...Case Study #4 (7/11 Japan) A convenience store chain attempts to be responsive and provide customers what they need, when they need it, where they need it. What are some different ways that a convenience store supply chain can be responsive? What are some risks in each case? -A convenience store can be responsive in a few different ways in order to meet customer needs and wants. The store can conduct customer surveys in order to get a direct response on what the store is lacking or what customers prefer. They could do a store analysis also which would show them customer purchase patterns so they can pinpoint the hot items and when they should be in stock. In both cases the risk is that you could get the wrong information and stock your store wrong, or you could end up only tailoring to one customer’s needs, which might not be the same needs as the majority of your customers. Seven-Eleven’s supply chain strategy in Japan can be described as attempting to micro-match supply and demand using rapid replenishment. What are some risks associated with this choice? -Rapid replenishment as a strategy for supply and demand runs a few risk which are: customers will discontinue use of a product, the product will remain on the shelf until the shelf life is exceeded or you might not have what the customer needs/wants at the time of need because you are consistently replenishing other products from other customers. By the time the product that the customer wanted arrives in the store...
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...Sunil Chopra TEACHING NOTE: SEVEN-ELEVEN JAPAN CO. The goal of this case is to illustrate how a firm can be successful by structuring its supply chain to support its supply chain strategy. Once Seven-Eleven Japan decided to provide responsiveness by rapid replenishment, it then structured its facilities, inventory, information, and distribution to support this choice. The case also brings up the question of whether the same approach can work in the United States, especially given the greater distances and lower store density. Questions 1. A CONVENIENCE STORE CHAIN ATTEMPTS TO BE RESPONSIVE AND PROVIDE CUSTOMERS WHAT THEY NEED, WHEN THEY NEED IT, WHERE THEY NEED IT. WHAT ARE SOME DIFFERENT WAYS THAT A CONVENIENCE STORE SUPPLY CHAIN CAN BE RESPONSIVE? WHAT ARE SOME RISKS IN EACH CASE? As responsiveness increases, the convenience store chain is exposed to greater uncertainty. A convenience store chain can improve responsiveness to this uncertainty using one of the following strategies, especially for fresh and fast foods: Local capacity: The convenience store chain can provide local cooking capacity at the stores and assemble foods almost on demand. Inventory would be stored as raw material. This is seen at the U.S. fast food restaurant franchise Subway where dinner and lunch sandwiches are assembled on demand. The main risk with this approach is that capacity is decentralized, leading to poorer utilization. Local inventory: Another approach is...
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...1 i CASE STUDY ~ SEVEN-ELEVEN JAPAN CO. Established in 1973, Seven-Eleven Japan set up its first store in Koto-ku, Tokyo, in May 1974. The company was first listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in October 1979. In 2004 it was owned by the Ito-Yokado group, which also managed a chain of supermarkets in Japan and owned a majority share in Southland, the company managing SevenEleven in the United States. Seven-Eleven Japan realized a phenomenal growth between the years of 1985 and 2003. During that period, the number of stores increased from 2,299 to 10,303; annual sales increased from 386 billion to 2,343 billion yen; and net income increased from 9 billion to 91.5 billion yen. Additionally, the company's return on equity (ROE) averaged around 14 percent between 2000 and 2004. In 2004, Seven-Eleven Japan represented Japan's largest retailer in terms of operating income and number of stores. Customer visits to Seven-Eleven outlets totaled 3.6 billion that year, averaging almost 30 visits to a SevenEleven annually for every person in Japan. COMPANY HISTORY AND PROFILE Both Ito-Yokado and Seven-Eleven Japan were founded by Masatoshi Ito. He started his retail empire after World . War II, when he joined his mother and elder brother and began to work in a small clothing store in Tokyo. By 1960 he was in sole control, and the single store had grown into a $3 million company. After a trip to the United States in 1961, Ito became convinced that superstores...
