Please provide responses to those questions identified as Case Problem 11.1 and include timeline, possible transportation modes and problems with each, as well as discuss the roles of trade specialists, etc. See case attached.

CASE PROBLEM 11.1 Somerset Furniture Company's Global Supply ChainContinued For the Somerset Furniture Company described in Case Problem 10.1 in Chapter 10, determine the product lead time by developing a time line from the initiation of a purchase order to product delivery. Discuss the company's possible transportation modes and channels in China and to and within the United States, and the likelihood of potential problems. Identify and discuss how international trade specialist(s), trade logistics companies, and/or Internet exchanges might help Somerset reduce its product lead time and variability. CASE PROBLEM 10.1 Somerset Furniture Company's Global Supply Chain The Somerset Furniture Company was founded in 1957 in Randolph County, Virginia. It trad has manufactured large, mediumpriced, ornate residential wood furniture such as bedroom c chests of draws, and dining and living room cabinets, tables, and chairs, at its primary manuf facility in Randolph County. It employed a marketing strategy of rapidly introducing new pr every few years. Over time it developed a reputation for highquality, affordable furniture fo U.S. market of homeowners during the last half of the twentieth century. The company was g considered to be an innovator in furniture manufacturing processes and in applying QM prin furniture manufacturing. However, in the mid1990s, faced with increasing foreign competit labor rates, and diminishing profits, the Somerset Company contracted to outsource several o furniture product lines to manufacturers in China, simultaneously reducing the size of its ow manufacturing facility and labor force. This initially proved to be very successful in reducing increasing profits, and by 2000 Somerset had decided to close its entire manufacturing facilit United States and outsource all of its manufacturing to suppliers in China. The company set supply chain in which it arranges for shipments of wood from the United States and South A manufacturing plants in China where the furniture products are produced by hand by Chinese The Chinese manufacturers are very good at copying the Somerset ornate furniture designs b without expensive machinery. The average labor rate for furniture manufacturing in the Unit between $9 and $20 per hour, whereas the average labor rate for furniture manufacturers in C per day. Finished furniture products are shipped by container ship from Hong Kong or Shang Norfolk, Virginia, where the containers are then transported by truck to Somerset warehouse Randolph County. Somerset supplies retail furniture stores from this location. All hardware i on the furniture at the retail stores in order to reduce the possibility of damage during transpo The order processing and fulfillment system for Somerset includes a great deal of variability aspects of the company's global supply chain. The company processes orders weekly and biw the United States it takes between 12 and 25 days for the company to develop a purchase ord release it to its Chinese suppliers. This process includes developing a demand forecast, whic from one to two weeks; converting the forecast to an order fulfillment schedule; and then dev purchase order. Once the purchase order is processed overseas by the Chinese manufacturer, take 10 to 20 days depending on the number of changes made, the manufacturing process req approximately 60 days. The foreign logistics process requires finished furniture items to be t from the manufacturing plants to the Chinese ports, which can take up to several weeks depe trucking availability and schedules. An additional 5 to 10 days are required to arrange for shi containers and prepare the paperwork for shipping. However, shipments can then wait from o week for enough available containers. There are often too few containers at the ports because importers, like \"Big W\" discount stores in the United States, reserve all the available contain continual stream of overseas shipments. Once enough containers are secured, it requires thre days to optimally load the containers. The furniture pieces often have odd dimensions that re partially filled containers. Since 9/11, random security checks of containers can delay shipm one to three weeks, and smaller companies like Somerset are more likely to be extensively ch larger shippers like Big W, whom the port authorities don't want upset with delays. The trip o Norfolk requires 28 days. Once in port, one to two weeks are required for a shipment to clear and to be loaded onto trucks for transport to Somerset's warehouse in Randolph County, whi from one to three days. When a shipment arrives, it can take from one day up to a month to u trailer, depending on the urgency to fill store orders from the shipment. Because of supply chain variability, shipments can be off schedule (i.e., delayed) by as much The company prides itself on customer service and fears that late deliveries to its customers its credibility and result in cancelled orders and lost customers. At the same time, keeping ex inventories on hand in its warehouses is very costly, and since Somerset redesigns its produc frequently a real problem of product obsolescence arises if products remain in inventory very Somerset has also been experiencing quality problems. The Chinese suppliers employ quality who rotate among plants every few weeks to perform quality control tests and monitor the manufacturing process for several days before visiting another plant. However, store and ind customer complaints have forced Somerset to inspect virtually every piece of furniture it rece overseas before forwarding it to stores. In some instances, customers have complained that ta chairs creak noisily during use. Somerset subsequently discovered that the creaking was caus humidity differences between the locations of the Chinese plants and the geographic areas in States where their furniture is sold. Replacement parts (like cabinet doors or table legs) are d secure because the Chinese suppliers will only agree to provide replacement parts for the pro currently in production. However, Somerset provides a oneyear warranty on its furniture, w that they often need parts for a product no longer being produced. Even when replacement pa available, it took too long to get them from the supplier in order to provide timely customer s Although Somerset was initially successful at outsourcing its manufacturing process on a lim it has since discovered, as many companies do, that outsourcing can result in a host of supply problems, as indicated. Discuss Somerset's global supply chain and possible remedies for its chain problems, including strategic and tactical changes that might improve the company's su performance, reduce system variability, and improve quality and customer service