Walmart Pepe Jeans Operations Essay Example

Walmart Pepe Jeans Operations Essay Case: Pepe Jeans Pepe Jeans began to produce and sell denim jeans in the early 1970s in the United Kingdom and has achieved enormous growth. The company maintains contact with its independent retailers via group of 10 agents and each agent is responsible for retailers in a particular area of the country. Pepe is convinced that a good relationship with the independent retailers is vital to its success. The survey of the independent retailers indicated some problems. It was felt that Pepe’s variety of styles and quality was the company’s key advantage over the competition. However the independents were unhappy with Pepe’s requirement to place firm orders six months in advance with no possibility amendments, cancellation, or repeat ordering. Some claimed that the inflexible order system forced them to order less, resulting in stock outs. Pepe felt that a change was going to be needed soon. The easiest solution would be work with the Hong Kong sourcing agent to reduce the lead time associated with orders but this was going to increase the cost significantly. Even with the significant increase in cost, consistent delivery schedules would be difficult to keep. Another suggestion was to build a finishing operation in United Kingdom. Pepe was interested to see how system worked at U. S. operations. They found that they would have to keep about six weeks’ supply of basic jeans on hand in the United Kingdom and they have to invest ? 1,000,000 worth of equipment. They also estimated that it would cost about ? 500,000 to operate the facility each year. We will write a custom essay sample on Walmart Pepe Jeans Operations specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Walmart Pepe Jeans Operations specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Walmart Pepe Jeans Operations specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer They could locate the facility in the basement of current office building, and the renovations would cost ? 300,000. Today’s operations management many companies outsource. Companies have variety of reasons for outsourcing but primarily the reasons are to reduce costs and create a competitive advantage. Companies tend to outsource in logistics area. This includes complete cycle of material flow; from the purchase and internal control of production materials to the planning and control of work-in-process; to the purchasing, shipping, and distribution of the finished product. Pepe Jeans outsourced in logistics area. Even though the company was successful and profitable doing so, this resulted in inefficient delivery time and unhappy retailers due to the restrictions of the outsourced company asking for six month lead time in ordering products. Now company faced with changing the way the production flow works in order to respond the retailers and independent agents’ complaints. As it indicates at themanager. org companies that rush overseas in search of low production costs may be walking into a strategic trap. Its easy to underestimate the hidden costs in long supply chains and their impact on profitability. Customers in outsourcing transactions face both direct and indirect risks. If your outsourcing vendor fails to perform, you may suffer direct damages in the form of out-of-pocket expenses incurred to perform the function yourself or hire another vendor, and lowered profits caused by lost business and harm to your reputation. Strategically, a main goal of outsourcing has always been to shift risk from the customer to the vendor. But while the risks arising from implementing new technologies and labor markets can be shifted in this way, CIOs know that not all risk can be handed off. A broad spectrum of risks involving finances and goodwill can arise from failures in outsourced functions. Simply put, operational risk always remains with the customer. Youre always responsible to the marketplace for your own performance. As the articles above indicate risks of outsourcing, we see this very example with Pepe Jeans. The restrictions of outsourced company in Hong Kong made it very hard for Pepe jeans to respond customer needs and made them very inflexible to its customers (retailers). It seems like Pepe Jeans may lose its profitability with outsourcing where the initial purpose was to save money. Sourcing company in Hong Kong agreed to shorten the lead time to 6 weeks instead of 6 month, but the company indicated that this would increase the cost significantly. If I was the CEO of Pepe Jeans, I’d look at what is beneficial for my company. I’d try to sit down with the sourcing company to renegotiate the contract to be able to make both sides happy. What I understand from the case study is that there are only couples of options laid out for Pepe Jeans. One is the renegotiating with Hong Kong based sourcing company and it seems like they offered a lead time of 6 weeks but a significant increase in cost but the case does not indicate how much. Other option is to move the finishing operations to United Kingdom. The case indicates that this will be very costly for Pepe Jeans. They will have to invest enormous amount of money for both purchasing the equipment and operating the facility. This will benefit the company in a way that it would reduce the cost by some percentage because the volumes would be higher. The last option is to locate the facility in the basement of current office building which would save Pepe Jeans about ? 