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Solution Manual For Supply Chain Management 7th Edition Sunil Chopra
Solution Manual For Supply Chain Management 7th Edition Sunil Chopra
CHAPTER TWO
Discussion Questions
The Nordstrom website states the following: Over the years, the Nordstrom
family of employees built a thriving business on the principles of quality, value,
selection, and service. Today, Nordstrom is one of the nation’s leading fashion
retailers, offering a wide variety of high-quality apparel, shoes, and accessories
for men, women, and children at stores across the country. We remain committed
to the simple idea that our company was founded on, earning our customers’ trust
one at a time.
Nordstrom fills customer needs for high quality fashion merchandise and
outstanding levels of customer service. Price is secondary for the typical
Nordstrom shopper.
2. Where would you place the demand faced by Nordstrom on the implied demand
uncertainty spectrum? Why?
Supply chain responsiveness takes many forms, including the ability to respond to
a wide range of quantities, meet short lead times, handle a large variety of
products, build innovative products, meet a high service level, and handle supply
uncertainty. The Nordstrom supply chain must be highly responsive in the areas
of handling highly innovative fashion products, customer response, and service
level; they are effective in supplying well-heeled customers with merchandise and
their return policy is legendary in the Pacific Northwest.
4. How can Nordstrom expand the scope of the strategic fit across its supply chain?
5. Reconsider the previous four questions for other companies such as Amazon, a
supermarket chain, an auto manufacturer, and a discount retailer such as Walmart.
Amazon focuses on cost and variety by providing books, music, and a host of
other household products at low prices. Customers place orders online and expect
to receive purchases in a number of days. Customer orders are processed at
central warehouses or are drop shipped from suppliers by mail or common
carrier. For the most part, the implied demand uncertainty for Amazon is lower as
they cast such a wide net. Amazon’s supply chain must be responsive in terms of
flexibility; they handle an incredibly diverse range of products. Amazon’s supply
chain should be able to provide low prices, wide variety, and reasonable delivery
schedules for its customers. In every link of the supply chain, Amazon must
function on the cost-responsiveness efficient frontier in order to support its
competitive strategy.
A supermarket chain focuses on cost and quality, with some specialty chains
adding flexibility by carrying a broader range of products that may be targeted
toward customers interested in organic products or ethnic cuisine. Implied
demand uncertainty for a supermarket chain tends to be low; shoppers are
typically repeat customers and have a constant demand level. The supermarket
supply chain must be responsive by receiving produce quickly to ensure freshness
and have a high service level. Supermarket supply chains tend to be well-
established and can improve strategic fit by emphasizing speed to maintain
freshness, hence perceived quality.
Walmart’s supply chain is obsessed with cost and is facilitated by a low implied
demand uncertainty, its impressive logistics system and its management
6. Give arguments to support the statement that Walmart has achieved very good
strategic fit between its competitive and supply chain strategies. What challenges
does it face as it works to open smaller format stores?
The best argument to support the statement that Walmart has achieved very good
strategic fit is its success as a company. Competition today is supply chain versus
supply chain, not company versus company, so a company’s partners in the
supply chain often determine the company’s success. Walmart’s strategic focus
on cost is evident in its competitive, product development, supply chain, and
marketing strategy. Its marketing strategy of advertising everyday low prices
appeals to consumers and does not disrupt the supply chain by causing surges in
demand. Visiting one of its big box stores reveals low-priced merchandise, both
national and store brands, stacked from floor to ceiling without elaborate displays
or decoration. Walmart’s logistics and information systems are famous for
coordinating its entire supply chain and allowing it to meet customer needs at
minimal cost.
Walmart has had difficulty both with small format stores and its online sales.
Challenges have arisen because the supply chain structure that is ideal for the
standard Walmart stores is not as effective for both small format stores and online
sales. Small format stores require replenishment in much smaller quantities and
online sales requires the ability to handle a wide variety of slow moving items.
The current supply chain structure is not very good at handling either.
7. What are some factors that influence implied uncertainty? How does the implied
uncertainty differ between an integrated steel mill that measures lead times in
months and requires large orders and a steel service center that promises 24-hour
lead times and sells orders of any size?
A supermarket chain focuses on cost and quality, with some specialty chains
adding flexibility by carrying a broader range of products that may be targeted
toward customers interested in organic products or ethnic cuisine. Implied
demand uncertainty for a supermarket chain tends to be low; shoppers are
typically repeat customers and have a constant demand level. The supermarket
supply chain must be responsive by receiving produce quickly to ensure freshness
and have a high service level. Supermarket supply chains tend to be well-
established and can improve strategic fit by emphasizing speed to maintain
freshness, hence perceived quality.
9. What are some problems that can arise when each stage of a supply chain focuses
solely on its own profits when making decisions? Identify some actions that can
help a retailer and a manufacturer work together to expand the scope of strategic
fit.
