Supply Chain and Logistics Management - Report 3

PURPOSE

The purpose of this assessment task is for students to investigate all the links in an integrated supply chain, chosen from one of the businesses in Australia or overseas. The output of this project is a written report prepared in consultation with the Senior Logistics Executive or key person of the company.

This assessment relates to the following learning outcomes:

• LO 1:Critically review and interpret theoretical aspects of supply chain and logistics management across sectors
• LO 4:Collaborate with team members to investigate the operations plan for a manufacturing or service company and suggest an action plan

 REPORT STRUCTURE

Working in the same groups as in Assessment 2, choose a live company in Australia or overseas. You need to evaluate the current supply chain in the company by talking to the Logistics/Supply Chain Manager(s) and gathering relevant information about products, customers, suppliers, transporters and associated logistics functions.

Your group must choose one or two products/channels and study them through physical distribution, materials management and information communication processes. For low-turnover supply chains, the group needs to study the whole logistics channel in depth. For large chains, shortcuts may be made to fit within the time available.

Proposal

A single-page proposal for your project, worth 5%, is due by 11:59pm on the date of Session 4 (Week 2). It should outline the rationale behind the chosen study, the supply chain structure, company profile, product or product group, customers, suppliers, methodology to be followed, information systems and any contact details of the organisation of interest. The proposal should also discuss the issues/problems in the chosen area of research. Finally, the proposal must include a clear outline of student roles and responsibilities in the group.

Strategic Plan

The bulk of the project, worth 45%, is due by 11:59pm on Monday of Week 8 (when there are no classes). Once the project is approved, you need to audit a major component of all relevant links in the supply chain including information, physical storage, management, leadership, movements and up/down stream integration. The channel may be simplified to the supply chain for one product group provided this is related to the whole business of the focal link (i.e. manufacturer or distributor). Describe the integration and links in the supply chain via a suitable diagram, and explain the supply chain with a written description. Support your explanation with relevant theoretical concepts.

Then, using your audit's findings, construct a Strategic Supply Chain & Logistics Plan for the business and its supply chain partners. This may be restricted to one or two product groups. The Strategic Plan will:

• Address problems and situations identified in the audit.
• Describe the organisation's strategic vision which will form the basis of developing a strategic operations plan.
• Provide an understanding of the customers' requirements and their order winning criteria.
• Provide a timeline for executing recommendations.

PLEASE NOTE:

Your group should start working on the rest of the project as soon as the proposal is approved. The considerable effort required can be integrated into your own regular workload if approached sufficiently early. This project is the critical piece of assessment for this unit. Each student should expect to spend 25-30 hours on it.

 INSTRUCTIONS

To get started on your assessment task, please follow the below instructions.

1. Carefully read the assessment structure above, and the criteria and rubric below.
2. With your group from Assessment 2, choose a company in Australia or overseas.
3. Write a proposal for your study. Ensure it covers the elements listed in the above section.
4. Submit your proposal by Session 4 (Week 2).
5. Once approved, audit the chosen supply chain by speaking to key persons to determine the current situation and any problems or possible improvements.
6. With the results of the audit, construct a future Strategic Supply Chain & Logistics Plan using your own knowledge and the views of the logistics managers. This may be done informally or using the SOLP (Strategic Operations and Logistics Planning) worksheets.
7. Submit the completed Strategic Plan to the dropbox by Monday of Week 8. Make sure the plagiarism check is less than 15%.

 SELF-ENROL INTO A GROUP!

You should have formulated groups within your session, so the next thing to do is to self-enrol online via VU Collaborate.
Please follow the simple instructions to self-enrol online opens in new window.

REPORT CRITERIA

The following levels of criteria will be used to grade this assessment task:

• Detail of audit and analysis
• Content and conclusions/recommendations from Strategic Plan
• Research and methodology
• Organisation/presentation and referencing

Access the rubrics for the full marking criteria:

• Proposal rubric opens in new window(this is only worth 5%, so the rubric is much simpler)