Read the following case study and answer ALL the following questions:

Supplv Base in Southwest The automotive industry is highly competitive. The market is global and so are suppliers. Success in any one market often requires moving from an import business model to a local manufacturing model, with access often predicated on a minimum number of local suppliers. As a company moves to a more global platform and product strategy, opportunities exist for capitalising on scale advantages in procurement. Southwest, a U.S. automaker requested its new procurement manager, Gordon Walker to examine eight categories of automotive components, which added up to $450 million in annual spending. Unlike many procurement projects, the objective was not only to reduce the amount spent in these categories, but also to help the company rebalance its supply base to address the rising importance of global markets. The company was losing sales due to rising costs of raw materials and logistics (ocean freight rates), and small changes in the U.S. Dollar-Chinese Yuan exchange rate. The senior leadership team wanted to establish long-term strategic supply relationships in emerging markets, with a target of procuring 20 percent of vehicle components from suppliers outside North America. Gordon Walker was able to quickly put together a team of his staff with expertise in automotive procurement in major Asian countries. The team extracted spending information from internal databases to project future spending volumes. They developed an inventory of available suppliers, mainly in South Korea and China, and invited a select number of these suppliers to a conference in Shanghai providing them with a request for quotation (RFQ) package that outlined the volumes, projections, and partnerships sought. .31- 3 BLC304/05 The team helped analyse the RFQ (Request For Quotations) responses and conducted multiple rounds of negotiations with the potential suppliers. To validate the information in the RFQs, Gordon Walker and his team visited the highpotential suppliers to confirm and assess their capabilities. The on-site visits included reviewing engineering capabilities, technical components, and financial stability, as well as quality audits. Gordon Walker's drive on the ground in Asian markets shortened the time needed to identify a pool of capable suppliers in low-cost countries. He introduced new approaches to managing foreign exchange risks and the impact of commodity price volatility. He also identified $39 million in savings for six of the eight components, representing almost 9 percent in annual savings. More broadly, the company obtained a deeper understanding of global supply capabilities and achieved its goal of supplier diversification to address the increasing importance of Asian markets. End of Case Study The case study was adapted from htt s://www.atkearne .com/ rocurement/case-stud Question 1 Identify the procurement issues and challenges in this case study. [10 marks] Question 2 Why was the procurement manager requested to examine only the eight categories of automotive components and not all? Justify your answer with portfolio analysis of supply strategies. [10 marks] Question 3 Evaluate the performance of the procurement manager. Propose ways for him to improve further. [20 marks]