High inventories, poor quality, low customer service, increased returns are just a
number of problems that occur when each stage of a supply chain focuses solely
on its own profits. The trucking company requires full truck loads for delivery
forcing the retailer to carry more inventory than wanted or needed. The supplier
offers discounts to their buyers to maximize production but forcing the buyers to
purchase in larger quantities than desired. Ordering in large batches was very
prevalent during the 1950s and 1960s as companies to minimize local costs and
maximize their own profits.
10. For each of the five levers—capacity, inventory, time, information, and price—
identify an example where a supply chain has focused on this lever to deal with
uncertainty. In each case, identify reasons why you think it is or is not an
appropriate choice.
The paint supply chain carries mixing capacity at every paint store to deal with
demand uncertainty across colors. This is an appropriate choice because the
relative cost of a mixer is low and the inventory saved by carrying base colors is
large.
The airline and hotel industries use price variation as the main lever to deal with
uncertain demand with prices falling when demand is low and prices rising when
demand is high.
as we read in the Apocrypha of Dr. Darwin, not one ever entered the
Bay of Naples, unless salted in a barrel from England.[23]
The Finnon, Buckie, and Bervie smoked haddock is largely vended
in London and other large towns, being esteemed an excellent relish.
They are split, cleaned, and steeped in strong pickle about three
hours, and then smoked for fifteen or sixteen hours. After a kiln full is
smoked and cooled, the fish are packed in dry barrels the same as
pickled mackerel, excepting that every two tiers are packed face to
face, so that the back of one fish does not come in contact with the
split side of another fish. The increase in the timber trade of late
years, and the establishment of saw-mills, have rendered sawdust
abundant, and the Scotch fisherwives have made the discovery that
haddocks can be smoked with sawdust to look nearly as well as
when smoked with peat; while they have not the wisdom to
anticipate the loss of custom which must unavoidably ensue as soon
as the deficiency of flavour is discovered.
Fresh herrings come in in enormous quantities to our metropolitan
markets, and, from the consumption of several millions of them, must
be esteemed a dainty by some. Pickled or cured herrings,—of which
580,814 barrels were salted in 1857, at the British Fisheries,—are
chiefly consumed abroad; the shipments to the Continent last year
having been 219,000 barrels, and 58,534 barrels went to Ireland. In
1855, out of a cure of 766,703 barrels, the Continental export
reached 344,029 barrels. Last year (1857), 128,600 barrels went to
Stettin.
Scotch herrings go to Russia quite as much as St. Petersburgh
tallow comes to London, 60,000 or 70,000 barrels passing the
Sound, or going via Konigsberg and Dantzic. One great inducement
to the Russian population to purchase the herrings is, it is said, the
quantity of undissolved salt the barrels are found to contain.
It is in the form of red-herrings and bloaters that the largest
consumption of this fish takes place in the metropolis. The sale of
bloaters at Billingsgate is about 265,000 baskets of 160 each
annually, and about 50,000,000 of red-herrings.
There was a pleasant tradition current in Yarmouth not many years
since, that the ‘red’ herring was the result of accident. According to
the story, a fisherman had hung up some salted herrings in his hut
and forgotten them. They hung where they were exposed to the
smoke from the wood fire of the hut; and, some days afterwards, his
attention was attracted to them, when, being struck by their
appearance, he determined to see how one of them tasted. The
result was so satisfactory that he hastened to King John, who was
then lying near Norwich, to make a present of the remainder; when
the herrings were esteemed such a delicacy by the monarch that he
then and there expressed his determination to grant a charter of
incorporation to the town from which they were brought. The only
certain portion of this story is, that the first charter of Yarmouth was
granted by King John.
There is a curious item in this town charter of Yarmouth, long famous
for its herring fair. The burgesses are obliged to send to the sheriffs
of Norwich 100 herrings, to be made into 24 pies; and these pies are
to be delivered to the Lord of the manor of East Carleton, who is to
convey them to the king.
The receipt for making herring pie would be a curious, though
perhaps not a valuable, addition to our modern cookery books. It is
probably lost, unless Her Majesty continues to receive these once
prized patties.[24]
The stromming, or herring of the North seas, is only about the size of
a sprat, but a much more delicate fish; when salted and mixed with
potatoes it is the staple food of the people, being washed down with
a bowl of milk, or a glass of corn-brandy.
The conger is found in the seas of Europe, of Northern Asia, and in
those of America, as far as the Antilles. It is very abundant on the
coasts of England and France, in the Mediterranean Sea, where it
was much sought after by the ancients, and in the Propontis, where
it was not long ago in considerable estimation. Those of Sicyon were
more especially esteemed. The flesh of this fish is white and well
flavoured; but as it is very fat, it does not agree with all stomachs. In
many places the conger eels are dried for exportation. For this
purpose, they are cut open in their under part, through their entire
length, the intestines are removed, deep scarifications are made
upon the back, the parts are kept separate by means of small sticks,
and they are suspended by the tail to poles, on the branches of
trees. When they are perfectly dry, they are collected in packets,
each weighing about 200 lbs.
