Carrefours Measurement Of Strategic Objectives Accounting Essay

Carrefours Measurement Of Strategic Objectives Accounting Essay > Now Strategic Management Accounting or say SME has been distinct as a form of management accounting where emphasis is placed on data which relates to attributes external to the company, in addition to non-financial and financial information and internally produced information. According to Ken Smmonds, this is the collection of information related to management accounting which can be used for monitoring and formulating strategies. This has main emphasis on trends of cash flow, costs, revenue structure and stewardship of the property and resources accessible to the business. (Inman, 1999) We have different Strategic Management Accounting Techniques such as Key Performance Indicators, balanced score cards, value chain analysis etc. (Carrefour, Key indicators, 2010) Carrefour Introduction: Over the last 40 years, the company has grown to turn into one of the globes leading distribution company. The globes second-largest retailing company and is also largest in Europe. Carregour group at present operates four main types of store formats: Supermarkets, hard discount, hypermarkets and convenience stores. The Company currently has more than 15,500 stores which are either franchises or company operated. In UAE, Carrefour has large presence and has the business similar to its international business domain described above. Business Strategy: Carrefour is a retail endeavor, having its own manufacturing and distribution chain in Middle East which is innovated by EMKE Group. The business strategy of the company is to provide things of daily necessity to common people at reasonable price and earn profit for increased market share. The profit is supposed to be magnifies and retailing units as a result of low buying price in bulk purchase of material. The company has its own manufacturing unit for number of products to reduce the purchasing cost. (Author, Our group, 2010) Mission Objectives: The ultimate goal of the company is to have highest profit in hypermarket and other business segment. The company wants to manage its supply chain efficiently by implementing ERP. Other objectives include increased sales, ERP implementation, cost reduction and TQM implementation. (Author, Key indicators, 2010) Type of Manufacturing: The company has its own manufacturing stream and distribution stream, providing a good choice to carry out this research. The company did not manufactures all of the products it sells but around 70% of the products Carrefour sells comes from its own manufacturing plants. The company has hi-tech plants which are able to produce more than one variety of products at a time. Carrefours measurement of Strategic objectives: The company to achieve its strategic objectives uses the balanced scorecard (BSC) method to check its current level of performance and to bridge between present and desired level of performance. Balanced scorecard is a tactical performance management instrument a semi-level structured account supported by confirmed plan methods and computerization apparatus that can be utilized by managers to maintain track of the implementation of activities by personnel within their monitor and control the cost arising from these actions. It is possibly the best known of numerous such frameworks (for instance, it is mainly accepted performance management agenda reported). The company implemented the balance scorecard model given in the figure below. Plan of a Balanced Scorecard eventually is about the recognition of a little number of non-financial financial measures and adding targets to these items, so that at time when they are evaluate it is probable to establish whether present performance meets prospect. The idea in the rear of this is that by alerting executives to regions where performance diverges from prospect, they can be buoyant to focus their concentration on these areas. Areas where Strategic Management accounting is useful: Increasing the performance of the employees and the company: Performance measures are primarily used to evaluate organizational, as well as employee performance. A PMS develops key performance indicators (KPIs), or metrics, depending on the nature and activities of the organization. KPIs are used as strategy and incentives to assist the coordination of business unit and managers objectives, with those of the general corporation objectives, that is, they support goal congruency. By these metrics, the firm communicates how it desires the workers to act, and how these activities will be evaluated and judged. Carrefour uses the framework below: The key performance indicators of the company include: Number of registered own brands. Number of quality line product % of product supplied by the suppliers. Energy consumption Water consumption Recycling Sales Profit Customer base The company uses these indicators for the overall performance improvement and for performance of the employees, the indicators are: Feedback from colleagues Work hours Quality of service (Gregory, 1995) Supply chain: The supply chain in the company is evaluated on the basis of Value chain. The value chain is a methodical way to examining the growth of competitive benefit. It was invented by M. E. Porter in his book named Competitive