1.

Goals of supply chain management

Collaborative Efficiency

When you don’t have an effective system in place, managing the inventory, coordinating with logistics
and suppliers can be a struggle. However, with a supply chain system in place, it is easier to coordinate
with suppliers and buyers in the same channel. Inventory data can be shared to meet quicker
replenishment of inventory according to customer demands. Goods can be delivered to the right place
at the right time.

Higher Quality

The shared goal of all the individual supply chain components is to deliver the best value to the end
customer. Retailers are closer to the customers and are the ones who get customer feedback. In a
supply chain, this feedback can be shared with the manufacturers to address any problems and foster a
win-win situation for all. Customers recognize the value and making quality improvements is the prime
goal for the supply chain.

Enable Financial Success

One of the most important goals of the supply chain is to pitch in towards the financial success of the
organization. From cost efficiency to reduced inventory costs, minimal labor expenses and decreased
logistical costs, the supply chain has the power to push things forward. Apart from this it also enables to
improve sales, accesses new markets and enhances differentiation. Supply chain acts as an engine to
pull all major business units towards delivering value to the customers.
 Stability

Now, that we have taken care of lasting supply chain relationships, customer satisfaction and financial
success, the fourth major goal of the supply chain is to promote long-run stability. Collaborative
planning and undertaking of all activities right from the inception to the delivery of the final products
enable the business to thrive under any condition. The result is optimization and balance in meeting the
needs of the customer.

Change Management

Last but not least, today’s market is rapidly changing given the volatile conditions. A flexible supply chain
management system will help to leverage opportunities and weigh down potential threats by
anticipating changes and adapting to them.

Supply chain management aids in the end to end process of the business and is indeed a backbone that
supports major activities. Learn all the nuances of the supply chain and deliver value by opting for a
supply chain management certification today.

2. Supply Chain Strategy

In this phase, decision is taken by the management mostly. The decision to be made considers
the sections like long term prediction and involves price of goods that are very expensive if it
goes wrong. It is very important to study the market conditions at this stage.

These decisions consider the prevailing and future conditions of the market. They comprise the
structural layout of supply chain. After the layout is prepared, the tasks and duties of each is laid
out.
 All the strategic decisions are taken by the higher authority or the senior management. These
decisions include deciding manufacturing the material, factory location, which should be easy
for transporters to load material and to dispatch at their mentioned location, location of
warehouses for storage of completed product or goods and many more.
Decision Phases
Supply Chain Planning

Supply chain planning should be done according to the demand and supply view. In order to
understand customers’ demands, a market research should be done. The second thing to
consider is awareness and updated information about the competitors and strategies used by
them to satisfy their customer demands and requirements. As we know, different markets have
different demands and should be dealt with a different approach.

This phase includes it all, starting from predicting the market demand to which market will be
provided the finished goods to which plant is planned in this stage. All the participants or
employees involved with the company should make efforts to make the entire process as
flexible as they can. A supply chain design phase is considered successful if it performs well in
short-term planning.
Supply Chain Operations

The third and last decision phase consists of the various functional decisions that are to be made
instantly within minutes, hours or days. The objective behind this decisional phase is minimizing
uncertainty and performance optimization. Starting from handling the customer order to
supplying the customer with that product, everything is included in this phase.

For example, imagine a customer demanding an item manufactured by your company. Initially,
the marketing department is responsible for taking the order and forwarding it to production
department and inventory department. The production department then responds to the
customer demand by sending the demanded item to the warehouse through a proper medium
and the distributor sends it to the customer within a time frame. All the departments engaged in
this process need to work with an aim of improving the performance and minimizing
uncertainty.
3. The supply chain process occurs in two ways, Cycle View and Push/Pull view.