The voracious conger eel (Conger vulgaris, of Cuvier; the Muræna
conger, of Linnæus,) although a coarse fish, forms a considerable
article of commerce in Cornwall and Devonshire. I only notice it here
from the fact, that it is sometimes dried and shipped to Spain and
other Catholic countries, where fish of any kind is acceptable. When
dried in a particular manner, the flesh used formerly to be ground or
grated to powder, and in this state was employed to thicken soup.
The Murænæ conger, were carefully reared in vivaria by the
Romans. As early as the time of Cæsar, the multiplication of the
domestic Murænæ was so great, that on the occasion of one of his
triumphs, that great general presented 6000 of them to his friends;
Licinius Crassus reared them so as to be obedient to his voice, and
to come and receive their food from his hands; while the celebrated
orator, Quintus Hortensius, wept over the loss of those of which
death had deprived him.
Such is the testimony to the quality and estimation of the conger eel,
which Griffiths has collected in his Supplement to Malacopterygii
apodes in Cuvier’s Animal Kingdom. Its flesh does not agree with all
stomachs; but it is yet a matter of dispute what renders it so
frequently deadly. The condition of the liver of the fish in most cases
has a great deal to do with danger attending fish-poisons.
The sand eel (Ammodytes tobianus) and the sandlaunce (A. lancea),
though of small size, are very delicate eating, and vast numbers are
consumed in summer by the natives of the Hebrides. They are also
much sought after by the fishermen for bait.
The smelt or spirling (Osmerus eperlanus), found abundantly on the
British coasts, is a very delicate fish. It is generally taken in greatest
plenty at the mouths of large rivers, or in estuaries, such as the
Thames and Medway, from August to May, as well as on sandy
shores, in small nets; and always commands a ready sale. It has a
peculiar odour, whence its popular name, which has been compared
to that of a cucumber or a violet. This is strongest when the fish is
first taken, but it may be perceived by raising the gill covers, after the
fish has been for some time out of the water.
A whitebait dinner, at Blackwall or Greenwich, is one of the
epicurean celebrities of the metropolis; and the fishing for whitebait,
which commences about the beginning of April, and becomes
abundant during the summer months till September, is productive of
considerable benefit to those concerned. It was long supposed that
these were the fry of a larger fish, but they are now identified as a
particular species (Clupea alba), so named from the sides of the fish
being uniformly of a white colour. It attains to the length of 6 inches.
The whitebait are taken in long bag-nets, from vessels moored in the
tide-way; and the fish are taken out by untying the end of the hose,
and shaking it into the boat.
But there are small and delicate fish, which are substitutes for
whitebait, in other quarters of the world.
Thus Mr. T. Atwood (History of Dominica) tells us, ‘that the chief
dainty among the fresh-water fish of that island is the young frey,
with which the rivers there are filled twice or thrice every year, and
which are called by the French ‘Tréz-tréz.’ These consist of various
kinds of sea-fish just spawned, and with which that element swarms
for some miles distance from the shore, in numbers truly astonishing.
These little creatures come into the rivers like a living stream, and in
a short time swim two or three miles, to an amazing height up the
country. This they perform in a wonderful manner, skimming over
such rapid streams as repel their weak endeavours, from rock to
rock, the surfaces of which are covered with them; or seeking the
smoothly gliding stream at the sides of the banks, by degrees
ascend the highest parts of the rivers.
‘The first day of the appearance of these frey in the rivers, they are
transparent and clear as crystal, so that every bone in them may be
counted, and the movement of their vitals can be plainly discerned.
The second day after they lose much of that transparency; and the
third or fourth day, it is wholly lost by the nutriment which they feed
on. They are caught in baskets, in which is put a tablecloth or sheet,
and sinking the basket with stones, vast quantities are taken at a
time. They are fried in a batter made of flour and milk, or stewed with
herbs and spices, and are excellent food cooked either way.’
At Moutrah, a town situated in a deep bay, not far from Muscat, they
dry and export large quantities of a diminutive fish, about two inches
long, which are packed in bales. This species of fish literally fills the
waters of Oman. Dr. Ruschenberger (Voyage Round the World, p.
121) says, ‘They sometimes appeared in dense strata about the
ship, so as completely to hide the cable from view, which was
distinctly seen when they were not present.’
Don Pernety, in his Journal of a Voyage to the Falkland Islands,
speaks of a small fish, called by the Spaniards pajes, and by the
French gras dos, which was almost transparent, and of a most
exquisite delicacy. It was found excellent when fried, and not inferior
to the eel pout.