Advantage (published in 1980). The chain comprises of a series of actions that build and create value. Value Chain Analysis generally describes the actions that take place in commerce and narrates them to a study of the competitive potency of the company. Value Chain Analysis is single way of recognizing which activities are finest undertaken by a company and which are finest provided by another business. According to that, the finest category of Carrefours supply chain is Information Networks. Here as the task is distributed to individual units (like transportation, distribution etc) and innovation can be diffused at any stage. Talking about supply chain, the Carrefour is currently using allocating gaming policy to hand out the products. Under this strategy, when the supply is low, the suppliers place fewer products on allocation. This signify that that supplier will not provide the order of the downstream fully but will decrease the volume to be supplied downstream in order to make certain that all the downstream nodes get at least some part of demand. In this way, Value chain analysis helps Carrefour to make a best in industry supply chain. (Gregory, 1995) Areas where Strategic Management accounting is not successful Inventory The company tried in past to use SMA for inventory management but the results were not fruitful. The key failure was because of short term nature of inventory management which is not been provided by strategic management accounting. Thus to ensure emergency and constant supply of stocks, the company also maintains warehouses at its allocation centers. The company currently utilizes build to stack approach in its inventory management policy. Replacement of SMA in inventory To ensure a centralized approach in inventory, Carrefour hypermarket has EPR implemented but is not federal yet. The ERP needs to be implemented in complete set of outlets and warehouses of the company. The responsibility to ensure inventory lies in hands of warehouse manager who has to ensure a particular fixed quantity of stock at anytime of the year. The information needed in ERP is to be supplied by various managers at distribution centers, manufacturing units etc. Master plan scheduling: Again because of short term nature of scheduling, Carrefour is not able to schedule its activities with the help of Strategic Management Accounting. Scheduling is thus done by correct coordination between varieties of departments. As mentioned previously, the company maintains around 7 days inventory in its warehouses to provide flexibility next to the always changing demand of people. If the material in the warehouses is lesser than that of 6 days, a buying order form manufacturing plant is placed. In the same way, if the inventory in the outlets is lesser than that of 3 business days capacity, again inventory is enthused for warehouse to the outlets. (Gregory, 1995) Strategic Managemetn Accounting in Various Departments Operations The company did not have a probable forecasting model for maintaining the inventory. It needs a better method for this purpose. The present method for supply planning goes with the need of the customers. Production is governed by the customer needs and Bullwhip effect (covered later in the report). In order to support the production in accordance with customer needs, the company utilizes Kano model as a strategic management accounting tool. A short explanation is given below. Kano model shown at this point is the most fundamental conceptualization of client requirement. The red line shows innovation while the blue shows expected and spoken requirement and green line signifies expected and unspoken requirements. Kano model relies on a supposition that a clients buys when he or she Need something, however is it not totally right, an organization must flood the client needs. This can be implicit as a Voice of the customer concept. Value chain analysis: At every step, proper documentation is done and coordination is maintained which is a part of value chain analysis to ensure that overall supply chain works properly. Finance A balance score card method is used here. The key ingredients of the balance score card method are as follows: Cost Control Senior leadership manages operating expenses and costs through cyclic budgets/ plan. A budget/ plan is a essential management accounting instrument because it assists top management and subdivision heads set spending thresholds and limits. correct financial reporting SCA or Strategic cost accounting assists top management report complete and accurate accounting data summaries. Sufficient cost accounting schemes ease monetary reporting work as corporate controllers can rapidly relocate cost accounting figures into financial accounting instruments like ledgers. Variance analysis Variance study is a necessary profit management instrument. Variances, often called contingency, are differences among actual costs and budget amounts. A positive discrepancy indicates that budget total exceed real costs. Higher management pays concentration to negative discrepancy because these indicate insufficient cost control operations in operating activities. Marketing In marketing department, SMA is generally used to forecast the demand. In marketing department, Carrefour is currently employing allocating gaming policy (as mentioned