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...Justin Sunwoong Choi BUSM 431 Brother Huff 10/18/2012 Ben & Jerry’s - Japan 1. Overview of the case * Perry Odak had meeting with Masahiko Iida who is the president of Seven-Eleven Japan to resolve conundrum of whether to introduce Ben & Jerry’s ice cream to the Japan market and, if so, how. Ben & Jerry’s was established by Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, who were school mates before, when they were in mid 20s. They were growing between 1982 and 1990 but they had suffered with their net income from 1993 to 1994 when their sales exceeded $150 million. Haagen-Dazs was the only major competitor in the super-premium ice cream market where Ben & Jerry’s was in. Ben & Jerry’s was very slow with embracing foreign market. The company only had foreign sales of $6 million, with total sales of $174 million. In the super-premium ice cream sales, Haagen-Dazs and Ben & Jerry’s were still the leading brands, but Haagen-Dazs was above Ben & Jerry’s. Now Ben & Jerry’s is trying to focus on market opportunities in Japan where Haagen-Dazs already had managed to capture nearly half the super-premium market in. Ben & Jerry’s is facing some difficulties with requests or changing their strategies by getting into the market in Japan. 2. Identification and Analysis of the Key Issues of the Case. * The reason for the decision of Ben & Jerry’s getting into Japan’s market is because Japan is the second biggest ice cream market with a big...
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...CASE: SEVEN ELEVEN JAPAN Executive Summary I Executive Summary The goal of this case is to analyze how a firm can be successful by structuring its supply chain to support its supply chain strategy. Once Seven-Eleven Japan decided to provide responsiveness by rapid replenishment, it then structured its facilities, inventory, information, and distribution to support this choice. The case also brings up the question of whether the same approach can work in the United States, especially given the greater distances and lower store density. Table of Contents II I Table of Contents Executive Summary ................................................................................................................. I II List of Abbreviations......................................................................................................... III 1 Seven-Eleven Japan Co........................................................................................................ 1 1.1 History and Profile ........................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Framework of further discussions .................................................................................... 1 2 Discussion ............................................................................................................................ 1 2.1 Supply Chain Responsiveness ..................................................................
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...CENTER FOR INFORMATION SYSTEMS RESEARCH Sloan School of Management Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge Massachusetts 7-ELEVEN Japan Co., Ltd.: Reinventing the Retail Business Model Kei Nagayama and Peter Weill January 2004 CISR WP No. 338 and MIT Sloan WP No. 4485-04 2004 Massachusetts Institute of Technology. All rights reserved. Research Article: a completed research article drawing on one or more CISR research projects that presents management frameworks, findings and recommendations. Research Summary: a summary of a research project with preliminary findings. Research Briefings: a collection of short executive summaries of key findings from research projects. Case Study: an in-depth description of a firm’s approach to an IT management issue (intended for MBA and executive education). Technical Research Report: a traditional academically rigorous research paper with detailed methodology, analysis, findings and references. About the Center for Information Systems Research CISRMISSION CISR was founded in 1974 and has a strong track record of practice based research on the management of information technology. As we enter the twenty-first century, CISR’s mission is to perform practical empirical research on how firms generate business value from IT. CISR disseminates this research via electronic research...
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...Seven Eleven Case Study Questions 3, 4 and 6 Question 3 What has Seven Eleven done in its choice of facility location, inventory management, transportation and information infrastructure to develop capabilities to support its supply chain strategy in Japan? In order to support it’s supply chain strategy in Japan, Seven Eleven has developed a number of capabilities to ease the movement of inventory to and from its distribution center and around it’s entire supply chain network. One method in particular that Seven Eleven has implicated is its cluster location strategy. This is where an average of 50 to 60 stores along side a distribution center are located within a region of demand in Japan. This approach provides Seven Eleven with a centralized strategy to its supply chain; meaning an effective distribution network is formed across the company as the stores and distribution center are located within close proximity to each other allowing for a reduction in transportation times and cost. Another strategy Seven Eleven has implicated to support its supply chain strategy is its effective use of a combined delivery system. This enables the company to distribute products in a more efficiently manner across the supply chain network, as products that fall into similar temperature categories can be transported together and to several store at one given time. Seven Eleven’s investment in inventory management and information Infrastructure has also aided improvements to...
