Creative Technology Ltd Company: Management In Supply Chain Management (Essay Sample)

Principle of Logistics Management in supply chain management
Name:
Institution Affiliation:
Instructor:
REPORT
PRINCIPLE OF LOGISTICS MANAGEMENT IN SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
CREATIVE TECHNOLOGY LTD
SINGAPORE
Executive summary
The report talks about the Creative Technology Ltd Company which manufactures electronics. It is primarily based on the logistics management where critical functions, the order cycle, and inventory management have been explained. The company systems have been highlighted giving their advantages and recommendations. At the end of the report, several photos and diagrams have been provided.
Table of Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Introduction PAGEREF _Toc474492469 \h 4Interface PAGEREF _Toc474492470 \h 5Production or Manufacturing PAGEREF _Toc474492471 \h 5Marketing PAGEREF _Toc474492472 \h 5The logistic process PAGEREF _Toc474492473 \h 6Accounting and finance PAGEREF _Toc474492474 \h 6Order cycle PAGEREF _Toc474492475 \h 7Current order processing system PAGEREF _Toc474492476 \h 7Effectiveness and efficiency of the EBS system. PAGEREF _Toc474492477 \h 7Recommendations PAGEREF _Toc474492478 \h 8Inventory management PAGEREF _Toc474492479 \h 9Effectiveness and efficiency of the Inventory Pro PAGEREF _Toc474492480 \h 9Recommendations PAGEREF _Toc474492481 \h 10Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc474492482 \h 11Diagrams and photos PAGEREF _Toc474492483 \h 12References PAGEREF _Toc474492484 \h 15
Introduction
Reports are forms of standard business documents which issue observed, recorded and analyzed data for the company. Boyer, et al. (2014) say that reports are essential for a firm since they assist in preparations of short, medium and long-term plans. Moreover, the management can evaluate and view the company performance in the industry. At times, reports assist directors to track records which give the facts about the business. For example, acquisition of the raw materials, production, and sales are recorded in particular financial statements. When the management goes through it, it will identify the direction of the cash flows.
This report analyzes Creative Technology Ltd, a technological company in Singapore formed in 1981. The company falls under consumer electronics industry where it assembles and manufactures computers, audio, and visual equipment as well as digital entertainment products (Nguyen, et al. 2014). Its headquarters are located at Jurong East, Singapore. The company acquires electronic components such as transistors, ICs, resistors, and capacitors as inputs. Through the assistance of engineers and IT experts, the products are assembled and manufactured having creative as the brand name. The commodities are stored in the warehouses as they await to be distributed to the customers.
To give a report about logistics management for Creative technologies, the following four steps will be considered. First of all, the production and manufacturing stage will be discussed. The subsequent step will be marketing, which involves sourcing clients from all over the market to sell the goods. Once the customers require the property, they typically place orders through an elaborate system. The logistics manager arranges for dispatch and transportation of the ordered goods. After the sale is made, the company accountants record transactions in various books of account. After a given period, such as a financial year, the finance experts hold a meeting to discuss company’s performance and formulate new strategies.
Interface
Logistics and the three core areas of production, marketing, accounting, and finance are discussed under this sub-heading.
Production or Manufacturing
The process is carried out at the workshops in Singapore and the branches of the firm. The company engineers to design and come up with the structures of the devices. Once the directors approve them, inputs are ordered. Laborers are assigned duties in the workshops when the raw materials arrive. Division of labor and specialization is necessary for quality work (Delreux, et al. 2013). Utilizing the theory of the firm, Creative Company determines the number of goods to produce and prices considering the expense of production. The marginal revenue must be more than the costs for profit to be achieved. When the manufacturing exercise is over, goods are checked, verified and moved to the warehouses for storage.
