have now come to the conclusion that it is more optimal for the LEGO Group to manage the global manufacturing setup ourselves. With this decision the LEGO supply chain will be developed faster through going for the best, leanest and highest quality solution at all times.”2
PhD Fellow Marcus Møller Larsen, Professor Torben Pedersen and Assistant Professor Dmitrij Slepniov wrote this case solely to provide material for class discussion. The authors do not intend to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a managerial situation. The authors may have disguised certain names and other identifying information to protect confidentiality.
Richard Ivey School of Business Foundation prohibits any form of reproduction, storage or transmission without its written permission. Reproduction of this material is not covered under authorization by any reproduction rights organization. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, contact Ive ...
Comm. 450 - Advertising & Brand Communication Management
CSUF Spring 2017
Final Project
The purpose of this team project was to apply the knowledge we had acquired and implement it to a real brand. The audit consists of four sections: 1) Background 2) Brand Inventory 3) Brand Exploratory, and 4) Strategic Recommendations.
Case 12 LEGO Group An Outsourcing Journey Marcus Møller.docxwendolynhalbert
Case 12: LEGO Group: An Outsourcing Journey
Marcus Møller Larsen
Torben Pedersen
Dmitrij Slepniov
PROLOGUE
1 The last five years’ rather adventurous journey from 2004 to 2009 had taught the fifth-
largest toy-maker in the world—the LEGO Group—the importance of managing the global
supply chain effectively. In order to survive the largest internal financial crisis in the
company’s roughly 70 years of existence, resulting in a deficit of DKK1.8 billion in 2004,
the management had, among many initiatives, decided to offshore and outsource a major
chunk of LEGO’s production to Flextronics, a large Singaporean electronics manufacturing
services (EMS) provider. In this pursuit of rapid cost-cutting sourcing advantages, the
LEGO Group planned to license out as much as 80 per cent of its production, besides
closing down major parts of the production in high-cost countries. Confident with the
prospects of the new partnership, the company signed a long-term contract with
Flextronics. “It has been important for us to find the right partner,” argued Niels Duedahl, a
LEGO vice-president, when announcing the outsourcing collaboration, “and Flextronics is
a very professional player in the market with industry-leading plastics capabilities, the right
capacity and resources in terms of molding, assembly, packaging and distribution. We
know this from looking at the work Flextronics does for other global companies.”1
2 This decision would eventually prove to have been too hasty, however. Merely three
years after the contracts were signed, LEGO management announced that it would phase
out the entire sourcing collaboration with Flextronics. In July 2008, the executive vice-
president for the global supply chain, Iqbal Padda, proclaimed in an official press release,
“We have had an intensive and very valuable cooperation with Flextronics on the
relocation of major parts of our production. As expected, this transition has been
complicated, but throughout the process we have maintained our high quality level. Jointly
we have now come to the conclusion that it is more optimal for the LEGO Group to
manage the global manufacturing setup ourselves. With this decision the LEGO supply
chain will be developed faster through going for the best, leanest and highest quality
solution at all times.”2
PhD Fellow
Marcus Møller Larsen, Professor Torben Pedersen and Assistant Professor Dmitrij
Slepniov wrote this case solely to provide material for class discussion. The authors do not
intend to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a managerial situation. The
authors may have disguised certain names and other identifying information to protect
confidentiality.
Richard Ivey School of Business Foundation prohibits any form of reproduction, storage or
transmission without its written permission. Reproduction of this material is not covered
under authorization by any reproduction rights orga ...
Honest Reviews of Tim Han LMA Course Program.pptxtimhan337
Personal development courses are widely available today, with each one promising life-changing outcomes. Tim Han’s Life Mastery Achievers (LMA) Course has drawn a lot of interest. In addition to offering my frank assessment of Success Insider’s LMA Course, this piece examines the course’s effects via a variety of Tim Han LMA course reviews and Success Insider comments.