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...Course: Logistics and Supply Chain Management Prof. Dr. Stephan M. Wagner Seven-Eleven Japan Co. 1) Demand uncertainty – Demand uncertainty means your business has difficulty accurately predicting customer demand in the future. This poses a significant challenge because it makes inventory hard to control and manage. Using technology to monitor sales over time can help offset demand that fluctuates from one period to the next. In the Seven Eleven case the company implied demand uncertainty can be categorized as high, due to the nature of the customer needs and product properties. Customer needs: customer is usually in a hurry making an urgency-buy, he has a low tolerance for response time, requires high product availability & high service level. The range of quantity demanded can also be high due to unexpected events, e.g. super ball game increasing the demand for beer, chips and commercial. These customer needs causes a high implied demand uncertainty. Products properties: middle range of products (3000SKUs) 60% of total sales at each store are processed and fast foods, 50% changes in the course of a year due to seasonal demand & new products. Local preferences are important and vary, different consumption patterns throughout the day, stores have limited shelf space and little buffer inventory (limited store size) Seven Eleven supply uncertainty is medium to high. Supply uncertainty is increased due to: high diversity of products,...
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...segment(s), (2) an understanding of customer purchase/ usage activities, and (3) sophisticated on-going analyses of their customers. Dell, Inc. Segments: • Business Market, which is further divided into: Large companies, Government, Education, Hospitals, Small Business • Consumers, specifically computer-savvy consumers Using a combination of demographics (e.g., company size, industry) and product usage characteristics gives Dell an in-depth understanding of differences in customers’ purchasing processes (importance of attributes in purchase decision) and the challenges they face in installation and use (the how/what of computer usage). Dell is a master of combining one-on-one knowledge of customers with highly quantitative sales analysis. Michael Dell, himself, estimates that he spends as much as 40% of his time with customers, understanding their problems. The structure of the organization is also designed to capture customer knowledge, with sales and support teams assigned to particular customer segments. Constant monitoring of sales data is also a powerful tool for understanding customers, which allows Dell to adjust product to demand in real time. IKEA Segments: • First-time furniture buyers; renters or first-home buyers • Customers undergoing “life-transitions” • Benefits sought: high-quality, stylish furniture at affordable price Kamprad’s vision of providing attractive furnishings at a reasonable price has universal appeal for customers. But IKEA’s understanding...
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...1. What has Seven-Eleven done in its choices of facility locations, inventory management, transportation, and information infrastructure to develop capabilities that support its supply chain strategy in Japan? Seven-Eleven has two levels of facility locations, one is distribution center, and another is retailer store. Distribution center is a platform to collect and allocate the order from supplier to retail store. Limited number of distribution center supports the near cluster stores. Distribution center focus on efficiency rather than responsiveness to transmit product. Seven-Eleven tends to open the stores in a dense network. It opened the majority of its new stores in areas with existing clusters of stores. Dense stores can maintain a high responsive level to the market. Besides, it also can reduce delivery cost. For instance, the trucks do not need to replenish stocks in dispersed locations. This makes the supply chain be more effective owning to the faster and convenience transportation route. In view of the inventory management, Seven-Eleven keeps no stock in distribution center and limited inventory in retailer stores. Supplier will immediately deliver stock to distribution center if receive store order. Store only keep daily inventory and place the product in particular time to response customer buying behavior. For example, breakfast, newspaper and fresh food will be placed in the shelves on the morning. The popular dinner box is placed in the evening...
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...regularly, like alcohol, medicine, clothes and some stores sell a much wider range of non-food products. A supermarket is larger in size and has a wider selection than a traditional grocery store also selling items typically found in a convenience store but is smaller and more limited in range of merchandise than a hypermarket or big-box store. In this paper we divided supermarkets of the worlds into three categories: * Convenience stores also called corner store, a small store that stocks a range of everyday items such as groceries, toiletries, alcoholic soft drinks and tobacco products. * Regional supermarket, a superstore which is bigger than 3000 square meters, contain routine weekly needs for most people can be satisfied in the case that adequate merchandise are sorted perfectly. * Warehouse supermarket, a large membership warehouse club chain, manifold of products with cheaper price and greater quantity. All of the three kinds of supermarkets are having good performance now days based on people’s daily demands. So our...
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...Euroland Foods S.A. Weihan Zhang Marshall University Euroland Foods S.A. Introduction: This case discusses Euroland Foods' the eleven projects that was financial reporting. This case indicates that Euroland Foods draft the company's capital budgeting in the New Year, but the eleven projects spend EUR316million far beyond EUR120 million spending limit prescribed by the board. It will be a challenge for senior managements to allocate funds for these projects .This case will analysis the project which is more beneficial to the company. It will include new product introduction, acquisitions, market expansion, improve efficiency, preventive maintenance, safety and pollution control. Company’s Background: The Euroland Foods was established in 1924 by the Belgian farmer Theo Verdin. This was a multinational company in the production of high quality food, such as ice cream, yogurt, fruit juices and bottled water. Ice cream, the most popular product, had a loyal customer base that was causing ice cream accounted for about 60% of company's revenue. Yogurt, was introduced by Verdin in 1982, contributed about 20% of revenue, the rest of the bottled water and fruit juice were equally divided about 10%. These products have been sold to some Europe countries, such as Britain, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, northern France and western Germany. Because Verdin focused on product development and shrewd marketing, the company grow steadily over...