previously too) to distribute its products. In this strategy, in case when the supply goes down, the suppliers place fewer products on allocation. This signify that the supplier will not provide the order of the downstream fully but will decrease the volume to be supplied downstream in order to make certain that all the downstream nodes get at least some part of demand. For example if 1,00,000 Carrefour products are meant for distributed to 4 equally vital downstream nodes band there is difficulty in reliable supply, then the company will supply only 12,500 products to the downstream nodes, irrespective of its capacity and even when it can provide more to assure that each node get a little and stock is not unfilled. It is also find that is the irregularity in demand is too often, some costumers (downstream nodes of supply chain) order more than the actual need to compensate future disorder in supplies. In this way, the company manages its product strategically. Transportation: The company preserves an effectual transportation system from manufacturing unit to distribution centers and then additional from distribution centers to retail outlets. Currently hired motor vehicles are used to diminish the cost of purchasing of vehicles. Demerits of Strategic Management Accounting There are some of the disadvantages of Strategic Management Accounting Techniques also. Some of them are: Lack of Standardization Monetary accountants follow accounting measures and principles sketched by generally established accounting principles like US GAAP. Management accountants, counting strategic executives, do not have a mix of procedures policies to follow. Focus on Quantitative Information Data based or Quantitative information is information calculated in hard statistics, such as dollars and ponds. A strategic accountant centers a lot of concentration on quantitative data. Information studies by these accountants are very cogent. The difficulty with this is that concentrating only at lucid information, other relevant information is unnoticed. Biasness: Strategic accountants generate methods for calculating performance and are prearranged a lot of space for subjectivity and unfairness. This causes a disadvantage to companies because strategic accountants attach their own individual feelings and beliefs into making decisions. Strategic management process engages the complete range of verdicts. Usually, strategic issues have about 6 identifiable scopes: Strategic issues engage the allocation of large quantity of company resources Strategic matter require highest level-management decisions Strategic issues are probable to have noteworthy impact on the strategic-term success of the company Strategic issues typically have chief multi business or multifunctional penalty Strategic issues are often future oriented Strategic issues require considering aspects in the firms outside environment. Usefulness of Strategic management in the company Meeting the downstream demand by the organization is extremely necessary and most of the organizations (and thus Carrefour) thus lay great weight over their production unit and taking it to best level to attain marked productivity standards. It is involved in strategic guidelines of the company to attain or exceed the requirement in the market. In order to absolute this requirement, business should be spotless in its production and its inventory management. This also need suitable administration of its volume, productivity and cost resources, so as to achieve suitable quality standards. (Inman, 1999) Relation between demand and Supply side The demand of the products to be sold is directly dependent on the supply side (for fulfillment). There is a linear relation existing between demand and supply side with negative slope. When the demand increases, the manufacturing side capacity or say the supply decreases and opposite in vice versa case. One area in which Carrefour is missing is the supply of consumer demand to its customer with appropriate timing. It is the dimension in which system is meeting its prevalent failure. This is highly exaggerated from elasticity that the system possess, and to have correctly timed outcome, Carrefour should have highly appropriate structuring that would be clever to be adequate to all the needs of the customers associated form the company. As a conclusive reason for the failure, we can say that there is lack of co-ordination and management within all the sections operating in the system. Production: Production in governed by the Kano model in order to meet the requirement of the customers. The company manages a number of plants for producing the variety offered by the company. Capacity management: As mentioned earlier too, to guarantee emergency and constant supply of stacks, the company preserves warehouses at all its distribution centers. The stock maintained in the warehouses depends on the forecasting model of the retailing company. The company depends on two sets of customer (temporary and permanent), the stock necessary for permanent clients is still conventional but that for the temporary set of clientele is not. Thus Carrefour invests blissfully on warehousing extra stocks as it is required to maintain extra quantity to answer the surprises expected form temporary customers. Why it is crucial? In a retailing industry like