There is a small fish resembling a shrimp, not half-an-inch long,
which makes its annual appearance in some of the rivers of Peru, in
February, or in the beginning of March. It is called chantisa, and is
really a great delicacy, when prepared by the natives. The numbers
which ascend the rivers are so great, that on each side they appear
to form a white path in the water, about two feet broad, and several
miles in length. The women employ themselves in taking them, for
which purpose they have a canoe; two of them hold a piece of
flannel, three yards long, by the corners, and place it under the
surface of the water, one end being a little elevated, to prevent the
chantisa from passing; and when a considerable quantity are
collected, the flannel is taken up and emptied into the canoe, after
which the operation is repeated. Mr. Stephenson (Travels in
America) says, he has frequently seen in the course of two hours,
from six to eight bushels taken in this manner by these women. They
are preserved by using as much salt as is necessary to season
them; they are then put into baskets, lined with leaves, and a large
stone is placed on the top, to press them into a solid mass, like a
cheese. After standing a day or two, the baskets are placed on a
frame made of canes, which is elevated about a yard from the
ground; they are then covered with plantain leaves, and a small fire
of green cedar, sandal, or other aromatic wood, is kindled
underneath, for the purpose of smoking them. After remaining 10 or
12 hours, the cakes are taken out of the baskets, and again exposed
to the smoke till it has penetrated through them, when they are laid
up for use. A small portion of the smoked chantisa is generally
added to the fish while cooking, to which it communicates a very
delicate flavour.
At the mouth of the river Columbia, a very small fish, about the size
of the sardine, is caught in immense numbers by the Chinooks. It is
called by them uhlekun, and is much prized on account of its
delicacy and extraordinary fatness. When dried, this fish will burn
from one end to the other with a clear, steady light, like a candle. The
uhlekuns are caught with astonishing rapidity by means of an
instrument about seven feet long; the handle is about three feet, into
which is fixed a curved wooden blade, about four feet, something the
shape of a sabre, with the edge at the back. In this edge, at the
distance of an inch and a half, are inserted sharp bone teeth, about
an inch long. The Indian, standing in the canoe, draws this
edgeways with both hands, holding it like a paddle, rapidly through
the dense shoals of fish, which are so thick, that almost every tooth
will strike a fish. One knock across the thwarts sharply deposits them
in the bottom of the canoe. This is done with such rapidity, that they
will not use nets for this description of fishing.[25]
The anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus, Cuvier) is a small fish, much
resembling the sprat, which is often sold for it, but may be readily
distinguished from the sprat by the anal fin being remarkably short. It
is common on the southern coasts of France and Spain, on the
shores of Italy, Greece, and other parts of the Mediterranean, but
those coming from Gorgona (an island in the gulf of Leghorn) are
esteemed the best. Anchovies should be chosen small, fresh
pickled, silver white on the outside, and red within. They must have a
round back, for those which are flat or large, dark outside, with pale
coloured flesh, and tapering much towards the tail, are often nothing
but sardines. First quality anchovies are used as a condiment, and
among epicures are esteemed a luxury. The trade in them with the
Italian States is very considerable; about 150,000 lbs. being annually
exported. The fishing is chiefly in the night time, when a light being
placed on the stern, the anchovies flock around, and are caught in
the nets. Mr. Couch, in his Cornish Fauna, says, that he has seen it
about the Cornish coast, of the length of seven inches and a half,
which is nearly double the length it is met with in the Mediterranean.
It abounds, he adds, towards the end of summer, and if attention
were paid to the fishing, enough might be caught to supply the
consumption of the British islands.
Frezier (Voyage to the South Seas) speaks of seeing a sort of
anchovy on the west coast of America, in such great numbers, that
whole baskets full of them were readily taken on the surface of the
water.
The anchovy and tunny fisheries of Dalmatia are important, though
not so much so as during the last century; at present they furnish
employment to about 8,000 men.
Anchovies are imported in small kegs, weighing about 12 lbs. each.
The consumption varies here, from 50 to 100 tons a year.
Sheridan used to relate an amusing story of an Irish officer, who
once belonged to a regiment in Malta, who returned to England on
leave of absence, and, according to the custom of travellers, was
fond of relating the wonders he had seen. Among other things, he
one day, in a public coffee-room, expatiated on the excellence of
living in general among the military at Malta. But, said he, ‘as for
anchovies, by the powers, there is nothing to be seen like them in
the known world;’ and he added, ‘I have seen the anchovies grow
upon the trees with my own eyes many’s the hundred times, and
beautiful is the grove of them the governor has in his garden on the
esplanade.’ A gentleman present disputed the statement that
anchovies grew on trees, which the Irishman with much warmth re-
affirmed. The lie passed, a challenge was given, and the upshot of
the matter is thus humorously related.