200,000 a year. I would definitely suggest keeping the facility in the basement. Thinking out of the box, I would suggest them to use web based ordering system among retailers, agents, and the sourcing company. Having accurate and up to date visibility of stock means that customer orders can be checked on site and processed immediately, significantly improving the overall fulfillment rate. This would enable the real-time visibility of what is available from the customers’ stand point. I think this would be a least costly solution. Of course the cost would involve designing and implementing this IT solutions and also the training the end-users. Another benefit may be cost savings as a result of fewer order entry errors, increased revenues as a result of fewer lost sales due to poor stock visibility. Reference: 1)www. themanager. org 2)www. outsourcing-legal. com 3)www. optimizemag. com Case 2: Wal-Mart There are other secrets to Wal-Marts leverage in the marketplace. One is that, far better than its competitors, Wal-Mart understood the power of information. It revolutionized the retail industry by blazing a new trail with information technology. Wal-Mart exploited the magic of the information hidden in the barcode. This move put Wal-Mart ahead of the curve, and ahead of its suppliers, in terms of understanding exactly what consumers want and are buying. Wal-Mart is known with its supply chain from factory floor to store shelf, insisting on just-in-time deliveries from its suppliers to cut waste and down-time in warehouses. Wal-Mart has great power on manufacturers and suppliers; process of production, movement of the goods, warehousing of the goods, making sure that it arrives at the right place at the right time. This way Wal-Mart has power to play with the price. So they insist that it be done cheaply, it be done accurately, it be done quickly. Wal-Mart knows what it wants, when it wants, and where it wants it. The bar-coding revolution makes this possible. As an example, the company knows what size shirt, what color, long-sleeves, short-sleeves – a precise description of the product. When a store scans an item when it is bought, the information is immediately collected. So Wal-Mart knows where you bought it, the brand name and so forth. When the sales are recorded, an order is generated. An order is automatically generated that evening at midnight, when the home office pulls that information through their data ports. Then that order goes to the distribution facilities throughout the company, and that distribution facility, the warehouse, fills that order, and the order is sitting back on the shelf the next night or the following night. They also know what prices are popular, so they are able to say: We want to sell this at a certain price. You make it at a certain price, or were not going to work with you. This gives Wal-Mart an incredible leverage and buying power in the marketplace and over its competitors. Wal-Mart’s Vice President for Federal and International Corporate explains the company’s success with these words. Sam Walton started the process of saying you dont become successful by creating a process to have larger margins. What you do is you work on supply-chain efficiencies in many ways. You pass those savings on to the customer; you dont put them in your pocket. You pass them on to customers. That volume makes up for the item-by-item lower margin, if you will, and that volume allows you to grow and succeed and prosper. It creates also customer loyalty, knowing they can come to us every time and find the lowest price. And so our global sourcing is not to create higher margins. Thats not what its there to achieve. Its there to achieve having low-priced goods so we can pass those low-priced goods on to our consumers† The cornerstone of Wal-Marts increased efficiency was its trend-forecasting software, which tracked consumer behavior. In 1985, Sam Walton and his chief lieutenant, David Glass, began developing a program called Retail Link. The software, and the hardware that went along with it, took years to perfect, eventually costing $4 billion. This revolutionary system delivered sophisticated information on consumer behavior, drawn from the data imbedded in the barcodes that passed through checkout counters. Wal-Mart shared this revolutionary software with suppliers at no cost, in order to help them meet the retailers needs more efficiently. If vendors wanted their products on Wal-Marts shelves, they had to implement Wal-Marts customized business plans. Each year, the big retailer handed its suppliers detailed strategic business planning packets. Wal-Mart would grade them on weekly, quarterly and annual report cards. And when it came to discussions of price, there was no real negotiation, even for household brands. Thus, Wal-Mart used its buying power and its information about consumer buying habits to force vendors into squeezing their costs and keeping their profit margins low. Over time, some suppliers especially middle-sized and smaller firms were bankrupted; and major firms moved production overseas and increasingly to China. Here are some interesting statistics and facts about Wal-Mart: †¢100 million: The number of people who shop at Wal-Marts 3400 American stores every week. 50 million: The amount of square footage Wal-Mart plans to add this year, including 50-55 new Wal-Mart stores, 220-230 new Supercenters, 35-40 new Sams Club and 130-140 new international stores. †¢1. 2 million: The number of Wal-Mart associates in the U. S. Any full- or part-time Wal-Mart employee, up to and including the CEO, is considered an associate, in Wal-Mart parlance. Internationally, Wal-Mart employs an additional 330,000 associates. †¢600,000: The number of new employees Wal-Mart hires each year. The companys turnover rate is 44 percent close to the retail industry average. †¢1979: The year Wal-Marts sales first top $1 billion. †¢$256 billion : Wal-Marts sales in 2003. In the words of Wal-Mart CFO Tom Schoewe, Wal-Marts sales are equal to one IBM, one Hewlett Packard, one Dell computer, one Microsoft and one Cisco System and oh, by the way, after that we got $2 billion left over. †¢35: The number of Wal-Mart Supercenters in China. †¢$15 billion: The amount of Chinese products Wal-Mart estimates it imports each year; others suggest the number may be higher. $120 billion: The U. S. trade deficit with China in 2003. †¢8 percent: The amount of total U. S. retail sales, excluding automobiles, accounted for by Wal-Mart. †¢$9. 98: The average full-time hourly wage for a Wal-Mart employee. The average full-time hourly wage in metro areas (defined as areas with a population of 50,000 or more) is $10. 38. In some urban areas it is higher: $11. 03 in Chi cago, $11. 08 in San Francisco, and $11. 20 in Austin Reference: 1)Always Low Prices by Sam Hornblower 2)Secrets of Wal-Mart’s Success www. pbs. org 3)http://www. michaelbergdahl. net