Case 12 LEGO Group An Outsourcing JourneyMarcus Møller Larsen.docxwendolynhalbert
Case 12: LEGO Group: An Outsourcing Journey
Marcus Møller Larsen
Torben Pedersen
Dmitrij Slepniov
PROLOGUE
1The last five years’ rather adventurous journey from 2004 to 2009 had taught the fifth-largest toy-maker in the world—the LEGO Group—the importance of managing the global supply chain effectively. In order to survive the largest internal financial crisis in the company’s roughly 70 years of existence, resulting in a deficit of DKK1.8 billion in 2004, the management had, among many initiatives, decided to offshore and outsource a major chunk of LEGO’s production to Flextronics, a large Singaporean electronics manufacturing services (EMS) provider. In this pursuit of rapid cost-cutting sourcing advantages, the LEGO Group planned to license out as much as 80 per cent of its production, besides closing down major parts of the production in high-cost countries. Confident with the prospects of the new partnership, the company signed a long-term contract with Flextronics. “It has been important for us to find the right partner,” argued Niels Duedahl, a LEGO vice-president, when announcing the outsourcing collaboration, “and Flextronics is a very professional player in the market with industry-leading plastics capabilities, the right capacity and resources in terms of molding, assembly, packaging and distribution. We know this from looking at the work Flextronics does for other global companies.”1
2This decision would eventually prove to have been too hasty, however. Merely three years after the contracts were signed, LEGO management announced that it would phase out the entire sourcing collaboration with Flextronics. In July 2008, the executive vice-president for the global supply chain, Iqbal Padda, proclaimed in an official press release, “We have had an intensive and very valuable cooperation with Flextronics on the relocation of major parts of our production. As expected, this transition has been complicated, but throughout the process we have maintained our high quality level. Jointly we have now come to the conclusion that it is more optimal for the LEGO Group to manage the global manufacturing setup ourselves. With this decision the LEGO supply chain will be developed faster through going for the best, leanest and highest quality solution at all times.”2
PhD Fellow Marcus Møller Larsen, Professor Torben Pedersen and Assistant Professor Dmitrij Slepniov wrote this case solely to provide material for class discussion. The authors do not intend to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a managerial situation. The authors may have disguised certain names and other identifying information to protect confidentiality.
Richard Ivey School of Business Foundation prohibits any form of reproduction, storage or transmission without its written permission. Reproduction of this material is not covered under authorization by any reproduction rights organization. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, contact Ive ...
Comm. 450 - Advertising & Brand Communication Management
CSUF Spring 2017
Final Project
The purpose of this team project was to apply the knowledge we had acquired and implement it to a real brand. The audit consists of four sections: 1) Background 2) Brand Inventory 3) Brand Exploratory, and 4) Strategic Recommendations.
Case 12 LEGO Group An Outsourcing Journey Marcus Møller.docxwendolynhalbert
Case 12: LEGO Group: An Outsourcing Journey
Marcus Møller Larsen
Torben Pedersen
Dmitrij Slepniov
PROLOGUE
1 The last five years’ rather adventurous journey from 2004 to 2009 had taught the fifth-
largest toy-maker in the world—the LEGO Group—the importance of managing the global
supply chain effectively. In order to survive the largest internal financial crisis in the
company’s roughly 70 years of existence, resulting in a deficit of DKK1.8 billion in 2004,
the management had, among many initiatives, decided to offshore and outsource a major
chunk of LEGO’s production to Flextronics, a large Singaporean electronics manufacturing
services (EMS) provider. In this pursuit of rapid cost-cutting sourcing advantages, the
LEGO Group planned to license out as much as 80 per cent of its production, besides
closing down major parts of the production in high-cost countries. Confident with the
prospects of the new partnership, the company signed a long-term contract with
Flextronics. “It has been important for us to find the right partner,” argued Niels Duedahl, a
LEGO vice-president, when announcing the outsourcing collaboration, “and Flextronics is
a very professional player in the market with industry-leading plastics capabilities, the right
capacity and resources in terms of molding, assembly, packaging and distribution. We
know this from looking at the work Flextronics does for other global companies.”1
2 This decision would eventually prove to have been too hasty, however. Merely three
years after the contracts were signed, LEGO management announced that it would phase
out the entire sourcing collaboration with Flextronics. In July 2008, the executive vice-
president for the global supply chain, Iqbal Padda, proclaimed in an official press release,
“We have had an intensive and very valuable cooperation with Flextronics on the
relocation of major parts of our production. As expected, this transition has been
complicated, but throughout the process we have maintained our high quality level. Jointly
we have now come to the conclusion that it is more optimal for the LEGO Group to
manage the global manufacturing setup ourselves. With this decision the LEGO supply
chain will be developed faster through going for the best, leanest and highest quality
solution at all times.”2
PhD Fellow
Marcus Møller Larsen, Professor Torben Pedersen and Assistant Professor Dmitrij
Slepniov wrote this case solely to provide material for class discussion. The authors do not
intend to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a managerial situation. The
authors may have disguised certain names and other identifying information to protect
confidentiality.
Richard Ivey School of Business Foundation prohibits any form of reproduction, storage or
transmission without its written permission. Reproduction of this material is not covered
under authorization by any reproduction rights orga ...
Honest Reviews of Tim Han LMA Course Program.pptxtimhan337
Personal development courses are widely available today, with each one promising life-changing outcomes. Tim Han’s Life Mastery Achievers (LMA) Course has drawn a lot of interest. In addition to offering my frank assessment of Success Insider’s LMA Course, this piece examines the course’s effects via a variety of Tim Han LMA course reviews and Success Insider comments.
2024.06.01 Introducing a competency framework for languag learning materials ...Sandy Millin
http://sandymillin.wordpress.com/iateflwebinar2024
Published classroom materials form the basis of syllabuses, drive teacher professional development, and have a potentially huge influence on learners, teachers and education systems. All teachers also create their own materials, whether a few sentences on a blackboard, a highly-structured fully-realised online course, or anything in between. Despite this, the knowledge and skills needed to create effective language learning materials are rarely part of teacher training, and are mostly learnt by trial and error.
