Supply Chain

Sustainability in Supply Chain Management  Table of Contents Introduction 3 Company Background 3 Product 4 Objective 4 Critical Analysis 4 Standards & Requirement of Sustainability 4 Assess the Sustainability 6 Analysis the Source of Mauritius for Frank & Faith 6 Analysis the Source of Ethiopia for Frank & Faith 7 Possible Strategies for Sustainability 8 Justify the Recommendation 9 Conclusion 10 Reference 11 Introduction The way of doing business has changed in this millennium as the huge technological changes bring a new door of innovation and opportunities. At the same time with the huge development and the success the environment is getting affected. So the one of the most reputed company Frank & Faith bring the environment friendly product for the customers. This strategy is good for the successful business as people are getting more concern about health and for the environment. The company is looking for the sustainable supply chain management for their smooth operation. In this study we will critically analysis the possible pros and cons of the Ethiopia and Mauritius as the sources of cotton for Frank & Faith. At the same time we will try to draw a picture about the possible benchmark for the sustainability in supply chain area. Then we will show how the economical condition of the proposed sources supports to the companies mission and vision. In addition there are some suggested approach also given in this study that may helpful for the Frank & Faith and as well as for some others in same context. Finally the justification will be the exact possible recommendation for the Frank & Faith as they are looking for the sustainability in this hyper competitive market. Company Background Frank & Faith Limited is one of the most renown manufacturer and sales organization of organic clothes and garments for the women in the UK market, as well as they have their business in the others area also. They sell the products in different store and the online shopping is also open for the customers. It was founded in 2006 in United Kingdom. The company is committed to the customer that they will provide quality product without any harmful chemical and formaldehyde and toxic. They provide the product from the reputed natural organic sources. Most of the raw material are produced by the company and others are collected from the most reliable sources thus they can maintain the higher quality of their product. Frank & Faith Limited ensure that the production of the company doesn’t affect the animal anymore. The concern for the animal of the company creates the good image for the company. They are the most renowned environment friendly company in the world. Nowadays they are expanding their business in different areas and the operation also increase as a big brand in the hyper competitive market. Product The product of the company are various female dresses, different types of scarves, fashionable tops, vintage bags stylish leggings and clutches etc. At the same time they sell the bath and body product also. There are many Merino wool' are in the market but they provide the organic product. In addition with the company have many more products which all are organic product and environment friendly. This type of environment friendly product is very rare in this market and they are becoming the leading position in the organic sector of products. Objective The objective of the study is related with many things, but the ultimate goal is to critically analysis the impact of good supply chain management. And assess the possible advantages of the collection of cotton from Ethiopia and Mauritius. In this circumstances we will try to analysis the pros and cons of the exporting the cotton from Ethiopia and Mauritius. Whether the supply chain management of Frank & Faith can be benefitted or not from the export of cotton from Ethiopia and Mauritius, this is the ultimate finding have to explore from the study. Critical Analysis This analysis will covered the sustainable factors and the need of those factors for a company in terms of supply chain management. In addition with set up the standard level of sustainability in cotton export from a certain country. After that the assessment will be covered about the export the cotton from the Ethiopia and Mauritius. Finally I will try to give some strategies that may be effective for the particular company. Standards & Requirement of Sustainability Before discuss about the sustainable supply chain management we have to clarify about the understanding of supply chain management. This is the process which basically synchronize the all the aspect of production, like the suppliers, manufacturer, dealer, customers and others in order to meet the customer needs and demands. (Ayers, James 2006) This process in most of the cases relies on the technology, information, goods, services among the organizations and it sometimes occurs across the world. To create an effective bonding and relationship among the all parties so the company can produce the product in a accurate time and at the same time the company is want to achieve the smooth operation from the all parties. For this implement a company will follow four stages in order to achieve an effective supply chain management. (Hugos, Michael H 2011) First of all when a company is looking for the trust among the different parties of supply chain management, they are they are ready to go for long term commitment with the partners. The managers are tending to create a good relationship with the supportive team for smooth production. Second Stage the exchange of the knowledge and information among the all parties will increase for determine or forecast the future business possibilities. Thirdly the company will expand the supply chain in every aspect of the production so that all functions will work better than the previous period of operation. Fourthly identify the new ideas which transformed by the implement of supply chain in order to meet the customer satisfaction effectively in this hyper competitive market. Setting a benchmark or the standard of sustainability is very much crucial for every aspect of a company. These standards will help the company to improve the production, process and the whole business to meet the customer demand and at the same time setting standards are the goals for the company. (Boxwell, Robert 1994) The benchmark of sustainable supply chain management is, Select a process or product to set up a effective standard which will cover the business of Frank & Faith