Purchasing Topics to Write about in an Essay

Purchasing Topics to Write about in an Essay The Nuiances of Topics to Write about in an Essay First dates can be extremely nerve wracking. As an example, personal finance is a really crowded place. Some political topics include things like pending legislative debts, the budget or employment development. Most business out there actually don't need to deal with problems that are result of their international scale. How to Choose Topics to Write about in an Essay Do whatever it's you must, to prove what you make yields success in a particular way. If you're in a friend's dinner party, you can start with complimenting the food. You're able to discuss an outstanding nearby restaurant where you are able to have an opportunity to visit someday. To be able to be perceived and become an enjoyable conversationalist you should be in an enjoyable, playful and intriguing mood. The Advantages of Topics to Write about in an Essay Believe me, guys it will provide you with some damn ve ry good weight to women if you learn how to carry a conversation. Purchasing a vehicle is something a lot of people dread of. It's essential, however, to supply fantastic topics to speak with girls. You should have the ability to produce topics to girls. Get the Scoop on Topics to Write about in an Essay Before You're Too Late You need to make it a point that you speak about things that doesn't make her feel uncomfortable. TALK ABOUT CERTAIN CELEBRITIES It's an excellent method to locate a typical footing. If you must compose a fantastic article isn't automatically a massive range of books read and reviewed many sites. You may believe that interesting essay titles do all of the work, allowing you to add obvious examples and share ordinary ideas. When it has to do with writing, you always have a chance to learn, and it is far better to learn from the very best of the very best. To compose an outstanding essay, it's critical to use specific academic language. Writing a sp eech may sometimes look challenging, especially if you're uncomfortable giving speeches to others. After all, it is a commitment to write tirelessly on the exact topic for a very long moment. If you're writing about social problems, you will usually be writing about the way the topic affects larger groups of people, including how poverty affects a whole generation. Researching any issue about government or laws can get overwhelming because of the intricacy of the issues and even due to the wording of some laws. As your Circle of Competence about an industry grows, it becomes quite obvious that certain businesses are great and many others are not as much. If you're able to craft a story that relates to your brand it is possible to raise your readers' emotional involvement with your business and boost customer engagement. So discover the industry people love or hate, there's a remarkable investment waiting to take place. As a business you've got a few alternatives, you can post the most recent news in your industry and product updates. Choose a sub-topic where you are able to dominate. Speak to yourself about what happened to you, affirm your issue and understand that what has happened previously would only impact your present if you let it to achieve that. The Hidden Treasure of Topics to Write about in an Essay On the flip side, you might write from an international perspective and examine sustainable cities around the world. Particularly in the world of private development, it's simple to become obsessed with a life that is far too severe. Every one of the tools is well suited for suitable assessment. You don't need to be a master marketer but you've got to be prepared to try new things and take a few chances. The Fundamentals of Topics to Write about in an Essay You Can Benefit From Starting Today Hobbies One of the least difficult topics to speak about are hobbies. Frequently the very best blog topics are those which cross across several dom ains. If you have started out young, there are a number of topics that you might be more interested in than others. Sports and Recreation There are topics to speak with girls as soon as it comes to sports and recreation. Topics to Write about in an Essay: No Longer a Mystery Authorship is the sort of things. Professional and academic journals are also an extraordinary place to come across materials for a critique paper. You also need to constantly work to enhance your writing style and produce your essay attractive to read and simple to navigate. Pick an activity or skill you're capable of completing to compose an instructional speech. Topics can vary from research to real-life events, based on the class. Continuing along precisely the same topic about flying drones, it's time to begin curating questions. In some instances, students simply devise the study and after that imagine the potential results that may occur.