Knowledge and skills frameworks, generally called competency frameworks, for ELT teachers, trainers and managers have existed for a few years now. However, until I created one for my MA dissertation, there wasn’t one drawing together what we need to know and do to be able to effectively produce language learning materials.
This webinar will introduce you to my framework, highlighting the key competencies I identified from my research. It will also show how anybody involved in language teaching (any language, not just English!), teacher training, managing schools or developing language learning materials can benefit from using the framework.
June 3, 2024 Anti-Semitism Letter Sent to MIT President Kornbluth and MIT Cor...Levi Shapiro
Letter from the Congress of the United States regarding Anti-Semitism sent June 3rd to MIT President Sally Kornbluth, MIT Corp Chair, Mark Gorenberg
Dear Dr. Kornbluth and Mr. Gorenberg,
The US House of Representatives is deeply concerned by ongoing and pervasive acts of antisemitic
harassment and intimidation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Failing to act decisively to ensure a safe learning environment for all students would be a grave dereliction of your responsibilities as President of MIT and Chair of the MIT Corporation.
This Congress will not stand idly by and allow an environment hostile to Jewish students to persist. The House believes that your institution is in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, and the inability or
unwillingness to rectify this violation through action requires accountability.
Postsecondary education is a unique opportunity for students to learn and have their ideas and beliefs challenged. However, universities receiving hundreds of millions of federal funds annually have denied
students that opportunity and have been hijacked to become venues for the promotion of terrorism, antisemitic harassment and intimidation, unlawful encampments, and in some cases, assaults and riots.
The House of Representatives will not countenance the use of federal funds to indoctrinate students into hateful, antisemitic, anti-American supporters of terrorism. Investigations into campus antisemitism by the Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Committee on Ways and Means have been expanded into a Congress-wide probe across all relevant jurisdictions to address this national crisis. The undersigned Committees will conduct oversight into the use of federal funds at MIT and its learning environment under authorities granted to each Committee.
• The Committee on Education and the Workforce has been investigating your institution since December 7, 2023. The Committee has broad jurisdiction over postsecondary education, including its compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, campus safety concerns over disruptions to the learning environment, and the awarding of federal student aid under the Higher Education Act.
• The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is investigating the sources of funding and other support flowing to groups espousing pro-Hamas propaganda and engaged in antisemitic harassment and intimidation of students. The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is the principal oversight committee of the US House of Representatives and has broad authority to investigate “any matter” at “any time” under House Rule X.
• The Committee on Ways and Means has been investigating several universities since November 15, 2023, when the Committee held a hearing entitled From Ivory Towers to Dark Corners: Investigating the Nexus Between Antisemitism, Tax-Exempt Universities, and Terror Financing. The Committee followed the hearing with letters to those institutions on January 10, 202
Biological screening of herbal drugs: Introduction and Need for
Phyto-Pharmacological Screening, New Strategies for evaluating
Natural Products, In vitro evaluation techniques for Antioxidants, Antimicrobial and Anticancer drugs. In vivo evaluation techniques
for Anti-inflammatory, Antiulcer, Anticancer, Wound healing, Antidiabetic, Hepatoprotective, Cardio protective, Diuretics and
Antifertility, Toxicity studies as per OECD guidelines
Embracing GenAI - A Strategic ImperativePeter Windle
Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies such as Generative AI, Image Generators and Large Language Models have had a dramatic impact on teaching, learning and assessment over the past 18 months. The most immediate threat AI posed was to Academic Integrity with Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) focusing their efforts on combating the use of GenAI in assessment. Guidelines were developed for staff and students, policies put in place too. Innovative educators have forged paths in the use of Generative AI for teaching, learning and assessments leading to pockets of transformation springing up across HEIs, often with little or no top-down guidance, support or direction.
This Gasta posits a strategic approach to integrating AI into HEIs to prepare staff, students and the curriculum for an evolving world and workplace. We will highlight the advantages of working with these technologies beyond the realm of teaching, learning and assessment by considering prompt engineering skills, industry impact, curriculum changes, and the need for staff upskilling. In contrast, not engaging strategically with Generative AI poses risks, including falling behind peers, missed opportunities and failing to ensure our graduates remain employable. The rapid evolution of AI technologies necessitates a proactive and strategic approach if we are to remain relevant.
Model Attribute Check Company Auto PropertyCeline George
In Odoo, the multi-company feature allows you to manage multiple companies within a single Odoo database instance. Each company can have its own configurations while still sharing common resources such as products, customers, and suppliers.
How to Make a Field invisible in Odoo 17Celine George
It is possible to hide or invisible some fields in odoo. Commonly using “invisible” attribute in the field definition to invisible the fields. This slide will show how to make a field invisible in odoo 17.