Ltd. Then identify the major aspect of performance in order to improve the operation and the business so the given effort will work properly. Otherwise the improvement in wrong areas will incur loss in money and time. Overall business will fall down and the ultimate objective never be achieved due to wrong identification. The company has to select the internal area or sector for set up a benchmark for improve the sustainable supply chain in order to achieve a long run business goal. Data collection from different sector will be helped out to judge the practice and the performance of the supply chain management. Analyze the data and try to find out the opportunities for improvement in the supply chain process and those activities will tune the business actively in the market. After that the company has to identify the best practice in the market or has to innovation new ideas and implement in order to gain the business goal. At that point company management have to ensure that the staffs are able to adapt the new ideas and able to implement. Otherwise the effective training and the motivation session have to operate for the developed supply chain management. Those are the benchmark of effective and efficient and productive supply chain management system for a Frank & Faith Ltd to achieve the business objective Assess the Sustainability Identify the benchmark for the supply chain is not only the task then the main objective is to assess the process or the resources of the supply chain. According to the case the Frank & Faith Ltd is now looking for new sources of cotton from Ethiopia and Mauritius. As Frank & Faith is environment friendly company and they supply the organic products for the customer, they must have to maintain the quality of raw materials. So whether the new sources of cotton will be better solution or not this will be the main analysis in this area of the study. Analysis the Source of Mauritius for Frank & Faith Exploring the textile and cotton business in Mauritius was the one of the major agenda of Mauritius government in 1960. After that the country has improved in a large context in textile and cotton sector. The success of cotton and textile industry in Mauritius was happened due to the good environment of investment and opportunity bases trade agreement for the internal and external customers. The government of Mauritius has taken the step to establish a export processing zone (EPZ) in 1970. For the development the government has taken many steps like sustainable export growth policy and established the institution for development of export activity. In addition that activity the authority was concern of the value of the currency. For those reason the cotton market of Mauritius developed and get the market in EU and also get the opportunity of Generalized Specialized Product (GSP) opportunities. The GDP of Mauritius was good and the participation of textile and cotton industry was almost 12% in the year of 2004. But the recent years the GDP of cotton business was fall down at 7.5 %. The decrease of the business was due to the crisis. (UNCTAD/WTO (ITC), November 2001) According to the above situation of the cotton business of Mauritius some findings are clarified which is supportive for the Frank & Faith to trade with them and got the quality product. Mauritius already entered in the European market so they are already examined that they are the good exporter. Their GDP of textile and cotton has fall down so they will also be enthusiastic for the business trade with Frank & Faith in a cheap rate this will helpful for Frank & Faith to be sustain in the market with a good product and better quality. Mauritius has GSP opportunities so doing business with them will be favorable for Frank & Faith as a European company. The economy of Mauritius is mostly dependent on the basis of the export of textile and cotton product. So they are much more concern about the business relationship. So this point is highly supportive for Frank & Faith to trade with them and get the sustainable supply chain relationship and achieve the sustainable business objective. Analysis the Source of Ethiopia for Frank & Faith The textile and clothing industry of Ethiopia is growing dynamically in the world. Ethiopia has the potentiality in the raw cotton and the in the natural fibers in the domestic and international markets. . Their textile and cotton business history started was in 1939. As the country has the opportunity in local production of cotton so they have enough potential in this market. The cotton production happen in Ethiopia in a large scale almost in 50000 hectares area of land under the irrigation and another 45000 hectares also produced by the local farmers. The country has achieved sustainable business growth and the sustainable exchange rate of currency. The economic growth is almost doubled in the last decade. The labor cost, talented people, raw materials are all supportive for achieve the global market in textile sector. According to the above mentioned condition of Ethiopia there are some findings identified that will determine the sustainability of supply chain trade with them. Ethiopia is a largest garment producer in the global market. So the raw material they produced will be nodded for their own production. In that case the trade with Ethiopia will not be so much effective for Frank & Faith Company. The economical condition is developing day by day so the importer is getting interest to invest in their textile industry. In near future they will unable to export more cotton as they have own production plant. After the analysis of the both sources of cotton this almost clear to the readers that the cotton sources can be sustainable with Mauritius but there is a little bit upcoming barrier with the source of Ethiopia as they are growing as a textile based country in the global competitive market effectively. Possible Strategies for Sustainability Sustainable supply chain management is one of the key elements to prove for a company as they are the strong competitor and they are going to be market leader. So without the smooth supply chain relationship with the supportive partner the production will be affected and the quality will differ. Once the quality will tune due to the continuous change of the raw material then the brand image fall in reputation problem even though they provide the same quality product. Customers also become more meticulous about the change and they are tending to switch to another brand. This is the one of the top most