How to Write a Compare and Contrast Review

How to Write a Compare and Contrast ReviewWhen you've decided to write a compare and contrast review, there are some basic steps that will help you write one. The first step is to decide how you want to write the comparison and what you want to do with it. If you've chosen a topic that is already familiar to you, it may be a good idea to write a review before you embark on the process of looking up the information for accuracy.Next, you should decide whether you want to write an article or a blog post. Although blog posts are the preferred choice, many people prefer to write an article for a number of reasons. Many times a blog post works better as a complement to the contents of the email; this is because you can keep writing the link and update the information as you get new information. In addition, you can also read other peoples' articles and make suggestions about what to include in your own article, without having to change your article.Before you write a blog post, you should go over your plan in order to determine which tools will be most useful. You will need to write an outline of the entire review to ensure that you are starting at the right place. The next step is to brainstorm in order to come up with interesting facts about your topic. Your introduction should give you enough information to start your overview, and you should probably mention your main conclusions and points of focus.Next, you should write your summary. You should be able to tell readers how you reached your conclusions, and provide them with an understanding of why they should care about the subject. Finally, you should offer a few links for information or resources to help them. In addition, in your conclusion, you should include the recommendation of where they can find more information.In order to write a compare and contrast review, you should have a set of keywords you use to search online for a given topic. Often times, in order to find good information, you will have to u se a paid keyword tool. By utilizing a keyword tool, you will have a wide variety of potential keyword combinations, and you can identify the best one for your review.The next thing to know about writing a compare and contrast review is that you should write it using only one keyword phrase per paragraph. A common mistake people make is writing the same sentence every paragraph. By using a certain keyword phrase, the words 'a', 'and', 'the', and 'a little' could be used in each paragraph, and then you will be able to keep the comparison as one sentence.In order to know more about how to write a compare and contrast review, you can visit my website. This article was intended to introduce you to the basic steps involved in writing a compare and contrast review. If you have any questions, you can always write to me.

How to Do It Right

How to Do It RightWriting an essay is not easy, but with practice you will be able to write one. It is a difficult task and you will need to write an essay that will capture the attention of your readers and persuade them to read it. However, when you finish, you will have written an excellent essay that will impress your classmates as well as your professors.The first thing that you need to do is to establish yourself as an individual writer and not just the sum of all the parts that make up a collective essay. If you want to succeed in writing an essay, you need to write from the point of view of a unique individual.Many people will say that the best way to write an essay is to be smart enough to know when to use each of the different parts of your essay. They will use the information that they think will be the most important in order to prove that they are better writers than the rest of the people in the class. However, in reality, all they do is provide information to someone e lse who will decide how to construct the essay.The best way to succeed is to write the most important parts first, then incorporate the other information into it. When you go back to it, you will see that you did a much better job than you did when you first started out.When you are trying to write an essay, you need to remember that it is only a small part of your life. Other parts of your life need to be taken into consideration so that the essay does not seem like a waste of time. Also, do not worry so much about grammar errors.In order to do this, you will need to use a thesaurus tools. These are large dictionaries that contain definitions for almost every word.Once you have finished your essay, you will find that it contains the important parts of your life and that you have taken your education to the next level. Your grade will reflect this accomplishment and you will have the confidence to go into class and give the best possible presentation.

Writing a Literacy Narrative Sample Essay - What You Must Know

Writing a Literacy Narrative Sample Essay - What You Must KnowWe have all heard the stories about the number of school children in the United States who struggle with reading. How many of them are left in front of the classroom door as they sit quietly in front of their teacher waiting for the dreaded word to be read? A good story on the art of writing a literacy narrative sample essay may help you with this situation.For those who haven't yet experienced the joys of writing a literacy narrative sample essay, the story goes something like this: you have decided to write a writing assignment, and then you've stumbled upon your chosen genre. You try writing a literary fiction sentence, but the words just won't come. Then you turn to the story section, but you struggle to remember even a simple plot. When you finally stumble upon the ability to make a straight forward literary fiction sentence, it is so heartbreaking that you can't stop crying for days and weeks at a time.The good news is that the passion you have for writing a literacy narrative sample essay can be channeled into a satisfying writing experience. But it takes determination and the willingness to follow through with the basics of writing a full length novel. In addition, it also requires having an understanding of what kind of reader will be served by your literature.For those of you who are currently involved in a regular writing course, a literacy narrative sample essay may be considered a dead end course. In essence, your goal is to come up with a book or other work of literature that could be considered representative of what readers may expect to find in the newspaper, magazines, and more in general. Once you achieve this standard, your goal would be to make it a part of your existing curriculum. If you are now in the point of writing a full length novel, you can simply include the writing technique you learned in the previous writing course into your next essay.The reason a writing student mi ght want to include the techniques of a literacy narrative sample essay in his or her curriculum is because it gives them the opportunity to inject their writing style into the student's reading experience. In order to do this, they would need to practice what they learn on a daily basis. In doing so, they can observe how the writing style can impact their reader's response.Most writing lessons often begin with a topic that is new to the students. They would then have the chance to use that experience as a jumping off point to get them started writing a good story.Additionally, a teaching assistant for a writing class at any school should be able to teach the techniques of this technique to those students that are in high school. In some cases, teachers are also advised to encourage their students to use this technique in their life.