Synthetic Fiber Construction in lab .pptxPavel ( NSTU)
Synthetic fiber production is a fascinating and complex field that blends chemistry, engineering, and environmental science. By understanding these aspects, students can gain a comprehensive view of synthetic fiber production, its impact on society and the environment, and the potential for future innovations. Synthetic fibers play a crucial role in modern society, impacting various aspects of daily life, industry, and the environment. ynthetic fibers are integral to modern life, offering a range of benefits from cost-effectiveness and versatility to innovative applications and performance characteristics. While they pose environmental challenges, ongoing research and development aim to create more sustainable and eco-friendly alternatives. Understanding the importance of synthetic fibers helps in appreciating their role in the economy, industry, and daily life, while also emphasizing the need for sustainable practices and innovation.
5. ❖ LEGO CUSTOMERS:
o 130 countries around the world,
o 11,000 suppliers
o 11 warehouses and distribution centres in such high-cost countries as Denmark,
France, Germany and Switzerland.
o They also employed 55 transport service providers for incoming and outgoing
shipments.
LEGO operated thousands of smaller stores, was selling custom orders to small
retailers, this created unnecessarily high per unit transport costs and labour
intensive ‘pick-packing’. In order to reduce the exploding costs of transport and
move distributions closer to the customer, the company focused on the main retail
chains. This has reduced distribution costs and provided more accurate demand
forecasts. Larger retailers preferred rarer, larger orders that were placed two months
in advance, which meant they were more on time and Lego was able to improve its
deliveries by 62 %.
❖ CENTRALIZATION OF DISTRIBUTION
o 5 distribution centres in Europe were closed
o 1 distribution centres near Prague was created.
Lego has decided to outsource operations to the logistic company - the DHL Exel
Supply Chain.
Lego became the most famous toy manufacturer in the world, their toys are the object
of dreams of every child in every part of the world, and even a big number of adults
would admit their love to Lego bricks.
❖ BEGINNING
The beginning of Lego reaches 1923, where 17 years old Ole Kirk from village
Billund in Denmark, in the small carpenter shop created his first wooden toy, a duck.
Leg godt from Danish is translated as "play well".
❖ DEVELOPMENT
In years 1936-1999 LEGO became number 5 world largest toy manufacturer and has
grown tremendously establishing their presence in Europe, Africa, Asia, America and
Australia. The Lego brick as it is known today was produced and patented in 1958.
❖ FINANCIAL CRISIS
At the end of the '90s, Lego went thought serious financial challenges, which resulted
in the company restructuring, including Supply Chain Management
transformation.
❖ PROSPERITY
Today Lego Company is over 80 years old and have made a major step towards
success by reducing the number of suppliers significantly and decreasing logistics
costs. Lego has moved its main distribution centre to the Czech Republic and is
cooperating with DHL. Despite the crisis, Lego Group becomes one of the largest toy
producers in the world again.
❖ PLASTIC, COMBINATIONS AND VARIATIONS
Lego elements are made of plastic, and rubber and these materials are imported
from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Thailand by the Lego group. The plastic, called
ABS, can be expensive if the design request special colours, for example, what
becomes prices very volatile and production costly. In the Lego range, there are
roughly 4K elements present in 58 different colours. However, Lego is designed to
be very variable in its combinations what favour the reuse of the same moulds in
several toys design. About 8000 combinations can be activated from different
Lego elements.
❖ SHORTER SUPPLIERS LIST
Lego narrowed supplier's roster in order to stabilize resign prices, plan better its
operations, make more cost-effective choices and minimize waste. The coloured
resin has a very volatile price, so shrinking of the list of suppliers favoured this
negotiation. In addition, purchasing and production planning gained significant
improvements with the cuts.
❖ HOLISTIC APPROACH
Calibrating designer’s creativity with a sustainable operational process was a key
factor for management materials better and reduces waste.
❖ COMPLIANCE
Lego set a cost matrix that clearly shows the price associated with each change so
new designs could not be run out of those rules.
❖ TRANSPARENCY, CREATIVITY AND NO WASTE
Once the costs of innovation are clear, designers are urged to use existing elements
in new ways, rather than devise new elements requiring new models and colours.
Seasonality is a disadvantage for the company. The
number of products, workers and trucks increased, and it
affects directly in the warehouse. LEGO uses LEAN’s
principals to constantly eliminate non-value activities, and
focus on optimizing resources of transport, workforce,
process improvements, inventory and quality to reduce
waste or returns.
In certain markets, LEGO’s days of inventory is 102 days.
It is a possibility that Lego’s high standards of quality
control could be the cause of high days of inventory. To
improve its distribution channel, they develop a
multi-tiered inventory system. Better forecast of the
products could decrease the lead-time, and improving its
management will drive sales.
❖ PACKAGING
There are lots of thought behind the packets of the products and sizes.
o Make the product attractive to the customer.
o Transports are in boxes or pallets. The logistic department works closely with
designers to optimize logistic efficiency from manufacturing to retailer’s shelves
by using a modular packaging system.
o Reduce physical storage – the cost of space
o Reduce environmental impact from cupboard and transport.