1. Cycle View

The processes in a supply chain are divided into a series of cycle, each performed at the
interface between two successive stages of a supply chain. Cycle view of Supply chain process
includes,
 Customer order cycle
Replenishment cycle
Manufacturing cycle
Procurement cycle

2. Push/ Pull view

The processes in a supply chain are dividing into two categories depending on whether they are
executed in response to a customer order or in anticipation of customer orders. Pull process are
initiated by a customer order, whereas push process are initiated and performed in anticipation
of customer orders.
4. When a customer purchases a book from the book store, a complete supply chain cycle which
involves procurement, manufacturing, distribution, replenishment and customer delivery takes
place
. The different supply chain cycles are quite separated in this case because each cycle occurs at
the interface between two successive stages of the supply chain. The five supply chain stages
reflect the work and involvement of five individual parties however the bookstore accounts for
only the retailer stage because it serves no other functions within the supply chain. Pull
processes mean a process is initiated in response to a customer order. Push processes, on the
other hand, mean process is initiated in anticipation of customer orders. The push/pull
boundary in any supply chain separates push processes from pull processes. The push/pull
boundary for the bookstore occurs between the customer order cycle and the procurement,
manufacturing, and replenishment cycles. The customer order cycle is a pull process because all
processes the customer order cycle are executed only after the customer arrives. The remaining
processes all take place prior to the customer arriving so that all products areal ready in
inventory built up in anticipation of customer orders.
5. Understanding the customer and supply chain uncertainty.
First a company must understand the customer needs for each targeted segment
and the uncertainty the supply chain faces in satisfying thes
e needs. These needs help the company define the desired cost and service
requirements. The supply chain uncertainty helps the company identify the extent of disrup
tion and delay the supply chain must be
prepared for.
Understanding the supply chain capab
ilities.
There are many types of supply chains, each of which is designed to perform different tasks
well. A com
 pany must understand what its supply chain is designed to do well.
Achieving strategic fit.
If a mismatch exists between what the supply chain
does particularly well and the desired customer needs, the
company will either need to restructure the supply chain to support the competitive strat
egy or alter its strategy.
6. Companies build a competitive strategy to target a set of customer segments and build
strategies to satisfy needs and priorities of those customer segments. Companies also study
what competitors are doing and what changes they can offer to have a competitive advantage,
like winning customers by offering a lower price on the product or by providing large varieties of
the product or by providing better services. Companies can achieve these strategies by ensuring
that their supply chain capabilities are able to support these strategies.

Companies have to understand the need and priorities of targeted customer segments and the
uncertainty of their demand. There are many factors which influence the demand of customer
like price, convenience of purchase, urgency of the product, size of the lot, delivery lead time,
etc. The customers of one segment tend to have more or less the same demand pattern, so to
satisfy the uncertainty of demand for the target segments the supply chain has to build the
strategy and capabilities accordingly. The demand uncertainty of target segments is called
"Implied Demand Uncertainty" which is different from "Demand Uncertainty" which reflects the
overall uncertainty of demand for a product.

Now the question arises as to how to handle this implied demand uncertainty? For this,
companies have to build the supply chain capabilities of responsiveness and efficiency. Being a
strategic fit is all about building the supply chain strategies to face the customer demand and
uncertainty or in other words a supply chain which is able to supply big quantities required, in
the shortest lead time, covering large product portfolios and providing better services. Having
these capabilities makes a responsive supply chain. Responsiveness towards customer demand
for quantity and quality comes at a price. For example, to respond to a large product portfolio a
company needs to increase the production and storage capacity which will increase the cost.
The increase in cost will have an inverse effect on the efficiency of the supply chain. So a
strategic decision to increase the responsiveness will have additional cost which will lower the
efficiency. It's a trade-off between responsiveness and efficiency. Some companies being more
responsive will have less efficient supply chain and if companies need an efficient supply chain
then they have to lower the level of responsiveness. Strategically companies have to decide on
the level of responsiveness they need to provide and try to bring the efficiency by enhancing the
processes and technologies.

7. Supply Chain Performance:Achieving Strategic Fitand Scope

1 Competitive and Supply Chain Strategies
2 Achieving Strategic Fit
 3 Expanding Strategic Scope
4 Sammy of Learning Objectives
8.
PRODUCTION – This driver can be made very responsive by building factories that have a lot of
excess capacity and use flexible manufacturing techniques to produce a wide range of items. To
be even more responsive, a company could do their production in many smaller plants that are
close to major groups of customers so delivery times would be shorter. If efficiency is desirable,
then a company can build factories with very little excess capacity and have those factories
optimized for producing a limited range of items.
2. INVENTORY – Responsiveness can be had by stocking high levels of inventory for a wide range
of products. Additional responsiveness can be gained by stocking products at many locations so
as to have the inventory close to customers and available to them immediately. Efficiency in
inventory management would call for reducing inventory levels of all items and especially of
items that do not sell as frequently. Also, economies of scale and cost savings can be gotten by
stocking inventory in only a few central locations such as regional distribution centers (DCs).

