Using Supply Chains to Create Value for Customers

Read this chapter. Think about the processes and key components involved such as costs, outsourcing, social responsibility, environment, planning, and inventory control. Watch the video clips for Who Ya Gonna Call and Amazon Fullfillment. Answer the review questions at the end of each section.

Track and Trace Systems and Reverse Logistics

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

  1. Understand why being able to trace products is important to organizations and their customers.
  2. Explain what reverse logistics is and why firms utilize it.

As we have explained, shippers are highly anxious when their products are in transit because the merchandise is valuable and because it is exposed to more risks when it's traveling across the country than when it's sitting in a warehouse or store. Shippers want to know where the goods are, when they will arrive, and what kind of shape they are in. After all, they can end up in the wrong place, be damaged, or stolen. (Do you remember the 2008 incident in which when Somali pirates captured the Maersk Alabama and held its captain hostage? The cargo ship was carrying seventeen thousand metric tons of freight at the time). The result can be unhappy customers and lost sales and profits.