Lego wants to become more eco-friendly, using sustainable materials for its products
by 2030 and packaging by 2025.
LEGO Group has increased its sales in recent years and it forecast to continuous
increase. There is a successful and significant marketing campaign in everything they
do. The initiatives for the company are:
o Grow in US & Europe
- Lego Movie was one of the greatest success in the last years
- New models, Star Wars, Ninjago, or Lego Friends to attract girls
- LEGOLAND Parks
o Invest to develop in emerging markets (Brazil, China, India & Mexico)
o Product innovation
o Direct customer activities such as sales channels, collaboration programs and clubs.
- AFOLs – Adults fans of LEGO. They have created a group of LEGO
enthusiast with more than 70.000 registered members and they are active in social
media. More than 170 events are organized by theirs fans. In 2010, the company
developed 80 projects after participating actively in these events.
- Ambassador Programme – Fans from all over the world can work for LEGO
in any of its certifies LEGO buildings.
o LEGO education
- The company has projects to grow in education areas all over the world, such
as pre-school products – DUPLO, joint projects with schools or partnership with
Marvel or Star Wars to create movies or books.
o More presence on digital platforms
- Video games are part of LEGO strategy to expand the digital business and
provide its customers with different ways of enjoying its products independently of
their age.
❖
❖
❖
❖
❖
LEGO has a high contact customer service.
Its products are designed for children to grow and develop following one of its core
value “Think outside the box”.
The company had issues in some strategic markets due to the poor customer service
and the unavailability of the products. To transform the business the company has
concentrated big effort to improve their supply chain. As a result, the company
increased the accessibility to their products, improving its customer service. They
have availability over the phone, email or face-to-face in any shop.
Lego has new ways to contact directly with the customers: its own sales channels,
clubs, collaboration programs, etc. They are encouraging more personal contact by
expanding offers available directly to customers.
The company continues to evolve collecting its customer feedback.
LEGO Group has established management changes of the organisation in 2012.
As per new structures, the company's main location is in Denmark, and main offices
in USA, UK, China and Singapore.
LEGO Group employs 14,000 people globally.
The Group have increased the number of managers from six to twenty-one as per
divisional subunits. The 21 units are divided into five different groups, such as
Operations, Product and Marketing Development, Business Enabling, Market
Management and Development and HR; each of the group have their own top
manager (Lego.com, 2016).
The top managers are overseen by the CEO and the Board of Directors (Lego.com,
2016).
The figure below is showing organisational structures of LEGO Group globally.
❖ The LEGO Group has overcome the crisis and has become one of the most
successful toy manufacturers for both children and adults. According to
statista.com, the company's revenues in 2016 amounted to EUR 5.1 billion, the
highest result in the history of the LEGO Group. Changes in the supply chain and
restructuring have contributed to the greater efficiency of huge business operations
and thus to increase overall satisfaction customers.
❖ Through the improved new ideas of the supply chain, such as distribution, sourcing
product development and manufacturing, they are able to create a very well
working business model that is the main competitive advantage. After the
successful transformation of the supply chain, LEGO Group can focus on
customers to increase their satisfaction.
8. HISTORY OF THE COMPANY
Founded in 1977 by Roy Raymond, Victoria’s secret (VS) is the largest
American company of women's lingerie, womenswear and beauty
products. The company has been a huge success since opening day. In
1982, Leslie Wexner bought the company from Roy Raymond for
$1million. Seven years later the company was worth over $1.5 billion.
Nowadays, the brand has more than 1600 stores worldwide and is the
leading retailer of women's lingerie, fragrance and body care.
Supply Chain
Victoria’s secret manages two supply chains:
*One its designed for high-fashion items such as lingerie which needs
to be in store as quick as possible in order to maximize sales;
*The second is for basic products such as beauty products which are
designed to stay longer on the shelf at the lowest cost.
The company can either air freight and also ship the products by ocean.
The expensive items carry an extra transportation cost weather the
low-margin items carry extra inventory costs.
Generating different supply chain can lead to a considerable increase in
overall profit margin and customer service of an organization’s
strategic goals.
Packaging
VS concept of products packaging is not only keeping them safe,
deliverable and protected, but admit them ass an essential part of
their conceptual strategy. VS packaging concept is that a product
package is communication to customers and satisfying their
expectations and needs and informing them about contend and
quality of product. VS’s packages are bright and attracting attention
Delivery
Victoria’s Secrets implemented three schedules of their product
delivery to the customers: long term delivery: up to one year at
advance, middle term delivery: up to six months at advance, and short
term delivery: collections designed in response to the first results of
the season. 60% of VS products are short scheduled. VS provides
own delivery to customer system CONCEPT TO MARKET. The
Company sets up separate terms of delivery for each product.
VS uses pull method of shipment: when products send to stores
depending from historical POS (Point of Sale Data) from local
distribution centres in each region.
