Running head: BUSI 740 – DISCUSSION BOARD 2
BUSI 740 – Managing the Supply Chain
Discussion Board: 2Jason DeaBueno
November 15, 2022
Submitted to: Dr. Richard Corum
Liberty University
Discussion Board: 2
Introduction
The case study provided by Simchi-Levi, Kaminsky and Simchi-Levi (2008) represents the
challenges that H. C. Starck, Inc. (Starck) is working to overcome to be competitive in a highly
saturated market related to metal materials and supply demands. A new person, Tom, was
brought into the organization to determine the best and most useful ways to improve the lead
times for customer delivery. In the reviews of the process and people involved, Tom came to the
realization that the challenges of being competitive in the metal manufacturing and supplies
market were multi-factorial and complex. The business relies heavily on the oral history of the
past that does not fully represent the current environments.
Why are the lead times so long?
Described in the case study, the lead times are defined “as the time from when the customer
places the order, until the product is shipped” (Simchi-Levi, Kaminsky & Simchi-Levi, 2008, p.
109).Tom evaluated the issues of lead time and discovered that the issues of lead time were
impacted by major lead-time variability in other words customer needs. Lead-time variability
results may be impacted by external variability (Kim, Fowler, Shunk and Pfund, 2012).External
variables can be the unclear or varied times for customer’s willingness to wait for the deliveries,
raw supply challenges, and cost/inventory of raw supplies.
If these issues remain unclear, the customer may go to other suppliers. In the case of Starck, Tom
learned that the historical beliefs were that lead time was 12 weeks, and the beliefs included that
12 weeks was optimal so that orders were filled but not so extended that the customer would
look to other competitors.
Covid-19, of course, is the underlying factor that has caused—and continues to affect—supply
chain disruptions. “When workers in factories get sick, whole sections of plants shut down,
which then backs up production,” explains Patrick Gunn, one of Snyder Diamond’s Appliance
Specialists. In addition to shutdowns occurring from exposure-related reasons as well as
preventative measures, companies are navigating a host of new safety protocols—further
delaying their return to full production. Today, many major manufacturers still aren’t staffed at
their full pre-pandemic capacity, which makes catching up on a growing backlog of orders even
more challenging. Plus, the web of connections between companies has also become
devastatingly clear. For example, if a dishwasher is missing a key part made in a closed down or
