Group Assignment: ITEC 640/9041 2
Group Assignment 1 Project Proposal ITEC 640/9041 February 2021 Miriam J. Masullo Supply Chain Inventory Management Implementation Project Proposal WAKSS Procurement and Logistics Contents Introduction 3 Objective 5 Project Definition 5 Technical Approach 5 Exhibit 1: Example of phased approach 6 Project Strategy 6 Software Tools 8 Staffing 8 Risk mitigation strategies 9 Conclusion 9 References 11
Introduction
WAKSS Procurement and Logistics consulting agency is a dedicated team of logisticians and contracting specialists. To ensure the best possible inventory management support, we value the mission, goal, and individuals we serve. Since the COVID-19 Pandemic has hit the Nation, the Global Supply Chain has suffered some negative impacts. Due to temporary trade restrictions, high demand for pharmaceuticals, medical supplies, and everyday products. Those developments, combined with the U.S.-China trade war, have triggered a rise in economic nationalism (Shih, 2020). As a result of these impacts, manufacturers worldwide are under a large amount of pressure to increase their domestic production while increasing employment and reducing lean manufacturing strategies within their global supply chains. New techniques and methods are being developed to help challenge the increased domestic distribution interruptions to help the process. The effects of COVID-19 have created significant uncertainty and numerous disruptions in the global supply chain. Supply chains in large companies like Amazon face enormous challenges in all stages, from procuring materials to delivering finished products to consumers, primarily medical-related items such as masks, medicine, and medical instruments. The delay of essential supplies can put lives at risk, so there is a crucial need to develop a new inventory management system to mitigate future adverse impacts to its customers.
As first responders in the health and medical industry facing this threat, WAKSS wants to ensure an effective system enhancement and delivery while at its peak. Implementing an inventory management system within the healthcare system will help aid the increased stock production on hand, especially with the high demand and delays happening now. This enhancement will minimally increase technology costs, but a significant increase in the employment rate and rapid product stock will help deliver to facilities dealing with the shortages and impacts to care. This implementation has excellent potential to add value in a long-term effort in supporting the global aspect of the medical supply chain. This implementation’s success can have a positive impact on many other industries of distribution and production worldwide.
A survey conducted by the Institute for Supply Chain Management found that almost 75% of companies in the United States reported supply chain disruptions due to coronavirus-related issues (Premier, 2020). Most entities throughout a supply chain do not have a firm grasp of just how much they need to order, create, ship, and sell. The same entities have shied away from technologies to help manage their supply chains. According to Professor Nada R. Sanders, many companies have yet to leverage big data analytics to transform their supply chain operations (Laluyaux, 2020).
As product demands soared across multiple industries, healthcare providers found the need for a new inventory management system essential. Hospitals have primarily relied on themselves to translate local pandemic cases into meaningful information regarding what supplies are needed and how fast they can obtain them (Premier, 2020). Without an effective inventory management system that considers more than just the product’s stock, healthcare facilities do not have the means to predict whether their supply needs will increase or decrease accurately. As a result, supply shortages have become common during pandemics.
Objective
Using a high-level Inventory Management plan approach, we will focus on the system requirements, business objectives, and roles needed to deliver the implementation; based on that, create a schedule which we will be used to allocate resources to the project.
Project Definition
Exhibit 1: Benefits of Inventory Management
The implementation of this project proposes to develop a robust inventory management system to fulfill the need to aid in the delay of supplies for the medical industry and other related COVID 19 issues. This implementation will allow for faster production and provide the organization and customers with timely, complete, and accurate data. It is also to maximize customer value and achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. The implementation process will create a conscious effort to build and run the most effective and efficient inventory management system within its supply chain. The inventory management system will be an integrated system representing the whole process of product fulfillment, warehousing, inventory management, and delivery. Each of these elements is optimized to smooth the delay in the supply chain.
