Transportation Logistics Management

Transportation Logistics Management

Sweets of Oman is an organization based in Muscat, Oman. It is a confectionary producing company that started its operation in 1990 having close to 30 years of experience in confectionary business. The company produces a good range of products such as toffees, caramels, and enrobed chocolates. Significantly the products exists in different brand names such as Chiko, Folen & Court and Chelsea .Over time, the company has developed into a multinational public company offering some of its products in the neighboring nations (Pappas, 2016). The company has an approximate of 262 employees as per the year 2018, with a net income of 296 US Dollars per month. Basing on high rates of the company's success, the company has intensified itself in the involvement of global business. Notably, as of now, the company has several headquarters close to 45 countries worldwide. Some of these include the US, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and among others. Consequently, the company's desire to penetrate more markets is steady and active.

Sweets of Oman’s local and global marketing matrix vary significantly based on the varying natures of consumers, business policies and competitors. A comparative analysis of marketing matrix elements such as price, promotion, product and place in Sweets of Oman’s local and international market depicts the following. In terms of product prices, the costs of different commodities are fairly similar in Oman and in other global regions. However, through its cost plus pricing system, the prices in Oman are more favorable compared to those in foreign nations (Fernandez, Kumar & Mansour, 2013). The only incidence when prices are low in foreign nation than in Oman is when the company is marketing its products to more consumers. Sweets of Oman however offer promotions and offers in both Oman and other nations, especially when introducing new products (Fernandezet al., 2013). Larger pools of products are availed to local consumers as compared to the international ones. The difference results from the high costs incurred in distributing products to distant regions. Luckily, the products offered in both markets are of good quality and consumer friendly. Lastly, considering the company’s fame in the local markets, the degrees of product marketing are higher in foreign nations than in Oman.

The company utilizes the components of supply chain to enhance its strategic goals. They have an improved customer services where they ensure that products are correctly assorted and delivered in the right quantity and quantities, the company ensures that deliveries of the products are made in time and the right locations, as well they ensure that they maintain customer relationship by providing after sale support where they ensure that their products are service as soon as possible achieving a solid customer satisfaction relations (Routledge, Murphy, & Knemeyer, 2018). Significantly, the company has reduced operations costs characterized by decreased purchasing costs, decreased productions cost and decreased total supply chain coast. Substantially the supply chain has been essential at improving the company’s financial position, the company has experienced an increased profit leverages due to reduction of supply chain costs ,decreased fixed assets because the use of large fixed assets particularly warehouses have been reduced significantly, and the increased cash flows because the flow of products to the customers has been fastened .conversely, the company’s supply chain has impacted towards the human survival, it has ensured that products are available and delivered in time which has sustained the human life. This has maximized the company sales and thus achieving its strategic goals.

According to Lai & Cheng (2016), the strengths of supply chain essentially improves the customer services by ensuring reduced costs. Significantly it ensures the company production strategies are well utilized, the standard products are properly distributed using a customized delivery channels, supplier competencies are ordained, there is an effective coordination of labor and schedules, and it ensures customer’s satisfaction is achieved. On the other hand the weaknesses of supply chain encompass, the lead time optimization strategies are not well defined, there is no emphasis of being global, the strategies of the supply chain mainly focus on the local markets, and the outsourcing strategies of other activities and processes are not well defined.

The organization uses perfect order index to measure the error free rate of the process of supply chain, cash to cash time metric to measure the time between when a company executes the cash to the suppliers and when the cash is received from cash customers, supply chain cycle time metric to measure time that could be taken to complete the customer’s order, fill rate metric to measure the amount of customers demand that has been achieved through the available stock with an inclusion of lost orders (Routledge, Murphy, & Knemeyer, 2018).

The organization has been utilizing road and water transport mediums in the meantime. Significantly the organization has improved its transportation medium using both railway and air transport medium. Notably the organization should consider railway and air transport because it enhances faster delivery of goods with little damages.

The strategies of supply chain can be improved by automating the purchasing processes, standardizing ERP systems to save time and money while increasing efficiency.

Conclusively, successful organization uses supply chain strategy to enhance their goals and objectives, considerations of strength and weaknesses of this strategy ought to be made to ensure best services are enhanced. Different metrics of measurement should be utilized to access the level of customer satisfaction. Significantly innovative transport initiatives should be developed and implemented for faster delivery of product and services

References

Fernandez, M., Kumar, R., & Mansour, D. E. (2013). Determinants of capital structure: evidence from Oman. Oman Chapter of Arabian Journal of Business and Management Review, 34(980), 1-11.

Lai, K. H., & Cheng, T. E. (2016). Just-in-time logistics.

Routledge.Murphy, P. R., & Knemeyer, A. M. (2018). Contemporary logistics.