Graded Assignment #2: horizon foods

Course Code:	TLM1010
Course Name:	Transportation and Logistics
Assignment:	Horizon Foods

Activity Description: So, why are they calling this meeting? Rodger Bennett asked. Are we finally beginning to recognize that we have a distribution problem? As a newly appointed branch manager, Roger had just been promoted from the sales force and was interested in clearing up some of the problems that had appeared during his customer contacts. How can we continue to sell our products when we cant tell our customers when our products will be delivered? I think you have guessed the problem, replied Sally Ryan, the production scheduling manager. We have so many requests for special production runs to supply inventory that we cant seem to plan a decent normal schedule. It seemed that the production scheduling desk had become a crisis center, and there was a continuing series of requests from sales. Mel Young, the financial director, looked up as they entered the conference room. Maybe one of you can tell me whats happening out there. I pay some pretty large bills to those public warehouses to store our products. I have had to increase our working capital in order to have enough inventory on hand. Yet we never seem to have enough cant we get some kind of control out there? Roger spoke first. Mel, you know how we are organized. We let Production take care of supplying the market, and let Marketing take care of dealing with the customer. My apologies to Sally, but when I was in the field, I was never sure if Production would be able to set me back up. Sally began to burn a little at that last comment. Roger, I cant blame you, because you havent been in the corporate office very long, but it always seemed to me that Marketing was always a little out of control. You guys wanted everything the full product line and lots of inventory but you really couldnt tell me what the customers wanted to buy and when they planned to take it. Background Horizon Foods is a relatively small specialty foods processor serving a national market with a broad product line and sales of $300 million per year. It markets its products through a network of food brokers who represent the company to retail food chains. Horizons product lines have focused on ethnic food specialties including salad dressings, sauces for Italian pasta, and condiments such as specialty pickles. The company advertises at a low level about 2 percent of sales, placing most of its promotional efforts on supporting the brokers with point-of-sale displays and cooperative advertising with local retailers, and couponing for special promotions. Retailers have generally liked Horizons products because of their high quality. However, Horizon is not alone in this market; there is intense competition for retail shelf space. Competition has become more intense in recent years as other companies are beginning to offer complete product lines that compete directly with Horizons. The brokers report that the retail buyers are raising questions about the number of stockouts that they have been recently experiencing. There buyers have occasionally even suggested that they might switch to other brands if service is not improved. Products are produced in two plants: one in the Central Valley of California at Fresno and the other in Illinois about 60 Miles south of Chicago. They buy ingredients from other food suppliers, avoiding the peak seasonal characteristics encountered by food packers. Production takes place in large batch quantities in order to maintain low production costs and assure consistent product quality. As items are packed, they are generally transported to the market mixed truckload volumes using contract carriers. Product inventories are normally spotted around the country in about 20 public warehouses. The food brokers call on customers and generate orders, which are telexed to these warehouses. These public warehouses then arrange transportation. Horizons products are packaged and are not considered perishable items. Orders are generally small, amounting to five to six cases per order, or about 150 to 200 pounds at a time. These are then delivered using carriers selected individually by each public warehouse. The costs of delivery are billed to Horizon. Transportation costs are high, because of these small shipments. Delivery schedules vary by carrier; some provide fast, reliable service, while others have been erratic to the point that customers have commented on poor delivery service. Even though Horizons two plants are located in agriculture areas, many of the ingredients are shipped over long distances, depending on the season. Horizons management is divided into two major departments. One is marketing and Sales; the other is Production. There are also several smaller staff units for personnel, purchasing, and finance. Production is the oldest of the two. Marketing came in almost as an afterthought and had a difficult time establishing credibility within the company. Production is responsible for scheduling production runs, as well as arranging transportation to and maintaining inventory in the plant warehouses. Within Marketing and Sales, two brand managers are responsible for marketing the product line. They are responsible for promotion, product inventory at the public warehouses, providing sales support, and merchandising. There is also a national sales manager who has responsibility for maintaining contact with food brokers, coordinating public warehouses, and arranging for delivery. This split between delivery from production and service from the warehouse has often led to problems in the holding enough inventory on many items to meet customer demand. The Challenge At that minute the president, Harold Sessions, came in. Im glad to see that we are finally getting this problem out in the open. Maybe we can do something about it at last. We need some better control over this product movement process. I chose you people because you seem to have a real interest in doing something about it. Now, how do you suggest that we eliminate this problem? Along with the framework questions, here are a few other to think about and include in your case study report and presentation.

1. What are the problems and opportunities at Horizon Foods?
2. How is Horizons competitive environment changing and what are the implications?
3. Who in the company is currently responsible for logistics activities?
4. How serious is the situation?
5. What are the costs? Lost sales, inventory carrying costs etc.
6. What are the priorities of the production dept?
7. If a logistics department were created, what would the responsibilities be? How could you sell this idea to the others involved?
8. As Harold Sessions, what is your analysis of the situation at Horizon Foods.