Marketing
The company advertises for its products through various media such as posters, billboards and through the internet. It has established subsidiaries in numerous countries in America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. However, the two major branches are in UAE and India (Jhunjhunwala, (2012). Each retail shop markets Creative products within the region they are. They may use agents, trade fairs, exhibitions and sales people to create awareness of the products to the public. Such activities are done where competition is high for instance, Tokyo and Korea where the Sony and Samsung Corporations are dominating (Jin, 2011). The wholesale customers and other electronic sellers approach the creative agents for orders. The retail and individual clients can acquire the goods at the stalls or from the wholesale buyers.
The logistic process
In each zone, for example, USA, Creative Company has formed a workshop and a warehouse which serves a broad market in the USA. Once the wholesale buyers want to purchase inventory, the goods must come from the stores. Therefore, orders have to be placed to enable the storage manager to determine the amounts to dispatch. Products are put in transit and transported to respective destinations. The supply chain management process will be done. Single buyers and retailers acquire them through the wholesalers.
Accounting and finance
In 2012, Creative Technologies had employed over 800 personnel to run the company products in the subsidiaries (Lecomte, et al. 2013). Such people included the managers, marketers, distributors, accounting and finance officers. The chief commerce officers are at the company’s headquarters where they collect data from each subsidiary and analyze them following the GAAPs principles and concepts. The whole data is compiled by the accountants, verified by the auditors and presented to the CEO and his team. Such data include the statements of financial position, the income statement, tax allowances and deductions as well as the declaration of cash flow (Gray, et al. 2011). For instance, in the financial year 2014/2015, Creative suffered a loss of US$ 33.4 million.
Whenever a loss occurs, the Board of Directors together with the financial analysts must have a meeting to restructure strategies they had implemented. For example, in 2014, the branch in the New York, USA, merged with Wireless Ronin Technologies (Cooper, et al. 2014). The management foresaw that their branch would not succeed in the competitive market. Therefore, it amalgamated with one of its fierce competitors and dominated the market.
Order cycle
Current order processing system
This subtopic explains how buyers enquire wholesale stock from the Creative Company and its subsidiaries. The company uses the Enterprise business software (EBS) developed by the Office Masters Company (Da Xu, (2011). When the wholesalers make orders, they first pay for the goods through the company agents. The sales managers at the subsidiaries use the computers to feed the orders into the program. The software is interconnected with the central server at Singapore, and the sales directors observe the process. The orders are processed and goods released from the warehouse upon recording. Suitable transit mode is selected to deliver the goods.
Effectiveness and efficiency of the EBS system.
Correction and Cancellation of orders
The program is made in such a way that the manager can adjust or remove orders placed by clients. At times, the wholesaler may order for the electronics, then later change mind. A little fee may be charged to withdraw the order. In such cases, the managers credit the transactions. However, if he wants to adjust the number of units requested, the fee may not apply. The system helps to suit the need of the customers.
Speed
Requesting for goods at Creative Technologies takes small time. One just needs to find the agent, make an inquiry and pay for the products. When the manager records, the data is reflected at the main offices instantly. That saves time which would have been spent by accountants to visit the branch then reconcile all data recorded.
Identity
The program is so effective in that it produces the buyer’s name tag, destination, and the barcode to prevent confusion. Chaurasia, et al. (2011) say that the barcodes assist in reducing human error and confusion, provide varied information at once for example name, price and nature of the inventory. They are also cheap (the software designs for itself) and saves time since the issuers only scan the barcodes and compare with the buyer’s receipt.
Recommendations
Bureaucracy
Creative Technology works in a non-organized manner, and probably that’s why it records losses annually. According to Max Weber’s Bureaucracy theory, the company should have a central administration which delegates powers and orders to subsidiaries (Fry, et al. 2013). However, in this case, the company seems to be decentralized. The managers record and remove transactions anyhow. I would recommend the Board to devise a unique software which records the amount goods produced, stored and released from warehouses. It should not allow removal of transactions. That will gain the company’s authority back.
Complexity
From the photo provided at the diagrams tools, the EBS program seems complicated. It may be difficult especially for a newly hired manager to use the tool appropriately. Complex programs complicate simple tasks. The management theory requires th...