The actual frequency of store shipments, for both fashion and
replenishment products depends on the type of product, the type of
store (stores are divided into 7 tiers based on selling square footage
and priorities are set in accordance with the tier ranking), and type of
season, whether holiday or sale.
Online Delivery
All approved online stores receiving the products from the
Distribution Centre which is separate from the Victoria’s Secret
Stores’ Distribution centre. This DC shares to retailers web
catalogue. The average time it takes to get to customers is about
two days. Online sales allow to VS to provide shipping of small
orders and single items.
Return Police
Their return policy is very complaisant, VS exchanges or issue
refunds on all merchandise purchased within 90 days.
On their website VS has a number of options to optimize their
customer care service such as, frequently asked question, order
status, shipping and delivery, live chat, email address, telephone
number, exchange and returns.
Quality assurance
VS is a high end product therefore quality of their product is
lucrative to their business. To ensure a high standard of quality VS
uses a number of techniques.
· Assessing and assuring capabilities of raw material suppliers.
· Evaluating vendor compliance with VS sourcing agreements.
· Inspecting and testing product quality from pre-production to
post-production, including issues related to product colour,
construction, labelling, packaging, and pricing.
· Raising quality across the board by checking new products,
monitoring existing ones and working with their partners in the
Raw Materials, Technical, Sourcing and Product Development
areas in product innovation.
·Attribute measurements for larger sample sizes, that help the
company test all their products efficiently.
· Pareto analysis to eliminate the problems in quality control. Since
Victoria’s Secret is well known brand and it offers higher quality
products, it is very important to investigate problem areas and
correct the problems.
·Six Sigma program like many other industries and manufacturers
have started to use the program today. Six Sigma helps the
company shorten lead times, cut development and manufacturing
costs, and improve the quality of the products.
Inventory Management
Victoria's Secret Stores makes inventory every six months and it
hires a data warehouse company to do its inventory. Victoria's
Secret uses a Micro Strategy's DSS Agent (Decision Support
System), this system helps the company to manage inventory,
analyse market demand and gather information about the sales and
inventory levels for each item in each store. In addition, using DSS
Agent, reduce the time and personnel required to perform the
analysis of the data collected.
DSS Agent has enabled Victoria's Secret to reduce out-of-stock
instances on selected items from 20% to 5%, by tracking daily
movement figures and minimizing inventory shortfalls. DSS Agent
is providing Victoria's Secret with a better understanding of critical
information such as size selling patterns and how they vary by
geography.
Online Marketing
· VS is ubiquitous on the social media channels with
28M likes on the official Facebook
page, 670,000 YouTube subscribers and more than 7M
followers on Twitter, VS uses the appeal of their Angels
and visual aesthetics to create compelling and
informative content.
· Email marketing is huge for VS, it accounts for 23% of
their sales. Members are reluctant to unsubscribe in the
fear of missing out on exclusive offers, peek at new
collection and members only shopping events .
· In addition VS has a user friendly website and mobile
app with easy navigation and strategically placed call to
action buttons. Despite the glamorous image of the
brand, the website design is simple and intuitive to use.
Customer Care
Women don’t line up at Victoria’s Secret because of the
low prices, they line up because of the luxurious
experience the brand offers. The pink wallpapers, the
inviting fitting rooms, the friendly and well-trained
staff. All this plays a fundamental role in their customer
care.
VS is known for their well trained and soft spoken staff
who offer customers a lovely undivided attention. They
often assist customers with questions about products,
apparel, and sizing. Sales associates with Victoria’s
Secret work to ensure the best customer satisfaction
during each interaction.
10. Total exports from Jordan to the EU in 2018 amounted to €300,299,870. Conversely total bilateral trade between
the EU and Jordan amounted to over €3.5 billion leading to a trade deficit for Jordan of €3.2 billion. Main
products exported to the EU included Agricultural products (€43 million) and Industrial products (€257 million).
EXPORTS PER COUNTRY (Top 10 shown in Orange in Map).
“Rules of Origin”
The Rules of Origin (RoOs) are a major challenge of Jordan when exporting to the EU. The World Trade Organization (WTO) describes
RoO as “the criteria needed to determine the national source of a product, and their importance is derived from the fact that duties and
restrictions in several cases depend upon the source of imports”.
The EU had promised to provide Jordan with more help and simplifying trade between the Kingdom and European countries by reducing
the required RoOs. This reduction would only cover industrial businesses operating in a number of pre-identified Development Zones and
in selective sectors over the period of ten years.
The European Commission established that “Jordanian industries find it difficult to actively take advantage of the EU-Jordan Association
Agreement due to difficult RoOs ” (Vaes et al., 2015). Further, the Jordan Strategy Forum highlighted that “Jordanian industrial products
continue to face key challenges that prevent them from benefiting from the applied RoO which include: strict product specific rules that
require in their majority Jordanian manufactured products to undergo certain manufacturing processes, high percentages of local content
reaching up to 60% like (carpet, embroidered garments, air conditioners, home appliances) and in other cases solely obtained efforts. This
challenge had made it rather difficult for Jordanian industries to capitalize on trade agreements with the EU and it was what the new Trade
Agreement on RoOs between the Kingdom and the EU aim to address.