significant issues for the company. So some strategies Frank & Faith can take for development of their sustainability in the market. Achieving visibility in supply chain is one of the most important parts for supply chain management. It can be possible to monitor the management is a bird eye. Then the staffs will be pro active for the operations and the relations with the supplier have to improve in a visible way by different technological support or by the automation in the supply chain management system. Tracing the management is one kind of strategy can take by Frank & Faith company this approach will help them to find out any disruption in the supply chain process and they can easily or can trace the problem as early as possible and the so the production of Frank & Faith will not be affected by any problem. As the tide schedule for supply so the supplier sometimes can be less concern about the quality so the company may establish a quality assessment office in the sources area like Mauritius or Ethiopia so the quality controlling can be maintain in order to maintain the smooth operations. Technological innovations will be helpful for the Frank & Faith to assess the ability of the raw materials or to judge the performance of the supply and its continuity and at the same time it will help out to be pre active for any kind of disruption. The company has to concern about the market demand and then they have to forecast about the production. On the basis of the demand the company can take action to go for the production and they can tune the supply chain with the sources. Market segmentation is one of the most significant factors in managing the sustainable supply chain relation with the effective sources of raw material. So the company can segment the market in a different way. If possible then try to involve the sources with your product. If the supplier will depend on you in some sector then it will be the most effective way to depend on a specific supplier and the company can develop a sustainable supply chain management relationship with those sources. So that the negotiable power of the supplier over the Frank & Faith will decrease and the win-win situation will arise and at that point of business both pastries will be benefitted and they will mutually works for their won development. Justify the Recommendation On the basis of the above discussion on the sustainable supply chain management and after the asses the source of cotton for Frank & Faith company some factors are very crucial that will help out the company to get the better advantages. Making the first tire of supplying source to Mauritius is the one of the best option for the company. As the country has the international brand image and the most importantly the country is mostly dependent on the tourism sector. So in near future it is less possible to they will focus for the export of their own production in a large scale. So the exporting source from the Mauritius will be the good option for the Frank & Faith. On the other hand Ethiopia is a developing garment industry in the world and they have a global image in the world and the country also directly and indirectly dependent on the textile sources. So trade with Ethiopia for Frank & Faith will never be so much sustainable. They can be stopping any time to export raw cotton in outside world, as the country has their own production. So at present the Frank & Faith can trade with Ethiopia but not for dependent way. In addition this Frank & Faith has to keep the relationship with others sources also and they always have to find the best opportunities even thy have a sustainable supplier. As nothing is permanent in the business and to maximize higher profit all are searching the best option. Conclusion This is the modern era of business and the way of doing business is changing day by day. So the marketers are always searching the best option for the production process. All the company is searching for the sustainable supply chain system in their business. If the company can get the ideas of the sustainable supply chain management than they must search for this, as new ideas are the live of a sustainable business. So Frank & Faith can get the sustainability when they able to identify the most effective and profitable sources. With the best option they have to maintain some tactics for the betterment. The research and development sector have to be more effective in order to reduce the dependency. Financial aspect of the world politics and the impact of the trade in cross boarder is very sensitive issued. As we know that Frank & Faith is a organic based product and they are committed top the customer about the good products and they have the commitment with the environmental issues also. So they always have to search for the better option rather depends on other and specific source for the production. Frank & Faith is very much concern about the environment so they must have to maintain this attitude and policy as the upcoming years the environment friendly product will be the most demandable items in the world. Reference Ayers, James B. Handbook of Supply Chain Management. 2d ed. Auerbach, 2006. Fisher, Marshall, and Ananth Raman. The New Science of Retailing: How Analytics Are Transforming the Supply Chain and Improving Performance. Harvard Business Press, 2010. Frazelle, Edward. Supply Chain Strategy. McGraw-Hill, 2001. Hugos, Michael H. Essentials of Supply Chain Management. 3d ed. Wiley, 2011. Narayanan, V.G., and Ananth Raman. “Aligning Incentives in Supply Chains.” Harvard Business Review, November 2004, pp. 94–102, 149. Trent, Robert J. Strategic Supply Management: Creating the Next Source of Competitive Advantage. J. Ross Publishing, 2007. Besterfi eld, Dale H., Carol Besterfi eld-Michna, Glen Besterfi eld, and Mary Besterfi eld-Sacre. Total Quality Management. 3d ed. Prentice Hall, 2002 Hugos, Michael H. Essentials of Supply Chain Management, 2d ed. Wiley, 2006. Bogan, Christopher E., and Michael J. English. Benchmarking for Best Practices: Winning Through Innovative Adaptation. McGraw- Hill, 1994. Boxwell, Robert J., Jr. Benchmarking for Competitive Advantage. McGraw-Hill, 1994. Frame, J. Davidson. The New Project Management: Tools for an Age of Rapid Change, Complexity, and Other Business Realities. bJossey-Bass, 2002. Mauritius Industrial Development Authority, Subregional Trade Expansion in Southern Africa, Mauritius Supply Survey in Textiles and Clothing, prepared for the International Trade Centre UNCTAD/WTO (ITC), November 2001 12