Primary Task Response
ask Type: Individual Project Deliverable Length: 1,200 words Due Date: 6/14/2015 Key Assignment The assignment must be a completed paper, with APA formatting, all sections complete (using Roman numerals of each section per the outline), references, and good grammar. You were recently hired as the VP of Logistics for the ABC Manufacturing Company. This is a new position. During the lengthy interview process, the CEO shared her strategic plans for worldwide growth in the company’s consumer sales. Previously, sales had been confined to domestic sales only. As a result of little staff logistics expertise, the company had kept the traditional logistics model of shipping all finished products from its warehouse and factory location on the East Coast of the United States, even though there was a growing market on the West Coast that competition was serving from a West Coast warehouse. However, the CEO pointed out that despite its national popularity from a feature and quality perspective, it seemed to penetrate poorly on the West Coast because of her need to charge higher prices as the result of higher shipping costs. The marketing manager tried to mitigate this competitive disadvantage by freight equalization so that end customers would pay the same amount of shipping costs as West Coast competition charged, regardless of where they were located. This met with some insignificant success because timeliness of delivery was another important issue. Therefore, the CEO had asked you, as your first assignment, to write a white paper to address the following specific points. She remembered that you had quite a bit of experience addressing some or all of these issues during your career. As a stickler for formatting, she has specifically asked you to use the following Roman numeral sections and headings in the paper: Section I: Introduction (200 words)
Section II: Decision-Making Criteria (300 words) The CEO is considering three options with the same total construction and operating costs: expanding the warehouse next to the East Coast manufacturing plant; building a West Coast distribution center; or building a combination manufacturing and warehouse location on the West Coast Given the following general information, what are at least 5 criteria that must be considered when locating a new or expanded shipping warehouse domestically?
Section III: Metrics to Assess Success (250 words)
Section IV: Qualitative Factors (200 words) Identify 3 subjective, qualitative factors to consider in the recommendation. Section V: Quantitative Factors (Excel Spreadsheet) Provide a detailed recommendation as to whether you should open a West Coast distribution center, add on to the existing East Coast factory and warehouse, or build a combination West Coast manufacturing location and warehouse? Your response must be quantitatively based using the data in section II, the additional data below, and from external resources as needed. Use this template to show your numeric calculations. Without calculations shown for how you reached your conclusion, section V will earn 0 points. REMEMBER: Decisions like this are based on a comparison of option A versus current methods, or option B versus current methods.
Section VI: Conclusion (200 words) What are the 3 most important points that you want the CEO to understand about this entire decision-making process? |
**Provide citations and references to support your information.**
http://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/1811.html
http://people.hofstra.edu/geotrans/eng/ch5en/conc5en/ch5c4en.html
http://www.freight-calculator.com/apxocean.asp
http://www.crfonline.org/orc/cro/cro-9-1.html