Zeta Spin is a Family Run Business Operating in the Stuttgart Region: Supply Chain Management Assignment, NUS, Singapore

Zeta Spin – Social media explosion

Zeta Spin is a family run business operating in the Stuttgart region for over ten years, developing electronic educational learning tools for junior children. The business is small-scale using local manufacturing companies and typically products been assembled in an ad-hoc manner to meet demand. The company has been selling its product mainly in Germany, via direct sales and trade shows. Family members have hand-delivered the products to customers, as past experience of logistics companies has caused products to be lost, damaged, and late.

A new product for helping children learning at home has caused a considerable amount of interest from schools and parents around the world. Even though the product is in the early concept phase, it was demonstrated on a YouTube channel by a German social media star. The company has received a high volume of sales requests from around the world and several multinational companies are willing to invest in the product to sell it globally.

The company board members are overwhelmed with the potential and opportunities for the product and the potential growth of the company. The history of the company is of micro-manufacturing and poor experience of logistics and supply chain management, so they have decided to bring on a supply chain consultant to define a strategy to launch this product globally.

To this end, they have provided the following description of the project:

Zeta Spin has the potential to move our family-based brand into a new global footprint, the core knowledge and experience of the company is designing and developing electronic learning tools. To move our product forward we need to fully consider and understand all the potential options i.e. manufacture, logistics, and distribution of our products globally. As a company, we maintain the highest standards of quality and customer satisfaction, and this remains core to our brand.

A supply chain strategy must be defined that clearly states how Zeta Spin as a company must be organized to support the global opportunities for its new products. The board is keen to understand any potential organizational structure and departments, moving from micro-manufacturing to being a global supplier.

Our products will be based on the use of recycled plastics and components (where possible) and Zeta Spin drive to use a complete net-zero supply chain. The net-zero may not be possible in the short term, but a net-zero supply chain strategy must be provided as a long term goal.

Zeta Spin’s company policy is all products carry a three-year full warranty, which means the customers can return the product any time for a replacement or refund if faulty. Currently, as the company operates mainly within Germany, the board would like to understand how they can achieve this on a global scale.

Due to the global surge in demand for our product, we are starting an on-line sales channel via our company website and are in negotiation with resellers in England, Spain, North America, Canada, and Australia. Our sales team prediction is high demand in North America and Australia, with potential volumes at or above 100k products per year for each region.

Manufacturing of the product is under investigation and Zeta Spin CTO is currently reviewing the following options:

• Germany
• China
• South Korea
• India

The CEO would like to understand the supply chain implications of manufacturing in one part of the globe and shipping to different countries to support the end customers. Can the company provide one strategy for all potential markets or should they look at multiple manufacturing locations?

The board is keen to understand the advantages and disadvantages of out-sourcing the complete supply chain and how this could benefit the overall strategy for the company. As the company expands its global sales, will out-sourcing help or cause more problems for manufacturing, resellers, and end customers?

With the introduction of online sales via the company web site and potential resellers in different countries, the board would like to understand how they can manage and control the overall manufacturing and supply chain logistics. The product is highly complex and involves multiple components from various suppliers, each with different lead time and volumes (see appendix A)

External investors have enquired to establish a finical stake in the company and help to raise capital to support the expansion of this new product line. Feedback from external audit review is the Zeta Spin does not use any modem technology to support any linkage from sales to manufacturing. This is seen as a very high risk by any external investor and the board would like to investigate current and future technology products to aid information share across its complete supply chain.

The report will be presented to the board and it must clearly state a framework to establish a suitable supply chain strategy including the above content.

Using the case study you will develop a written consultancy report that provides an analysis of the issue that organization faces, to establish a global supply chain strategy for an e-learning company based in Germany.

Your individual coursework will be marked as follows:

Scenario Analysis-

1. Describe the current situation with the given case study, what is their current capabilities within supply chain management, and details the opportunities for the future growth of the company.
2. Supply chain strategies – Define how the case study could establish a global supply chain, making reference to a supply chain theory such as Porters, SCOR, and the impact on the company structure. The strategies must include references to the advantages and disadvantages to supply chain outsourcing, risk management, competitors analysis, the impact of future technologies in sharing information throughout the supply chain. With the different split of potential markets and manufacturing locations, please find provide different strategies that could affect the supply of parts from manufacturing to the end customer.
3. Conclusion and recommendations – Provide a clear set of recommendations defining your ideas on how to establish a supply chain, based on your academic research.
4. Academic Rigour – Your assignment should clearly include the academic insight, i.e. the concepts and the supporting references involved, indicated in the report and listed in the references and bibliography.