Answer these questions as well as the framework questions in you case study analysis. CASE Study marking rubric Writing the Report Introduction: Once you have -completed the case analysis, you must present the results in a logical sequence. It if\' suggested that you follow the approach outlined below, using the headings provided. Case Report Format: The following table outlines the preferred format for submitting a case solution report. In general, case reports should be between 5 and 8 pages in length or approximately 5 000 words.

Part	Heading	Description
I	Immediate Issue	State the immediate problems or identify the decision that must be made, e.g. choosing a supplier, dealing with a complaint, etc. State a time-frame how long do you have to make a decision? (5 Marks)
Il	Basic Issues	List any other issues which may be affecting the operation or situation and which may influence your decision. These may be higher level, strategic issues or underlying causes such as poor communication quality systems. (10 Marks)
III	Issue Analysis	Summarize the important or major pieces of information, from the case. Identify which are facts. opinions and assumptions. State your assumptions clearly. Analyze any quantitative or financial information made available in the case. Include a qualitative analysis. Identify -term issues. (20 Marks)
IV	Alternatives	This IS one of the most important parts of the case analysis and demonstrates that you clearly understand the issues) and the various possible outcomes. There are usually at least three good options in a case and often many more. List the various options available to resolve the problem. Discuss each option and always state the advantages (pros) and disadvantages (cons) of each option. Refer to quantitative and /or qualitative information as needed in order to demonstrate the points raised. Do not just list points. (20 Marks)
V	Recommendation(s)	Based on the analysis of the options, state what you would do to correct the problem (recommendation). Your recommendation is usually a restatement of the best option or combination of options. Always state both short-term and long-term recommendations (10 Marks)
VI	Implementation	How you would implement your recommendation The implementation plan should list the steps and include a time frame target date. (5 Marks)
VII	Report	A well-organized report was submitted containing all required information. Report must have a title page, table of contents and be free of spelling and grammatical errors. (10 Marks)
VIII	Presentation	A well-organized PowerPoint was presented containing all required information. Each member of the group must participate in the presentation. No reading from the slides. The PowerPoint must be free of spelling and grammatical errors. (10 Marks)

Rubric /90

Criteria	Marks
Immediate Issue	/5	A plausible immediate issue was identified.
Basic Issues	/10	At least 5 basic issues were identified.
Analysis	/20	A detailed explanation of the situation was developed.
Alternatives	/20	Students provided financial calculations for delivery capacity.
Recommendation	/10	A well thought out recommendation was provided.
Implementation	/5	An implementation plan and timeline was provided.
Report	/10	A well-organized report was submitted containing all required information. Report must have a title page, table of contents and be free of spelling and grammatical errors.
Presentation	/10	A well-organized PowerPoint was presented containing all required information. Each member of the group must participate in the presentation. No reading from the slides. The PowerPoint must be free of spelling and grammatical errors.

Oral Presentation Rubric: /12

	Excellent (4)	Good (3)	Fair (2)	Needs Improvement (1)
Delivery	Holds attention of entireaudience with the use ofdirect eye contact, seldomlooking at notes Speaks with fluctuation involume and inflection tomaintain audience interestand emphasize key points	Consistent use of direct eyecontact with audience, butstill returns to notes Speaks with satisfactoryvariation of volume andinflection	Displays minimal eyecontact with audience,while reading mostly fromthe notes Speaks in uneven volumewith little or no inflection	Holds no eye contact with audience, as entire report isread from notes Speaks in low volume and/or monotonous tone,which causes audience todisengage
Content/ Organization	Demonstrates fullknowledge by answeringall class questions with explanations andelaboration Provides clear purpose andsubject; pertinent examples,facts, and/or statistics;supports conclusions/ideas with evidence	Is at ease with expectedanswers to all questions,without elaboration Has somewhat clearpurpose and subject; someexamples, facts, and/orstatistics that support thesubject; includes some dataor evidence that supportsconclusions	Is uncomfortable withinformation and is able toanswer only rudimentaryquestions Attempts to define purpose and subject; provides weak examples, facts, and/or statistics, which do notadequately support thesubject; includes very thindata or evidence	Does not have grasp ofinformation and cannotanswer questions aboutsubject Does not clearly definesubject and purpose; provides weak or nosupport of subject; givesinsufficient support for ideas or conclusions
Enthusiasm/ Audience Awareness	Demonstrates strongenthusiasm about topicduring entire presentation Significantly increases audience understanding and knowledge of topic; convinces an audience to recognize the validity and importance of the subject	Shows some enthusiasticfeelings about topic Raises audienceunderstanding andawareness of most points	Shows little or mixedfeelings about the topicbeing presented Raises audienceunderstanding andknowledge of some points	Shows no interest in topicpresented Fails to increase audienceunderstanding ofknowledge of topic

Attachments:

Graded-Assisi....docx