3. LOCATION – A location decision that emphasizes responsiveness would be one where a

company establishes many locations that are close to its customer base. For example, fast-food
chains use location to be very responsive to their customers by opening up lots of stores in high
volume markets. Efficiency can be achieved by operating from only a few locations and
centralizing activities in common locations. An example of this is the way e-commerce retailers
serve large geographical markets from only a few central locations that perform a wide range of
activities.

4. TRANSPORTATION – Responsiveness can be achieved by a transportation mode that is fast

and flexible such as trucks and airplanes. Many companies that sell products through catalogs
or on the Internet are able to provide high levels of responsiveness by using transportation to
deliver their products often within 48 hours or less. FedEx and UPS are two companies that can
provide very responsive transportation services. And now Amazon is expanding and operating
its own transportation services in high volume markets to be more responsive to customer
desires. Efficiency can be emphasized by transporting products in larger batches and doing it
less often. The use of transportation modes such as ship, railroad, and pipelines can be very
efficient. Transportation can also be made more efficient if it is originated out of a central hub
facility or distribution center (DC) instead of from many separate branch locations.

5. INFORMATION – The power of this driver grows stronger every year as the technology for
collecting and sharing information becomes more wide spread, easier to use, and less expensive.
Information, much like money, is a very useful commodity because it can be applied directly to
enhance the performance of the other four supply chain drivers. High levels of responsiveness
can be achieved when companies collect and share accurate and timely data generated by the
operations of the other four drivers. An example of this is the supply chains that serve the
electronics market; they are some of the most responsive in the world. Companies in these
supply chains, the manufacturers, distributors, and the big retailers all collect and share data
about customer demand, production schedules, and inventory levels. This enables companies in
these supply chains to respond quickly to situations and new market demands in the high-
change and unpredictable world of electronic devices (smartphones, sensors, home
entertainment and video game equipment, etc.).
9.
Cost strategy: Focuses on delivering a product or service to the customer at the lowest
possible cost without sacrificing quality. Walmart has been the low-cost leader in retail by
operating an efficient supply chain.
Time strategy: This strategy can be in terms of speed of delivery, response time, or even
product development time. Dell has been a prime example of a manufacturer that has excelled
at response time by assembling, testing, and shipping computers in as little as a few days. FedEx
is known for fast, on-time deliveries of small packages.
Quality strategy: Consistent, high-quality goods or services require a reliable, safe supply
chain to deliver on this promise. If Sony had an inferior supply chain with high damage levels, it
wouldn’t matter to the customer that their electronics are of the highest quality.
Flexibility strategy: Can come in various forms such as volume, variety, and customization.
Many of today’s e-commerce businesses, such as Amazon, offer a great deal of flexibility in
many of these categories.
10.
Cash-to-cash Time Cycle
This priceless supply chain metric will help you calculate the length of time required to
transform your resources into bonafide cash flows. Working with three core ratios – the days of
inventory (DOI), the days of payables (DOP), and the days of receivables (DOR) – the cash-to-
cash time cycle KPI visualizes the period required between the moment a business pays cash to
its suppliers and the moment it receives cash from its customers. The shorter the conversion
cycle the better, and this invaluable supply chain metric will help you take the right measures to
ensure that you can run your business with less money tied up in operations.
Freight Bill Accuracy

Shipping and freighting your items from supplier to warehouse or warehouse to the consumer is
vital to the success of your entire operation, and any issue or error can prove harmful with time
and investments being wasted.

Billing accuracy is critical to profitability as well as customer satisfaction, so tracking this

particular metric will help you spot detrimental trends, improve your overall shipping accuracy,
and ultimately, help your business grow. Here is how freight bill accuracy is calculated:
3. Perfect Order Rate
This particular insight is one of the most critical supply chain KPIs for businesses operating in a
multitude of sectors. The perfect order rate measures the success of your ability to deliver
orders incident-free, which will ultimately help you iron out issues such as inaccuracies,
damages, delays, and inventory losses. The higher the perfect order rate, the better, because
this KPI has a direct impact on your customer retention and loyalty levels.
Days Sales Outstanding (DSO)

The days sales outstanding (DSO) KPI measures how swiftly you are able to collect or generate
revenue from your customers.