Some factories that are ready to export their products to Europe and expand their operations will not be able to benefit from the relaxed
Rules of Origin due to their limitation to certain Industrial Zones” (Jordan Strategy Forum, 2019).
Brexit
Jordan draws more £1 billion worth of UK exports and UK is the 5th
biggest export customer in the EU for Jordan. According to the
Department for International Trade (GOV.UK, 2019), UK is pursuing to arrange agreement with Jordan to guarantee trade continues with
minimal disruption after the UK leaves the EU yet this is still uncertain as Brexit has been postponed until the 31st
of October 2019 with no
definite deal with the EU.
According to the UK Government, “These arrangements could continue the effects of the EU-Jordan agreement if the UK leaves the EU
without a deal but if the UK does not arrange agreements with Jordan and the UK leaves the EU without a deal, existing trade agreements
will not take affect anymore. This would mean the UK would not have preferential trade arrangements for exports to Jordan.
Even if the UK agrees continuity arrangements with Jordan, there could still be minimal changes to tariffs and quotas, which may still
present challenges for some Jordanians exporters” (UK Government, 2019).
Other Challenges
The Jordan Strategy Forum (JSF) a non-profit organization, which acts for the group of Jordanian private sector companies that are active
in corporate and social responsibility (CSR) and in promoting Jordan’s economic growth listed “a few challenges facing Jordanian
Exporters in terms of competing with other countries” (Jordan Strategy Forum, 2019) as summarised below.
In 2018 Ireland imported goods worth €3,483,606 from Jordan. Exports to Jordan from Ireland were to the value of €67,934,626
creating a trade deficit for Jordan of over €64.5 million. Jordanian exports to Ireland have shown a growth trend from 2015 to 2018
after a steep fall from a peak in 2014 as seen in the chart below.
Trade Agreement between EU and Jordan
The Free Trade Area between Europe and Jordan has opened up two-way trade of goods through the
Association Agreement that governs trade in May 2002. Additional agreements on agriculture,
agri-food and fisheries products were reached between EU and Jordan and came into force in 2007 and
2011 respectively. However, in July 2016 both EU and Jordan decided to make the rules that Jordanian
exporters use in their trade with the EU simpler (Rules of Origin). It was reviewed by both parties and
they improved the initiative in December 2018.
This initiative is to help create jobs for both Jordanian and Syrian refugees with support from the EU to
Jordan in the ongoing refugee crisis, and the goal of the initiative is to make export from Jordan to the
EU easier. With a window of validity currently set until the 21st of December 2030, EU Market
preferential access will be conditional upon Jordanian exporters complying with certain conditions
stipulated in the Association Agreement.
Based on the EU’s current preferential regime for less developed countries called the ‘Everything but
Arms Initiative’, the Alternative Rules of Origin state that the labour involved in the production of
goods must include 15% Syrian Refugees in order for them to be applicable. In an effort to lessen the
administrative burden involved in tracking the Syrian labour inputs into specific exports, the EU and
Jordan agreed to remove the minimum employment requirement once 60,000 active work permits were
issued by the Jordanian government to Syrian Refugees. Once that target has been achieved, Jordanian
exporters will no longer have to submit to the somewhat cumbersome former system.
To summarise the Trade agreement as per the European Commission’s own information portal:
“Under the Association Agreement, the EU and Jordan have established a Free Trade Area (FTA) under
which they agreed:
• to liberalize two-way trade in goods, so that all trade in industrial products takes place free of any
import duties while trade in agricultural, agro-food and fisheries products has been liberalized on a
selective and progressive basis
• rules and disciplines on non-tariff based trade measures such as quantitative restrictions and product
standards
• a general right to establish businesses and provide services in the other territory
• to allow for current payments and capital movements
• common rules on competition and intellectual property” (European Commission, 2019).
Some interesting facts on the trade between the EU and Jordan have also been provided by the
European Commission:
• “The EU is Jordan’s largest trading partner, accounting for 17.4% of its trade in 2017, ahead of the
United States (13.4%), Saudi Arabia (13.4%) and China (10.9%).
• In 2017, Jordan is the EU’s 61st-largest trading partner representing 0.1% of the EU’s total trade with
the world.
• Total trade in goods between the EU and Jordan amounted to €4,4 billion in 2017.
• The EU main imports from Jordan in 2017 were chemicals (€0.1 billion), textiles and clothing (€0.04
billion), and machinery and transport equipment (€0.04 billion).
• The EU's exports to Jordan are machinery and transport equipment (€1.3 billion), agricultural
products (€0.7 billion) and chemicals (€0.6 billion)” (European Commission, 2019).
European Commission, 2018. Statistics Extra-EU Trade. [Online] Available at:
https://trade.ec.europa.eu/tradehelp/ [Accessed 4 August 2019].
