scmcomm
Maria Castro 
SCMintheNewsInstructions.docxInstructions for Commenting
Please comment on at least two articles posted by your classmates. To earn full credit, you must do more than reiterate points the original author made.
1. Find an original post or a comment to a post that you find interesting and address the author by name.
2. Address the points that the original poster (or a commenter makes) and do more than simply agree with the points made. To do so, you can either a) extend the post by calling upon other sources (either assigned readings from this course or elsewhere), your personal experience, or previous posts or b) disagree with a previous post and offer compelling evidence. If you are going to disagree, you MUST do it in a civil manner AND cite sources. Opinions are fine; however, opinions NOT supported by data are just that.
3. Repeat this process once more. You must have at two substantial comments to earn full credit. Substantial comments meet the above criteria. Simply writing longer posts does NOT ensure full credit. There is no minimum word requirement, but it would be difficult (but probably not impossible) to meet the requirements in 1-2 sentences.
Answer this one please and include citation underneath the comment:
BLUF: With rising procurement issues and supply chain inadequacies, Halloween candy will be harder to come by leading up to the spooky season.
SUMMARY: With the Halloween season upon us, people across the globe have been stocking up on candy in anticipation for the big holiday. However, already scarce supplies are becoming that much more elusive as the date draws nearer. In my mind, a household item as common as candy should be easily manufactured and distributed to interested audiences. In reality, candy has been in short supply in recent history.
There are several theories that offer suggestions as to candy shortage- the global pandemic, international tensions, rising shipping costs seem to be the favored ideas. "In its report, Reuters said that Hershey CEO Michele Buck spoke of the reasons for the shortage, which include supply chain issues and the ongoing war in the Ukraine, like so many other favorite foods like hummus, Sriracha, mustard and many others" (TodayShow, 2022). Even beyond international crises, there are domestic issues impacting the production, distribution, and sale of candies. "Increased inflation that has driven up the cost of shipping isn’t helping matters, either, according to a Purdue University researcher" (Knight, 2022). Regardless, the supply of candy is in short going into arguably the busiest season for the product.
Some of the largest candy corporations were warning of this shortage as early as the summer of 2022, in an effort to give everyone fair warning. Even an update four months out did not prepare the general population for the scarcities they have experienced the past few weeks. That being said, many populations will be affected by this disparity. Anyone celebrating the upcoming holiday will find themselves struggling to find candy; those who do track it down will spend more on it. The only groups I could see benefitting from this shortage are smaller manufacturers who are unable to compete with the current output of larger corporations. "Even as Hershey cedes ground to its competitors — think more Snickers and M&Ms and fewer Kit Kat bars and Reese’s cups — smaller purveyors, if they capitalize on marketing opportunities, could see robust sales" (Knight, 2022). Despite any potential benefit, everyone will be experiencing a scary lack of candy this holiday season.
COURSE CONTENT: This article addresses the production and distribution issues associated with ongoing candy shortages following the global pandemic.
SOURCE: The article I primarily utilized for this review was written by the Tribune Star, a well-known news provider out of Indiana. I utilized additional sources from TodayShow and MSN to further support the claims made by Andy Knight. In focusing on my primary article, I found the source to be credible:
· Currency: The main article referenced in the construction of this post was written on October 14, 2022.
· Relevancy: The immediate relevance is to supply chain management, as the production and transportation is being affected, in turn impacting the consumers.
· Authoritative: The author is a veteran reporter for Tribune Star. He is well-documented within the Star's database and has other highly accredited pieces.
· Accurate: The article references public knowledge on an ongoing candy shortage. Additionally, professionals in the industry are cited through the original article. Supplementary articles further support these claims by citing some of the largest candy companies.
· Purpose: The purpose of this article is to highlight on ongoing resource shortage and the upcoming impact consumers are going to experience.
Work Cited:
Avery, D. (2022, October 26). Halloween candy and 5 other supermarket items that are more expensive or harder to find. MSN. Retrieved October 30, 2022, from https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/grocery-shortages-butter-is-harder-to-find-but-that-s-not-all/ar-AAZeZqJ
Knight, A. (2022, October 14). Halloween horror: Costlier Shipping, supply chains putting candy in shorter supply. Tribune Star. Retrieved October 30, 2022, from https://www.tribstar.com/indiana/news/halloween-horror-costlier-shipping-supply-chains-putting-candy-in-shorter-supply/article_a589d01e-d932-59d3-8a5e-77cc85b6c56b.html
TodayShow. (2022, July 29). Hershey says reports of Halloween candy shortage have been greatly exaggerated. TODAY.com. Retrieved October 30, 2022, from https://www.today.com/food/news/hershey-halloween-candy-shortage-rcna40735
Answer this one please and include citation underneath the comment:
BLUF: The Raymond Corporation, which produces materials handling products (such as forklifts and inventory management), won the 2022 IndustryWeek Best Plants Awards. The company uses lean management principles and specifically applies the "Toyota Production System Methodologies" which focus on continuous process improvement. This methodology is used to standardize processes, visualize improvements, and increase efficiency. This has led to a doubled production volume and a 35% increase in overall quality over the last three years.
DETAILS: The company implemented key initiatives such as defect reduction, visual management, and quality control groups as Key Performance Indicators. Employees are highly valued in the continuous improvement process. The selection process for the award is a review of a plant's operations and an on-site evaluation from IndustryWeek's editors.
What is being reported: The Raymond Corporation won an award from IndustryWeek highlighting its process improvement culture
Who is affected:
Positive effect: Stockholders of Raymond Corporation will see increased profits from the process improvements; they may see an increase in stock value from this positive reporting. Consumers of Raymond Corporation products and services may receive increased quality due to process improvements. Negative effect: Competitors may initially be negatively affected by Raymond Corporation's continuous improvements. However, they may be spurred to improve their processes to catch up, leading to an eventual positive effect. Assessment of author's predictions: I could not determine how significant IndustryWeek's award is in the manufacturing world; also, the article did not give specific measurement criteria for how they selected the plant to receive this award. Therefore, I couldn't determine if there was any bias.
Relation to course content: This article's topic is process improvement, which we cover in Module 2. Specifically, it relates to the Gitlow text in Chapter 7: Overview of Process Improvement Methodologies.
CRAAP justification:
Currency: The article is dated October 20, 2022; ten days ago Relevancy: Immediate relevance to supply chain's manufacturer segment, process improvement, lean management Authoritative: The article is from CSCMP's Supply Chain Quarterly magazine. CSCMP is the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals, an industry group that promotes professionalism, education, and research in the field.
Accurate: The article does not have any overt bias that I detected. Purpose: The article intends to highlight Raymond Corporation's efficiency and effectiveness by using process improvement.
References
About CSCMP's Supply Chain Quarterly. (2022). SupplyChainQuarterly.com. https://www.supplychainquarterly.com/about. Accessed October 30, 2022.
Supply Chain Quarterly. (2022). Culture of continuous improvement helps Raymond to secure 2022 IndustryWeek Best Plants win. CSCMP's Supply Chain Quarterly. https://www.supplychainquarterly.com/articles/7279-culture-of-continuous-improvement-helps-raymond-to-secure-2022-industryweek-best-plants-win. Accessed October 30, 2022.