Essentially, a low, or healthy, DSO number means that it takes a business fewer days to collect
its accounts receivable. A higher DSO level demonstrates that a company is selling its product to
customers on credit and taking longer to collect revenue in a tangible sense, which can stunt
cash flow and minimize profits in the grand scheme of things. By calculating this often, you’ll be
able to collect revenue faster and more efficiently, which will help boost your bottom line in the
long run.
Inventory Turnover

One of the most superbly helpful supply chain KPI available today focuses on logistics KPIs and
helps a business understand the number of times its entire inventory has been sold over a
certain time frame: an incredible indicator of efficient production planning, process strategy,
fulfillment abilities, and marketing and sales management. By calculating your on-time shipping
rate and comparing it to other competitors within your industry, you will be able to create a
clear management reporting practice, see where you stand and take the appropriate action to
improve it over time – this will result in a boost in brand authority as well as an increased
bottom line – so it’s important.
Gross Margin Return On Investment (GMROI)

Every business, regardless of service, product, or sector strives to achieve the best return on
investment (ROI) for each and every commercial activity it undertakes. Maintaining a
consistently solid ROI is the bread and butter of ongoing eCommerce success.

On-time Shipping

Supply chain performance metrics can also be visualized with the On Time Shipping metric,
which allows you to optimize your shipping and delivery processes

An excellent indicator of how long you may need to ship a particular type of order to a client,
customer, or partner, this KPI will allow you to set a benchmark shipping time relative to each
product which, in turn, will allow you to optimize your shipping and delivery processes, reducing
turnover time, and boosting customer satisfaction levels.

Return Reason

The return reason supply chain metric offers an astute insight into the various motives causing
your customers and clients to return their orders – an information that is priceless to the
ongoing success of an eCommerce business. Presented in a digestible pie chart-style format with
a key showcasing the primary reasons for return, you will be able to assess your areas of
weakness, analyze the quality of critical areas of your supply chain process, and make the kind
of improvements that will enhance not only your reputation but your overall level of service
significantly. By gaining this level of insight, you stand an excellent chance at decreasing returns,
boosting profits, and improving cash flow as a result.
Inventory Velocity (IV)

A pivotal supply chain KPI, the inventory velocity, or IV, provides a visual snapshot of the
percentage of inventory that’s projected for consumption within the next period or quarter.

Calculated by dividing the opening stock by the sales forecast for the following period, the IV is a
KPI that will help you optimize your inventory levels, give you a greater chance of meeting
consumer demand, and prevent you from wasting money on excess levels of stock.
Inventory Days Of Supply

While this may not be the most panoramic or all-encompassing of supply chain metrics,
inventory days of supply is particularly useful as it will give you a fairly accurate calculation of
the number of days it would take you to run out of stock if it wasn’t replenished.

By tracking, analyzing, and understanding this stream data on a regular basis, you will be able to
prepare for, and avoid, any stock-based calamities in an emergency situation, saving your
reputation and cash flow in the process.

11.