European Commission, 2019. Jordan EU Trade Information. [Online] Available at:
http://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/countries-and-regions/countries/jordan/ [Accessed 4 August
2019].
Jordan Strategy Forum, 2019. Relaxing the Rules of Origin for Jordanian Industries. [Online]
Available at:
http://jsf.org/sites/default/files/Relaxing%20the%20Rules%20of%20Origin%20for%20Jordani
an%20Industries.pdf [Accessed 5 August 2019].
Observatory of Economic Complexity, 2019. Jordan Country Info. [Online] Available at:
https://oec.world/en/profile/country/jor/ [Accessed 5 August 2019].
Trading Economics, 2017. Ireland Imports from Jordan. [Online] Available at:
https://tradingeconomics.com/ireland/imports/jordan [Accessed 5 August 2019]. UN
Conference on Trade & Development, 2018. Liner Shipping Bilateral Connectivity Index 2018.
[Online] Available at:
https://unctadstat.unctad.org/wds/TableViewer/tableView.aspx?ReportId=96618 [Accessed 2
August 2019].
USAID, 2015. Export Guide to the EU - A handbook for Industrial and Manufacturing
Businesses in Jordan. [Online] Available at:
http://www.jsmo.gov.jo/en/News/Documents/ExportGuidetotheEUEnglish.pdf [Accessed 10
July 2019].
Vaes, R. et al., 2015. valuation of the European Union’s Cooperation with the Hashemite
Kingdom of Jordan. Development and Cooperation, Brussels: EuropeAid.
World Trade Organisation, 2016. Trade topics - Rules of origin gateway.. [Online] Available at:
https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/roi_e/roi_e.htm [Accessed 5 August 2019].
UK Government, 2019. Exporting to Jordan after Brexit if there’s no deal. [Online] Available
at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/exporting-to-jordan-after-eu-exit [Accessed 2 August 2019].
UNCTAD (The UN Conference on Trade and
Documentation) calculates the Liner Shipping Bilateral
Connectivity (LSBC) Index of countries on an annual
basis. The LSBC is a measure of a country pair’s
integration into global liner shipping networks. The
higher the coefficient, the easier it is to ship goods from
Jordan to that export destination. A direct correlation has
been found between the top 10 export destinations for
Jordan and their LSBC rating as indicated in the table
below:
Italy 51,972,788
Netherlands 49,679,161
Belgium 48,908,230
Spain 39,124,880
UK 28,586,960
Germany 22,492,128
France 18,199,702
Greece 8,040,671
Portugal 5,382,061
Poland 4,934,042
Sweden 4,512,751
Bulgaria 4,378,822
Ireland 3,483,606
Austria 2,283,450
Cyprus 1,542,527
Slovenia 1,522,940
Slovakia 1,283,163
Romania 1,143,669
Denmark 814,879
Croatia 429,192
Hungary 380,269
Estonia 328,085
Finland 301,270
Czech_Republic 271,605
Malta 185,190
Luxembourg 71,129
Lithuania 24,497
Latvia 22,203
Belgium 0.4067677
UK 0.4036331
Germany 0.3994295
Spain 0.397753
Netherlands 0.3938811
Italy 0.3916292
Malta 0.3752705
France 0.3498316
Greece 0.3483742
Portugal 0.3481925
Poland 0.3416559
Croatia 0.3287767
Slovenia 0.3239792
Sweden 0.3182935
Romania 0.307435
Denmark 0.301856
Cyprus 0.2562553
Lithuania 0.2542794
Bulgaria 0.1942286
Ireland 0.1942101
Finland 0.1916752
Latvia 0.1291513
Estonia 0.1260477
11. .
)
Glanbia Manufacturing
Glanbia has different manufacturing locations,
currently there are four different production
locations here in Ireland and these locations are;
Ballyragget, Co. Kilkenny, Belview, Co.
Kilkenny, Corman Miloko, Carrick-on-Suir, Co.
Tipperary, Wexford Creamery, Co. Wexford,
Virginia, Co. Cavan. These production sites
manufacture a range of different products such as;
specialized milk powder products, nutritional
ingredients, butter and milkfat and specialized in
high-quality cheddar cheese.
Glanbia is in the process of integrating an upgraded transportation management
system (TMS) through 3PL and technology firms to streamline its supply chain
operations and build in efficiencies. Already successfully partially integrated at
Glanbia’s operations, the company is now working to implement the program
across all its divisions nationwide. As a cloud-based system, TMS can be accessed
anywhere in the world through mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets, and
laptops allowing trucks to be routed and pickups to be requested globally with an
internet connection. The TMS system will support the company’s SAP-designed
CRM and ERP systems to provide a more holistic form of top shelf customer
service, from materials suppliers to the end customer. “TMS eliminates the need
to install and maintain many different facets of transportation systems,” said Andy
Weisel, Executive, Procurement Center of Excellence. “It puts all the information
in one source.”