Technical Approach
As a team, we decided to conduct the phases of this project with an Agile approach. Agile is a specific type of Rapid Application Development method. This project approach allows flexibility and responds well to change; thus, the Agile approach will help us manage the implementation process well. The Agile methodology stresses the rapid delivery of our product in complete functional components. Instead of creating schedules with tasks, all the time and work is grouped into phases called sprints. Each sprint will last a few weeks and will have its own set of deliverables prioritized by the customer according to business value. Incomplete deliverables at each sprint can be reprioritized and included in future sprints. With the Agile approach, the customer can frequently visualize the work being delivered early in the project and make decisions that will affect changes throughout the implementation process. The only risk that we foresee with Agile involves a high level of customer involvement that may present problems. Our customers may not be readily available to participate in every project step.
Exhibit 2: Example of a phased approach
Project Strategy
As an organized business process, we will also use the SMART goals methodology to enhance project management quality by ensuring the project objective is specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and has a clear timeline. The implementation will focus on the following supply chain management areas:
Inventory System: Inventory management system maintaining the storage and stock, monitoring the customer order and supplier fulfillment, and controlling purchases. Implement an automated inventory management system application that allows suppliers to add, edit, delete and transfer inventory in real-time. Mechanical systems will provide real-time inventory visibility, reduce understocking chances, increase data accuracy, scale, and grow the business (System, 2019).
Fulfillment Center: The company’s fulfillment service is available to sellers when they sell on its marketplace. Sellers can choose listings, send items to the fulfillment centers and leave products to be processed.
General Exchange fulfillment center workflow:
1. Send inventory: to inbound quantity guidance, the company partnered center, prep material store, and premium procurement.
2. Receive and Store: Locate procurement inventory close to the consumer, prep, and labeling services.
3. Customer orders product: Offers eligibility for best benefits & free shipping.
4. Pick, pack, and ship: Provide world-class fulfillment resources
5. Customer Service: Provide 24/7 response to customers’ inquiries online.
6. Customers Returns: Returns inquires and Helpance processing fees apply for particular productions.
Warehousing: The supply chain system will ensure products are easily accessible easily from anywhere. The course will optimize the warehouse internally to pick and pack by team members and robots to pull products immediately to prepare for delivery.
Delivery: Facilitate free shipping and express delivery. The system embraces technology to improve delivery speed. Utilize automation and robotic solution to pick and pack orders, tracking and storing inventory.
Software Tools
We will utilize the Gantt chart to Help in the planning and scheduling of the project. The project timeline and tasks will be converted to horizontal bar charts that will display start and end dates and task dependencies and deadlines. Each job will be displayed and tracked during the process and completion of each task. We will also have an inventory management system that will utilize technology and data to build a more robust and more proactive supply chain. A successful strategy will generate critical data necessary to predict the increase or decrease in supply needs. The system will provide different fulfillment options to sellers selling on the company’s marketplace to choose from. Sellers can also use the company fulfillment center to handle sorting, packaging, and shipping products or use their fulfillment center. The supply chain management system linked the physical and informational inventory process. The supply chain’s physical flow support flows involve the transformation, movement, and storage of goods and materials. The information flow allows users to coordinate and control the day-to-day flow of goods and material movement throughout the supply chain.
Exhibit 3: Example of Process Map
Staffing
WAKSS P&LO has the appropriate project management and supply chain subject matter experts. Along with the client, we will help comprise representation across all our stakeholders that include manufacturers, suppliers, retailers, shippers, and distributors. Upon request and need, the availability of third-party contractors and consultants to help advise on the project will also. Regarding just-in-time procurement, reducing inventory, increasing manufacturing efficiency, and overall meeting customer needs in a timely fashion, WAKSS is dedicated to the mission. These third-party contractors will be experts in the areas required, and their role will be to advise only. The availability of all teams’ members will be distributed before the project kickoff.