Lulu, a major cost is warehousing or organizing the inventory as mentioned above. If the company fails to understand the actual need of the marketplace in advance, it can counter two kinds of problems: one is the likely unavailability of supply at the stores which affects the quality of the offered service by the company and secondly if Lulu tries to preserves larger amount of stocks, it has to disburse in terms of charge of warehousing. Both the situations are undesirable by the company. (Gregory, 1995) Comments on Role of SMA in achieving Mission and objectives of the company: As we saw that the company wants to become the number one retail market company in the world, the activates like Key performance indicators to maintain the performance of employees and the company, Balance scorecard for financial management and related models like Kano model etc helped company to perform its operations in better and cost effective manner. Thus we can say that SMA is helping the company in achieving Mission and objectives

Supply Chains

Question #2-Define the supply chains for the following products from the first source of raw materials to the first customer. A) Big Mac, B) Gasoline, C) Automobile repair, D) A Text book. Supply chain, its management, performance measures and improvement approaches. As an extension of the systems point of view, the system dynamics inherent in the supply chain are illustrated and the coordination in the supply chain is emphasized. Five areas where measurement of supply chain performance should be made are discussed. The five areas are on-time delivery, quality, time (business cycle) total delivered cost and flexibility.The first step in devising an effective supply chain is to consider the nature of demand for the product. For this many aspects are important: Product life cycle, demand predictability, product variety etc. But any product can be broadly classified into as either a Functional Product or an Innovative Product based on their demand patterns. Root cause for ineffectivenes s of any supply chain is the mismatch between the type of product and the type of supply chain. Functional Products are generally staples or those generally bought from the grocery stores or retail outlets.They have stable demands are price variations do not affect the demand drastically. Such products have long life cycles but they invite competition and usually have low profit margins. The supply chain performs two different types of functions: 1) A physical function and 2) A market mediation function. The physical function deals with production for goods, movement of raw materials etc; while the market mediation function ensures that the variety of products reaching the marketplace match those that the consumers want to buy.Each of these functions incurs different costs. The physical costs include costs of production, inventory shortage and transportation while the market mediation costs arise when there is a mismatch between demand and supply. If supply > demand, the product has to be sold at a loss otherwise it results in loss of opportunities and dissatisfied customers. Supply chain management is planning, design and control of the flow of information and materials along the supply chain in order to meet customer requirements in an efficient manner, now and in the future.Demand management is managing the demand for goods or services along the supply chain. Therefore, demand management is complementary to supply chain management and controls the levels of demand on the system. Big-Mac – (1) Suppliers of beef, vegetables, bread (2) Factories and distribution centers, (3) The franchises that sell Big Mac, (4) The customers. Raw materials- The raw materials are the ingredients that will go into producing the finished product. For McDonald’s, these will include the buns, beef patties, paper cups, salad ingredients and packaging.These are delivered to the restaurants between 3 and 5 times a week. The raw materials arrive together on one heavy tru ck with three sections so that each product can be stored at a suitable temperature. The three sections are: frozen†¢ chilled†¢ ambient – which means foods that can be stored at room temperature. This applies to items such as coffee or sugar sachets. Work-in-progress (WIP) refers to stocks that are in the process of being made into finished product. A Big Mac consists of a bun, two beef patties, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, sauce and a small amount of seasoning.The restaurant will only combine these items just before the customer orders them so the Big Macs are hot and fresh when served. Finished products are goods that are ready for immediate sale to a customer. At any one time, a restaurant will have a range of products ready for sale. Many of these will include finished products like Filet-o-Fish, Big Macs and side salads. At McDonald’s, all raw materials, work-in-progress and finished products are handled on first In, First out (FIFO) basis. This mea ns raw materials are used in the order they are received. Therefore stock is always fresh because products are sold in the order they are made.If the process First In, Last out (FILO) was used, then the finished product would be dry and unappealing because the first one prepared is the last one sold temperature. Benefits to customers and restaurants – The centralized stock management system generates many benefits. Many of these are for restaurants and Restaurant Managers. However, customers also benefit through improved customer experience – customers can eat a quality product, in a clean environment, when they want it. Benefits include: 1. Restaurants avoid running out of stock. As a result, customers can always receive what they order. 