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...1/13/2015 Solution SCM Ch1 2 Documents Upload (/upload.html) Login (/login.html? back=http%3A%2F%2Fdocslide.net%2Fdocuments%2Fsolution-scm-ch12.html) / Docslide (/) / Documents (/category/documents.html) / Solution SCM Ch1 2 Assignment 1 Supply Chain Management Topic: Understanding the Supply Chain Submitted by: Submitted to: Md. Faisal Hossain Md. Md. Akram Hossain EMBA Spring Semester 2013 Assistant Professor ID: 61120-13-017 MIS, University of Dhaka Date: 23-01-2013 Department of Management Information Systems Gateway Why did Gateway have multiple production facilities in the US? What advantages or disadvantages does this strategy offer relative to Dell, which has one facility? US was main market of gateway No inventory stores direct supply no contract with any shipping company Advantages Low price raw material Cheaper logistics http://docslide.net/documents/solutionscmch12.html 1/8 1/13/2015 Solution SCM Ch1 2 Documents Fly UP Shipping Tax Incentives Disadvantages cost increases Difficult to manage quality Different polices for employees What factors did Gateway consider when deciding which plants to close? The markets which were saturated showing poor results, specially Malaysia plant were have high loses Why does Gateway not carry any finished goods inventory at its retail stores? Gateway was really clever in deciding whether to keep such items in inventory or not. As gateway knew that people don’t wait for FMCG product...
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...I O N : T E C H N O LO GY 7-ELEVEN STORES ASK THE CUSTOMER BY ASKING THE DATA There is probably a 7-Eleven store in your neighborhood, and it’s a convenient place for picking up a can of Coke or a quick ham-and-cheese sandwich. It’s the largest convenience retailer in the world and the number one convenience store chain in the United States, with 5,300 stores. This company started out about 75 years ago as an ice-dock operator. When refrigerators started replacing iceboxes, the manager of each store asked customers one-by-one what items they’d like to stock in their new appliances. By asking customers directly and stocking only the items customers most wanted, the company grew and prospered. Over time, the company moved away from its roots, losing touch with customers along the way. It had no means of knowing what sold in each store and allowed vendors to decide what to stock on its shelves. Although large vendors, such as Coca-Cola and Frito-Lay, had powerful information systems for analyzing what they sold in individual stores, other vendors didn’t have such systems. Moreover, the vendors’ systems were designed to maximize opportunities for their businesses, not for 7-Eleven. 7-Eleven stores are not all alike. What their customers want depends a great deal on the neighborhood and region of the country where they are located. What sells well in Boston may not work in Texas. Without detailed knowledge of its customer and sales patterns, 7-Eleven was unable to determine which...
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...DATA You May Not Need Big Data After All by Jeanne W. Ross, Cynthia M. Beath, and Anne Quaadgras FROM THE DECEMBER 2013 ISSUE C ompanies are investing like crazy in data scientists, data warehouses, and data analytics software. But many of them don’t have much to show for their efforts. It’s possible they never will. What’s the problem? To begin with, big data ARTWORK: CHAD HAGEN, GRAPHIC COMPOSITION NO. 2, 2009, DIGITAL has been hyped so heavily that companies are expecting it to deliver more value than it actually can. In addition, analytics-generated insights can be easy to replicate: A financial services company we studied built a model based on an analysis of big data that identified the best place to locate an ATM, only to learn that consultants had already built similar models for several other banks. Moreover, turning insights from data analytics into competitive advantage requires changes that businesses may be incapable of making. One retailer, for example, learned that it could increase profits substantially by extending the time items were on the floor before and after discounting. But implementing that change would have required a complete redesign of the supply chain, which the retailer was reluctant to undertake. The biggest reason that investments in big data fail to pay off, though, is that most companies don’t do a good job with the information they already have. They don’t know how to manage it, analyze it in ways that...
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