Quality Customer Service

The supply chain management is centralized on the needs of the customers. It is about giving
the right quantity and the right quality of the product for the right amount of money. All this, in
perfect timing and setting. Solution: It might seem simply, but on the contrary, it isn’t.
Customers have different preferences and we have to always adjust to the customer’s needs.
Being able to provide customer’s unique solutions make a difference entirely. Companies that
actually excel in this field are the ones that make an effort to learn and invest in new
technologies.
Costing
Globally speaking, the costs of raw materials, energy and labor have increased due to
economical constraints. In order for operations to continue production and provide customers
with good quality items at affordable rates, adjustments have to be made to keep operations
running. Solution: The best solution to this issue would be improving your cost control by
executing your plans efficiently through constant monitoring. Through efforts in providing
warehouse efficiency you would be able to do so.
Risk Management
Due to the constant change in the market, coming from a variety of sources such as consumer
demands, political agendas and global sourcing, would cause major issues to the operations.
Solution: Always be prepared with a risk management plan, on how your company will be able
to overcome disruptions during the course of operations. By hiring a logistics software
development company you would be able to manage these issues effectively with less effort on
your end. After all, logistics management is vital to the entire operation.
Supplier Relationship
By creating a mutually sound and harmonious relationship with your partners or suppliers, you
will be able to provide your customers with products of high standards in a timely manner. This
also allows you to create opportunities for improvement in terms of performance. Solution: By
building a strong working relationship with your supplier, you would be able to work efficiently
and come up with a better output in a short period of time. warehouse management
Qualified Personnel
Over the years, it has become a challenge to find talent interested and passionate about this line
of work. Personnel hired in this field must have an understanding about the duties and
responsibilities needed. Solution: Since locating dedicated personnel to work for this field has
become increasing hard to find, their market value will start to rise. Hiring and promoting
through in-house staff would be the most affordable solution at this point.
Unforeseen Delays
Procurement of materials and products may be easy, but the delivery may not always be 100%
on time, especially with time differences and a variety of shipping time frames. When items are
sourced from different countries, delays like this are very common. Sign up for Newsletters
Check out our popular newsletters and subscribe Dropdown Solution: Always have buffer stocks.
Through an efficient warehouse management system you are able to know when you need to
have certain materials delivered as well as create a time cushion in terms of delivery to make
sure everything runs smoothly
Fast-Changing Markets
With technological advancements changing our markets everyday, it is quite difficult to stay in
pace and adapt to the variety of innovations in the market. But because the goal is to stay
efficient in these changing times, companies would have to be more flexible.
12.
Retailers face great pressure to stay abreast of developments in online ordering and the
increasing range of order fulfillment options, from express delivery to curbside pickup. Online
shopping is especially challenging for food retailers due to the low value of grocery products
combined with the high cost of handling products that are often frail, come in various shapes
and sizes, and require temperature-controlled storage and transportation. Currently, few
players are able to make money on e-grocery, but no food retailer can afford to ignore the
emergence of online.
Traditional full-assortment grocery retailers are feeling the squeeze both from discounters
and the food service industry. Restaurants and food-to-go are capturing an increasing share of
consumers’ wallets. Some food retailers have opened in-store restaurants. Even more are
turning to prepared meals to increase their relevance in the eyes of the consumers. High-value
food-to-go items also offer grocery retailers a means of increasing margins in a tough market —
if done right. Done wrong, it also offers plenty of opportunities to lose money on costly food
waste.
Consumers are increasingly looking for fresh and healthy eating, putting produce, fresh fish
and meat and other short shelf life products in the spotlight. Even discounters, such as Aldi and
Lidl, are boosting their offering of fresh products, including premium products like organic meat
and freshly baked bread. These former hard discounters are, in their pursuit for growth,
stepping out of their comfort zones by introducing more fresh products, smaller stores and
more regional variation in their offering. Discounters’ efficiency had previously built on
simplicity, standardization and large volumes, so this increasing complexity will put their grocery
supply chains to the test.
Urbanization and convenience are pushing many former big box retailers to experiment with
smaller store formats in urban locations. Other retailers are reallocating space in stores to make
room for cafés and deli areas or to accommodate online order pickup. To make the tighter space
work without slashing assortments, retailers need to become more efficient in their use of
space. It is not a given that successful big format retailers will accomplish the mindset change
required to run small format stores, especially to do it in a way that creates synergies between
the formats.
13.
Supply chains often comprise a huge number of products or commodities that are sourced,
manufactured or stored in multiple locations, thus resulting in complexity. Complexity can mean
reduced efficiency as managers struggle with the day-to-day risks of delays and fluctuations, and
it can lead to increased risk of disruption, in which dependencies between products can bring
everything to a halt. Controlling the amount of complexity can therefore lead to higher cost
efficiency and reduced risk, which is a win-win. Let’s begin by considering risk.

Managers can reduce risk by designing supply chains to contain risk rather than allow it to
spread through the entire supply chain. The design of an oil tanker provides a fitting example of
how good design choices can reduce fragility.
14.

Performance of a distribution network should be evaluated along two dimensions at thehighest

level, one is customer needs that are met, and another one is the cost of meetingcustomer
needs. Thus, a firm must evaluate the impact on customer service and cost as itcompares
different distribution network options. The customer needs that are met influencethe
company's revenues, which along with cost decide the profitability of the delivery networkthat
are influenced by the structure of the distribution network. These include: 1) Responsetime - is
the time between when a customer places an order and receives delivery. 2) Productvariety - is
the number of different products/configurations that a customer desires from thedistribution
network. 3) Product availability - is the probability of having a product in stockwhen a customer
order arrives. 4) Customer experience - includes the ease with which thecustomer can place and
receive their order. It also includes purely experiential aspects suchas the possibility of getting a
cup of coffee and the value that the sales staff provides. 5) Order visibility - is the ability of the
customer to track their order from placement to delivery. 6)Returnability - is the ease with
which a customer can return unsatisfactory merchandise andthe ability of the network to
handle such returns

15.