2.The system eliminates inexperience in the ordering. The system enables a new Restaurant Manager to ensure the order is right first time. 3. Time saved in ordering as the system calculates how much is required. 4. Orders are based on the current stocks. The Restaurant Manager simply inputs the current stock level. 5. Less waste means food costs are reduced. This cost saving is then passed on in better value for money for customers. 6. The amount of stock ordered for promotions is more accurate, being based on past performance. 7. There is a reduction in the need for emergency deliveries, saving money. . Stock levels are always at Optimum level, helping to ensure sales and the freshest product. 9. Stock can be reduced automatically at the end of a promotion, avoiding too much stock. Gasoline – Different stages in petroleum supply chain: Exploration > Production > Refining > marketing > Consumer. Exploration: Seismic, geophysical and geological operations. Production: Drilling, reservoir, production and facilities engineering. Refining: is a complex operation and its output is the input to marketing. Marketing: is the retail sale of gasoline, engine oil and other refined products.Oil drilling-Before petrol eum can be used, it is sent to a refinery where it is physically, thermally and chemically separated into fractions and then converted into finished products. About 90% of these products are fuels such as gasoline, aviation fuels, distillate and residual oil, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), coke (not the refreshment) and kerosene. Refineries also produce non-fuel products, including petrochemicals, asphalt, road oil, lubricants, solvents and wax. Petrochemicals (ethylene, propylene, benzene and others) are shipped to chemical plants, where they are used to manufacture chemicals and plastics.There are two major sectors within the oil industry, upstream and downstream. For the purposes of this tutorial we will focus on upstream, which is the process of extracting the oil and refining it. Downstream is the commercial side of the business, such as gas stations or the delivery of oil for heat. Oil Drilling and Services- Oil drilling and services are broken into two major areas: drilling a nd oilfield services. Drilling – Drilling companies physically drill and pump oil out of the ground. The drilling industry has always been classified as highly skilled.The people with the skills and expertise to operate drilling equipment are in high demand, which means that for oil company to have these people on staff all the time can cost a lot. For this reason, most drilling companies are simply contractors who are hired by oil and gas producers for a specified period of time. In the drilling industry, there are several different types of rigs, each with a specialized purpose. Some of these include: Land Rigs – Drilling depths ranges from 5,000 to 30,000 feet. Submersible Rigs – Used for ocean, lake and swamp drilling.The bottom parts of these Rigs are: submerged to the sea's floor and the platform are on top of the water. Jack-ups – this type of rig has three legs and a triangular platform which is jacked-up above the highest anticipated waves. Drill Ships – These look like tankers/ships, but they travel the oceans in search of oil in extremely deep water. Oilfield Services – Oilfield service companies assist the drilling companies in setting up oil and gas wells. In general these companies manufacture, repair and maintain equipment used in oil extraction and transport.More specifically, these services can include: Seismic Testing – This involves mapping the geological structure beneath the surface. Transport Services – Both land and water rigs need to be moved around at some point in time. Oil Refining – The refining business is not quite as fragmented as the drilling and services industry. This sector is dominated by a small handful of large players. In fact, much of the energy industry is ruled by large, integrated oil companies. Integrated refers to the fact that many of these companies look after all factors of production, refining and marketing.For the most part, refining is a slow and s table business. The large amounts of capital investment means that very few companies can afford to enter this business. This handbook will try to focus more on oil equipment and services such as drilling and support services. Oil and gas: Unique supply chain – In the oil and gas supply chain, process control has historically included safety solutions, such as fire detectors and high-integrity pressure protection systems, but not physical security, such as intrusion detection, access control, and video surveillance.Nor have these facilities employed considered abnormal situation management or cyber security. All of these elements of safety and security are important; each has unique business and technical challenges. Generally, there are no industry standards or norms