Reference no: EM133363011

A company (food sector) needs a unique supply chain to serve more than 300 million meals every year. The owner's strategy is operating advantage, so his main task is to ensure competitive advantage. For companies with purchases exceeding $1.8 billion, managing a supply chain is a complex and challenging task. Like other casual restaurants, it has a unique supply chain that reflects its menu choices. The owner's supply chain is rather shallow, often having only one level of supplier. But right now it has four different supply chains. First, "smallware" is the restaurant industry term for items such as linens, dishes, cutlery and kitchenware, and silverware. This was purchased, as it was received at a warehouse in Orlando, Florida. From this single warehouse, small items are shipped via public transit (trucking companies) to Olive Garden, Bahama Breeze, and Seasons 52 restaurants. Second, frozen, dry, and canned food products are handled economically by 11 distribution centers in North America, managed by major US food distributors, such as MBM, Maines, and Sygma. This is the second supply line. Third, the supply chain for fresh food (not frozen and not canned), where product age is measured in days, including dairy products, produce and meat. This supply chain is B2B, where restaurant managers place orders directly with a pre-selected group of independent suppliers. Fourth, the worldwide seafood supply chain is the final link. Here the Company has developed independent suppliers of salmon, shrimp, tilapia, scallops and other fresh fish which are source inspected by the Owner's representatives overseas to ensure quality. This fresh produce is flown to the US and shipped to 16 distributors, with 22 locations, for fast delivery to restaurants. With suppliers in 35 countries, the Company must be at the forefront of collaboration, partnership, communication and food safety. This was accomplished by tight travel schedules for purchasing and quality control personnel, and aggressive communication. Communication is an important element; The company tries to develop as much forecast transparency as possible.

Questions:

1. Describe the advantages of each of the four supply chains?

2. Describe the complications of having four supply chains?

3. How do the four enterprise supply chains compare to supply chains another company, like Dell or a car manufacturer? Why does the difference exist, and how to handle it?