Risk mitigation strategies
The team will be paying considerable attention to the risk associated with the project. There are two types of risks in supply chain management, namely the risk of the project itself and the supply-chain design. Communication and increased efficiency are two factors that are key to the project’s success. Since the project will depend on qualitative and quantitative analysis, being flexible can become a risk mitigator. Thus, communicating better with the proper use of resources can reduce our supply chain project’s risk. Measures such as avoidance can impact the project, mitigation lowers the probability of suffering, and acceptance will require no preventive action.
Also, an inventory management system:
Typical supply chain issues that arise because of pandemics include (Drakeley, 2020):
· Unpredictable customer behavior
· Unreliable inventory supplies
· Rising logistical costs
· Internal capacity constraints
Conclusion
The acceptance of this proposed approach allows the WAKSS team to help disrupt the disruption, adverse impact, and irresponsive care of patients due to the delay in product demand. We will ensure full communication and transparency throughout the duration of the project. We Will also engage with all the stakeholders to allow for any questions, problems, and solutions to help the smooth implementation of the proposed inventory management system. Let us know a suitable time frame for a decision to appropriate our strategy and team accordingly.
References
Chiles, C. R., & Dau, M. T. (2019). An analysis of current supply chain best practices in the retail industry with Wal-Mart and Amazon’s case studies.com (Doctoral dissertation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology). Retrieved from https://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/33314
Crick, J. M., & Crick, D. (2020). Coopetition and COVID-19: Collaborative business-to-business marketing strategies in a pandemic crisis. Industrial Marketing Management, 88, 206-213. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0019850120303758
Drakeley, P. (2020, June 24). Coronavirus series – Inventory management challenges & solutions. EazyStock. https://www.eazystock.com/blog/coronavirus-series-inventory-management-challenges-solutions/#Save_Time_by_Automating_Inventory_Management_Calculations
Galea-Pace, S. (2021, January). Why is inventory management in the supply chain critical?
Glynn, F. (2020, August). Five tips to improve supply chain efficiency.
https://6river.com/how-to-increase-supply-chain-efficiency/
https://tinuiti.com/blog/amazon/amazon-supply-chain/
https://www.supplychaindigital.com/supply-chain-2/why-inventory-management-supply-chain-important
https://www.systum.com/blog/automated-inventory-management-system/
Johnson, T. (2020, February). How the amazon supply chain strategy works.
Kumar, R., & Mishra, R. S. (2020). COVID-19 Global Pandemic: Impact on Management of Supply Chain. International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering, 10(4), 132-139.
Laluyaux, F. (2020, April 27). How supply chains can embrace new technologies after COVID-19. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/covid-19-crisis-shows-supply-chains-need-to-embrace-new-technologies/
Lotz, M. (2018). Waterfall vs. Agile: Which Methodology is Right for Your Project? Retrieved February 01, 2021, from https://www.seguetech.com/waterfall-vs-agile-methodology/
Photo of Inventory Management Benefits (n.d.) https://www.tuv.com/world/en/material-and-inventory-management.html
Premier. (2020, November 02). Four ways technology can enhance your supply chain. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/sponsored/2020/11/four-ways-technology-can-enhance-your-supply-chain
Sharma, A. (2019). How are the complexities of Supply-Chain managed by Project Management? Retrieved February 01, 2021, from https://project-management.com/how-are-the-complexities-of-supply-chain-managed-by-project-management/
Shih, W. (2020). Global Supply Chains in a Post-Pandemic World. Retrieved February 01, 2021, from https://hbr.org/2020/09/global-supply-chains-in-a-post-pandemic-world
System. (2019, July). How to automate inventory management system to grow your business.
Tadepalli, M. (2014). Role of Technology in Supply Chain Management. Retrieved February 01, 2021, from https://www.directivegroup.com/ideas/tools/news/blog/role-of-technology-in-supply-chain-management/
Industry Assesment : Amazon
Development: Project Managment
Expected Outcome
Implementation: Inventory Mangment Systems