for an integrated safety and security solution applied within the oil and gas supply chain. For example, there is no standard for interfacing access control or perimeter intrusion alarms with process control sys tems. Additionally, the systems in many facilities come from separate vendors and different business dynamics often apply.Security technology now applied in industrial sites, for example, originates from commercial building security technology, which may not be suitable for an industrial facility or geographically distributed pipeline. There are also unique internal conditions that present challenges. These conditions include lower staff ratios, unmanned installations, widely dispersed assets, significant use of unsecured public telecommunications infrastructure, exposable products, and low technology maturity. Distribution Planning: Generating operational plans for distribution.These modules are supported by various enablers that facilitate planning activity that include: (1) Supply Chain Database (SCD), (2) Geographical Information System (GIS), (3) Data Interfaces The production and the Supply and Distribution (S&D) structure forms the basis on which the optimized plan for the en tire organization is generated. This corporate plan is communicated to distribution modules and the production planning modules to generate operational plans . The optimized plan for the entire corporation is also used as a basis for feedstock selection runs.GIS can be used to obtain the distances between locations, which are used as a basis for freight calculation. Raw Material Supplies: Process industry has limited choice of suppliers for raw material supplies in petroleum industry are dominated by cartels. It is a sellers market where supply of raw material prices is highly unstable and fluctuating on weekly or even daily basis. Fluctuating prices directly affect the supply chain costs and prices of final product. Automobile repair- suppliers of automobile repair tools and parts: warehouses for the parts, repair shops, customers’ cars.Raw Materials – Glass, steel, rubber, plastic, copper, lithium, silicon, aluminum. Some of the raw materials used for cars are: alumi num, steel (body parts), titanium (some exhaust systems) and platinum (inside catalytic converters). It's always best for the translation services provider to be embedded into the manufacturing supply chain in order to be able to apply understand it from inside and accurately interpret the important aspects of the lucrative international auto parts industry and its successful marketing.Hire professional translators that have knowledge across diverse technical fields. These fields include, but are not limited to: mechanical & electrical engineering, automation technology, electronics and microelectronics, navigation systems, board computers, wiring, air conditioning, paneling, service and diagnostics. This would ensure that all the technical terms used in the translation are in accordance to the standards familiar to the local market assembly workers, mechanics, engineers, suppliers and end-customers.Auto parts are built or remanufactured to replace damaged or worn OE parts, while th e accessories are parts sold after the original sale of a vehicle intended to add to the comfort, convenience, performance, safety or customization of that vehicle. The Auto parts are shipped using both truck transports and railroads to move vehicles to dealerships, although air freight may be used if critical parts are needed as soon as possible in order to keep an assembly line moving. Offshore exports and imports are handled by ship.In addition to OE and OES parts, shipments also may include auto parts destined for the various national and regional parts distribution networks serving the aftermarket segments of the world. OES parts, like automobile sales, have traditionally been handled through the franchised independent dealership networks in the major markets of the world. In the United States, the National Automobile Dealers Association some franchised for car and truck dealers also separate franchises, both domestic and international.The independent aftermarket distribution n etworks are much more complex. There are approximately 45,000 companies engaged in the wholesale and retail auto parts. The aftermarket has traditionally consisted of wholesalers who purchase parts and components from the manufacturers; jobbers, intermediaries between wholesale distributors and retail operation; and the retail outlets. They supply for the following areas with an emphasis on hand tools: -Engine repair – high quality engine repair, maintenance and tuning supplies. Auto body tools – tooling and accessories to get cars into shape. -Air conditioning – testing and maintaining a/c systems. -Electrical diagnostic tools – testers and diagnostic equipment for car electric systems and components. -Under-car – adjustment products to steering, brakes, clutch, etc. other Text book – Suppliers of pulp, paper manufacturer, publisher, printing press, bookstores, and customers. A book can be broadly defined as a written document of at least 4 9 text pages that communicates thoughts, ideas, or information.Raw Materials-Books are made from a variety of different coated and uncoated paper stocks that differ in weight and size. In addition, different color inks