NGEE ANN POLYTTEVHNICSCHOOL OF ENGINEERINGDIPLOMA IN LOGISTIC

MANAGEMENTMODULE:
Supply Chain Management
Name: Gao yushanStudent ID: S10071281Tutorial 4 – Supply Chain Design Strategies
1. Identify the key factors to be considered when designing the distribution network.
Ans: Performance of a distribution network should be evaluated along two dimensions at
thehighest level, one is customer needs that are met, and another one is the cost of
meetingcustomer needs. Thus, a firm must evaluate the impact on customer service and cost as
itcompares different distribution network options. The customer needs that are met
influencethe company's revenues, which along with cost decide the profitability of the delivery
networkthat are influenced by the structure of the distribution network. These include: 1)
Responsetime - is the time between when a customer places an order and receives delivery. 2)
Productvariety - is the number of different products/configurations that a customer desires from
thedistribution network. 3) Product availability - is the probability of having a product in
stockwhen a customer order arrives. 4) Customer experience - includes the ease with which
thecustomer can place and receive their order. It also includes purely experiential aspects
suchas the possibility of getting a cup of coffee and the value that the sales staff provides. 5)
Order visibility - is the ability of the customer to track their order from placement to delivery.
6)Returnability - is the ease with which a customer can return unsatisfactory merchandise
andthe ability of the network to handle such returns.
15.
Manufacturer storage with direct shipping’s advantages is it is able to centralizeinventories at
the manufacturer. And its weaknesses are the ownership structure of theinventories at the
manufacturer. Manufacturer storage with direct shipping and in-transitmerge’s advantages is
lower transportation cost and improves customer experience. It’sweaknesses is additional effort
during the merge itself. Distributor storage with packagecarrier delivery’s advantages is fast
response tine and improves customer experienceweaknesses is high Inventory & facilities and
handling cost. Distributor storage with last miledelivery’s advantages is quick response tine and
good customer experience, and itsweaknesses is the cost is high. Manufacturer/distributor
storage with costumer pickup’sAdvantages is lower the delivery cost and its weaknesses is
increased handling cost at thepickup site. Retail storage with customer pickup’s advantages is
lower the delivery cost &provides a faster response than other networks, its weaknesses is
increased inventory costand facility costs.
16.
An e-business can lower inventory levels and inventory cost by improving supply chain
coordination and creating a better match between supply and demand. Additionally, e-business
enables a firm to aggregate inventories far from customers if most customers are willing to wait
for delivery of online orders. Facilities – Two basic types of facilities costs must be included in
the analysis: costs related to the number and location of facilities in a network, and costs
associated with the operations that take place in these facilities. An e-business can reduce
network facility costs by centralizing operations, thereby decreasing the number of facilities
required. With regard to ongoing operating costs, customer participation in selection and order
placement allows an e-business to lower its resource costs.
Distribution Networks in Practice The ownership structure of the distribution network can have
as big an impact as the type of distribution network – Distribution networks that have exactly
the same physical flow but different ownership structures can have vastly different
performance. For eg, a manufacturer that owns its distribution network can control the
network’s actions. However, if the manufacturer does not own the distribution network, a wide
variety of issues need to be taken into account to optimize over the network. The choice of a
distribution network has very long term consequences – The structure of the distribution
network is one of the most difficult decisions to change. The impact often lasts for decades,
amplifying the importance of the choice. For eg, In the early days, PC manufacturers sold
through independent distributors and retailers. Dell’s emergence was a clear example of how
the direct model was often superior to the traditional model. Other PC manufacturers, such as
HP, made forays into selling PCs directly. However, their existing distribution channels reacted
quite negatively to this- as it would cannibalize their business.
17.
18.
Commodity items are non differentiated products with wider availability from multiple sources.
The most important thing for the distribution network of commodity items is to deliver them
quickly as they are mostly basic needs satisfying products. If there is lack of responsiveness in
the delivery, the customer will switch to another source. Based on the above stated facts, the
distribution network suited for commodity items is the retail storage with customer accessing it
easily or the storage distribution with last-mile delivery