Task 3

Supply Chain Strategy

by

Daniel Alcaraz

11-7-11

A) Keiretsu Network:

There are several choices of strategies we can adopt when we are talking about the supply chain of a company. The first strategy I would recommend and adopt over vertical integration or a virtual company which I will explain later is the strategy of a Keiretsu Network. It was founded by Japanese manufactures in which its part of a collaboration and part purchasing from suppliers and its also part vertical integration. The manufactures are major financial supporters of the suppliers through their ownership or loans. The suppliers become a major part of the company's coalition called Keiretsu. Any members of this network are assured long term relationships and are expected to to behave as partners and provide their expertise on quality production to the manufacture. Members can also have Keiretsu father down the supply chain which makes second and even third suppliers apart of this coalition. Finding the right strategy for our company will be the start of our supply chain strategy. The main three are the Keiretsu network, virtual company, vertical integration. All three have their advantages and disadvantages. An example of a Keiretsu network would be our company working closely with a supplier, such as a motor manufacturer but not necessarily owing their company. A virtual company is network of independent companies—suppliers, customers, competitors, linked by information technology to share skills, costs, and access to one another's markets. Such organizations are usually formed on the basis of a cooperative agreement with little or no hierarchy or vertical integration. This flexible structure minimizes the impact of the agreement on the participants' individual organizations and facilitates adding new