may be used. Also, while front and back covers are generally made from a heavier stock of paper, they will vary in terms of weight. Pulp logs, wood chips, pulp, and recovered paper are the raw materials used to make these paper products. Pulp logs are wood destined to be made into pulp. To make paper, trees are harvested, debarked, and chipped.For example, hardback books have a durable cardboard stock cover while paperback books are made from a thinner paper stock. Usually, cover stocks are coated with different colors or designs. Since the nineteenth century, book production has entailed the use of sophisticated machinery, including typesetting machines, a web or sheet-fed printing press, and book binding machines. Design-The process of designing a book is ongoing th roughout the stages of production.Initially, the author, in conjunction with an editor and book agent, will consider elements of design that pertain to the scope and purpose of the book, the desired approach to the subject matter, whether illustrations should be used, and other issues such as chapter headings and their placement. In determining those elements, the intended audience for the manuscript will be considered, along with accepted editorial standards. Other design considerations include whether a book should have a preface, a foreword, a glossary to define specific terms, an index to reference key words and concepts, and an appendix of supplementary material.Once the book manuscript is written, editors and authors must refine the manuscript to attain a final edited version prior to production: page size and style ,typeface size and style ,the type and weight of paper for the text and cover ,use of color ,presentation of visuals/illustrations in the text, if needed ,cover ar t/illustrations. The Manufacturing Process -After the book is written and appropriate design elements are agreed upon, book production can begin. The first stage typesetting, pages and mechanical, filming, stripping, blueprints, plate is making and them printing Binding.To help ensure that a quality product is produced; print shops conduct a number of periodic checks. In addition to checking blueprints for accuracy, printers will pull a press proof, or sample, before the print run is begun. If certain areas of the proof are too light or too dark, adjustments to the press may be required. After the book signatures are sewn together, the print shop will spot-check them to make sure they have been folded and sewn correctly. They will also check to see if the book covers are properly bound to prevent the books from deteriorating with use.Because desktop publishing is relatively new, changes and enhancements continue to make the systems more user-friendly. As more people gain access to s uch systems, book publication and publishing in general will see more widespread use of desktop publishing in the future. 16-Explain what is meant by cross-docking, and describe the associated benefits Cross docking is a distribution system where items received at the warehouse are not received into stock, but are prepared for shipment to another location or for retail stores. Cross docking can realize a cost reduction by skipping put away and retrieval steps.Benefits-Many companies have benefitted from using cross docking. Some of the benefits include: -Reduction in labor costs, as the products no longer requires picking and put away in the warehouse. -Reduction in the time from production to the customer, which helps improve customer satisfaction. -Reduction in the need for warehouse space, as there is no requirement to storage the products. Types of Cross Docking -There are a number of cross docking scenarios that are available to the warehouse management. Companies will use the type of cross docking that is applicable to the type of products that they are shipping. Manufacturing Cross Docking – This procedure involves the receiving of purchased and inbound products that are required by manufacturing.The warehouse may receive the products and prepare sub-assemblies for the production orders. -Distributor Cross Docking – This process consolidates inbound products from different vendors into a mixed product pallet, which is delivered to the customer when the final item is received. For example, computer parts distributors can source their components from various vendors and combine them into one shipment for the customer. Transportation Cross Docking – This operation combines shipments from a number of different carriers in the less-than-truckload (LTL) and small package industries to gain economies of scale. -Retail Cross Docking – This process involves the receipt of products from multiple vendors and sorting onto outbound trucks for a number of retail stores. This method was used by Wal-Mart in the 1980's. They would procure two types of products, items they sell each day of the year, called staple stock, and large quantities products which is purchased once and sold by the stores and not usually stocked again.This second type of procurement is called direct freight and Wal-Mart minimize any warehouse costs with direct freight by using cross docking and keeping it in the warehouse for as little time as possible. -Opportunistic Cross Docking – This can be used in any warehouse, transferring a product directly from the goods receiving dock to the outbound shipping dock to meet a known demand, i. e. a customer sales order. Products Suitable for Cross Docking There are materials that are better suited to cross docking than others.The list below shows a number of types of material that are more suited to cross docking. -Perishable items that require immediate shipment -High quality items that do not requ ire quality inspections during goods receipt -Products that are pre-tagged (bar coded, RFID), pre-ticketed, and ready for sale at the customer -Promotional items and items that are being launched. -Staple retail products with a constant demand or low demand variance -Pre-picked, pre-packaged customer orders from another production plant or warehouse

