Overview

The final project for this course is the creation of a supply chain evaluation. Supply chain management $($SCM$)$ is a holistic view of a company$$s efforts to source, procure, receive, store, and deliver products. These products can be raw materials for a manufacturing process, consumer goods for a retail chain, or a collection of items that will be joined in some way before ultimate delivery to the customer. In the global economic environment, SCM takes on an increasing level of complexity as companies attempt to reduce costs, drive efficiency, and remain compliant with the corporate social responsibilities that consumers demand.

Directions

For this milestone, you will submit an assessment of the supply and demand of your chosen company and its product flow, as discussed in the case study you chose in Module One. You will also evaluate the network sourcing strategy of your company to identify areas that may need improvement and will leave room for future expansion.

Specifically, you must address the following rubric criteria:

Demand Forecasting: In this section, first assess the supply and demand side of your chosen company$$s product flow, including the customer$$s needs and the supplier$$s capabilities, to then identify potential alignments that will keep cost and waste at a minimum.

Evaluation

Analyze your chosen company$$s suppliers in terms of their abilities to meet the demand of customers during steady$$state and peak operations. How effective are each supplier$$s inventory reorder points and economic order quantities? Support your analysis with quantitative examples.

Additionally, describe demand$$forecasting constraints that exist within the supply chain. For example, consider the distance of the stores and the compatibility of the products in terms of shipping, storage, and so on$.$

Sourcing: In this section, first evaluate your chosen company$$s network sourcing strategy to identify possible areas needing improvement and room for future expansion.

Evaluation: Assess the network sourcing strategy and determine whether the number and quality of suppliers is the optimal mix for the operation. To what extent do the suppliers meet steady$$state and peak demand? Are they consistently providing products that meet or exceed your chosen company$$s quality standards? Defend your assessment with examples.

Recommendations

Recommend an effective strategy to optimize the sourcing network that takes into account operations and leaves room for future expansion. Be sure to consider any alternative sources of materials available to the organization in your response.

Note: For this milestone, you will complete rubric criteria II$.$A$,$ III.A$,$ and III.B$\mathrm{.}1.$ As a reminder, you will need to complete additional rubric criteria $($II$.$B and III.B$\mathrm{.}23)$ for this part of the final submission of your final project. Keep those elements in mind as you work through this milestone.