Issues and Challenges in Global Logistics
Question 1
Supply chain sustainability is the view that the supply chain can conduct their processes logistics and technology that will impact the environment, economy, society, and legal process of the supply chains (Mota et al.,2015). This will help in the identification of raw material, manufacturing, and distribution to clients. Sustainability can be achieved through good access to information from all stakeholders that are about the products. Through the process of the data that is received, it will help to have information entities will work with.
Additionally, technology can be used to improve sustainability in supply chains. Technology will facilitate improved production of goods that will help meet the orders of suppliers. Technology will help improve visibility of products and the supply of the products since the supplier, producer and clients will have a way of communication better production plus they can have the best ways of having cohesion among the stakeholders in the circle of supply chains (Beske-Janssen, Johnson & Schaltegger,2015). The supply chain will meet its sustainability by a collaboration of the manufacturer, retailers, logistics, and wholesalers; this will help have a cohesive way of having the best way of meeting sustainability. Similarly, transparency in the network will help have the best way of attaining sustainability since every category will have the service’s satisfaction.
Question 2
The bullwhip effect in the supply chains occurs when there is a small fluctuation in demand at the retail level that later causes profound changes in need at the manufacturer, supplier, and wholesaler (Wang & Disney,2016). Prices cause the variations, order batching, shortage gaming, and forecasting of inaccurate information. This happens when one of the stakeholders in the whip holds the whip, and the effect starts to increase in the patterns, thus increase the amplification through the chain reactions.
The bullwhip can cause products to be unavailable in the market and create tension on the whole chain. This method can result in high prices of products since they are scarce in the market circulation. In the case of the P & G company, children will suffer due to lack of pampers, and they will have discomforts when they are taken care of by their guardians. The bullwhip will result in unexpected distribution of products in the supply chain, and this will affect the chain on orders, pricing, and distributing products (Udenio et al.,2017). Companies will experience unbalanced buying and selling of the products, and this will create uncertainty of production.
Question 3
Direct logistics are used in the forward movement of goods that form the raw materials to the clients; in the other case, reverse logistics is where products are moved from the end-user to the manufacture of raw materials so that they can be recycled (Yadegari et al.,2015). When it comes to direct logistics, it depends on the customer demand since it all starts from the manufacture towards the customers, On the other hand, reverse logistics is influenced by the supply thus when many products are returned they get busier and faster unlike when there are no returns of the products.
The value of the products in reverse logistics reduces in every stage because there is additional material handling requirement. Unlike direct logistics, the more the products get in the supply chain, the more products increase because of profitability (Giri, Chakraborty & Maiti,2017). In the direct logistics is focused on the requirements of the products that are required; this helps meet the demand of the clients while in the forward logistics, it all depends on how they will meet the expectations of the market, thus ensuring the manufacture has enough resources. In direct logistics, there is the return of goods to the manufacturer when they have not met the requirements while in forwarding logistics, there is no return of products.
Reference
Beske-Janssen, P., Johnson, M. P., & Schaltegger, S. (2015). Twenty years of performance measurement in sustainable supply chain management–what has been achieved?. Supply chain management: An International Journal.
Mota, B., Gomes, M. I., Carvalho, A., & Barbosa-Povoa, A. P. (2015). Towards supply chain sustainability: economic, environmental, and social design and planning. Journal of cleaner production, 105, 14-27.
Wang, X., & Disney, S. M. (2016). The bullwhip effect: Progress, trends, and directions. European Journal of Operational Research, 250(3), 691-701.
Udenio, M., Vatamidou, E., Fransoo, J. C., & Dellaert, N. (2017). Behavioral causes of the bullwhip effect: An analysis using linear control theory. IISE Transactions, 49(10), 980-1000.
Yadegari, E., Najmi, H., Ghomi-Avili, M., & Zandieh, M. (2015). A flexible, integrated forward/reverse logistics model with a random path-based memetic algorithm. Iranian Journal of Management Studies, 8(2), 287-313.
Giri, B. C., Chakraborty, A., & Maiti, T. (2017). Pricing and return product collection decisions in a closed-loop supply chain with dual-channel in both forward and reverse logistics. Journal of manufacturing systems, 42, 104-123.