Trends in Communication Technology

TechnoloCharlotte Cole XCOM 285 November 23, 2012 Technology Trendy Communication Technology changes constantly and it may be difficult for businesses to always be able to keep up with the new technological trends that arise. Many companies do what they are able to and try to use technology as much as they can to promote their business and communicate with their current and potential customers.In today’s technological world we have the internet, cellphones, and social media to communicate with customers in addition to the old fashion way of commercial and other ads. Many businesses use Facebook and Twitter to promote their business because they are and the only cost involved (if you do not work on these accounts yourself) would be the manpower to keep these pages up-to-date. Cell phones are another way to communicate with customers but sending out mass text messages and coupons that can be used; I am not sure what cost is involved with this method.I do see many businesses use social media and other forms, but the larger companies seem to take advantage of technology the most. Keeping up-to-date websites is extremely important, but again this can be costly due to hiring someone to keep the site up and time consuming. My company is having a problem with this, which I feel affects our business because I daily have to contact customers with corrections on designs and colors of our products.I see there is a cost in using some of the different methods, such as running a banner on specific websites, having your own website or having your business website appears on Google, so this may limit many smaller businesses from using technology as much as they would like to. I do think that businesses use technology as much as they can and try to constantly look into new ways to promote.

Philosophy in Mathematics Essay - 3045 Words

Philosophy in Mathematics Mathematics has contributed to the alteration of technology over many years. The most noticeable mathematical technology is the evolution of the abacus to the many variations of the calculator. Some people argue that the changes in technology have been for the better while others argue they have been for the worse. While this paper does not address specifically technology, this paper rather addresses influential persons in philosophy to the field of mathematics. In order to understand the impact of mathematics, this paper will delve into the three philosophers of the past who have contributed to this academic. In this paper, I will cover the views of three philosophers of mathematics encompassing their†¦show more content†¦At this time it was customary for men of his stature to choose from church or army, which he would serve. Choosing the latter position, Descartes joined the army in 1617. In an event of chance, Descartes stumbled upon Isaac Beeckman, head of the Dutch College at Dort, who would translate a sign off the streets. This sign was in actuality a challenge to anyone to solve a geometrical problem (Wilkins, D.). Within a few hours, with help from Descartes’ respect and appreciation of mathematics, he found a solution and a friendship was formed between Beeckman and Descartes. This unexpected turn of events fueled Descartes’ contempt of his life in the army; but due to family influence and tradition, he remained a soldier until 1621 (Wilkins, D.). Descartes was 25 years old. The next couple of years found him relocated all around Europe until he settles in Paris in 1626. In the five years from when he left the army until his alighting in Paris, Descartes had devoted his life to the study of pure mathematics. There, in Paris, Descartes would live for two years until Cardinal de Berulle, founder of the Oratorians, urged on Descartes the duty of â€Å"devoting his life to the examination of truth.† (Wilkins, D.). Now 1628, Descartes moved again, this time to Holland, to secure himself from interruption. He would spend the next twenty years in Holland, focusing on philosophy and mathematics. His time in HollandShow MoreRelatedPhilosophy And Philosophy Of Mathematics1050 Words   |  5 PagesPhilosophy of Mathematics A philosophy of mathematics should be included in an excellent philosophy of education. A philosophy of mathematics should include your thoughts and ideas about what mathematics education is, what impact it has on society, the qualities that make a good teacher, a teacher’s role, research on the standards and instructional strategies, and ways to ensure student are able to learn mathematic concepts in your classroom. 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