Internet Exercises

Chapter 11 – Global Supply Chain Procurement and Distribution

1. Ariba/FreeMarkets (http://www.ariba.com/), DirectFreight.com (http://www.directfreight.com), National Transportation Exchange, Manhattan Associates (http://www.manh.com), Nistevo, and TradeBeam (http://www.tradebeam.com/) are examples of e-marketplaces and Internet supply chain exchanges. Visit these sites or other similar sites and discuss what they do and how they are different from each other.

2. Logistics Today (http://logisticstoday.com/) is a practitioner-oriented magazine about supply chain management. Read one of the articles posted on this site related to some aspect of supply chain suppliers, procurement or distribution and write a brief summary.

3. Purchasing is another practitioner-oriented magazine about supply chain management that focuses on suppliers. Read one of the articles that are posted under the “Reader’s Choice” link and write a brief report on it.

4. The Journal of Supply Chain Management (http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=1523-2409)

is a research journal about supply chain management published in England. Visit their site and read one of their “Best Papers” related to procurement or distribution and briefly summarize it.

5. Visit the web site for the European Union (http://europa.eu/index_en.htm). What is the history of the EU and what is it today? How does it act as a trading group with countries outside the EU (i.e. “external trade”).

6. Visit the web site for the World Trade Organization (http://www.wto.org/). What is the WTO and how many members does it currently have? What is the history of the WTO? How do you think it effects a company’s global supply chain management?

7. Visit these web sites about vendor managed inventory (VMI) (http://www.quickmba.com/ops/vendor-managed-inventory/), (http://www.vendormanagedinventory.com/), and (http://www.vendormanagedinventory.net/), and discuss some the positive and negative features of VMI and some things that a company can do to overcome problems with VMI. Also identify some of the companies that use VMI.

8. Visit these sites on warehouse management systems (http://www.inventoryops.com/warehouse_management_systems.htm) and (http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/a/6/6a63acd1-d893-4d1b-b9ad-8063d7cd1de9/Navision_WarehouseManagement.doc),

and discuss how RFID might be used with a WMS in supply chain management.

9. Outsourcing is an important aspect of supply chain management in today's competitive environment. Visit the Outsourcing Institute and summarize the trends and concerns facing companies that elect to "buy" rather than "make."

10. A Canadian magazine, Corporate Knights, publishes a number of reports related to sustainability including the “Global 100” which lists the 100 most sustainable corporations in the world. Visit their website (http://www.corporateknights.ca/) and identify several companies from their “Global 100” list and report on how these companies efforts on sustainability. Also discuss some of the other reports the magazine publishes.