Case Study: Pioneer Hi-Bred International

CASES IN SUPPLY CHAIN ANALYTICS
(BMGT44530)
MEMO 2: PIONEER HI BRED INTERNATIONAL INC.,
STUDENT NAME: SHAILESH PANIGRAHY
STUDENT NUMBER: 14200021
SUBMITTED ON 07 APRIL 2015

Introduction
Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc a market leader in seed industry is headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. It produces and markets corn, soybean, sunflower, sorghum seeds, alfalfa, canola, wheat seed, silage and hay inoculants. Founded in the year 1926, the company has grown to become the largest seed producer, it currently employs close to 4900 employees and generate sales of $1721 million. The company exports to more than 50 countries in the world, its major selling remains to be the United States. In the US seed market the company holds a market

Plant breeders are companies like Pioneer Hi breed and its competitors, all the required research and development is carried out in their laboratories and controlled agricultural lands. And after completing the required cross breeding, the hybrid/genetically modified parent seed is passed on to the seed growers.
Seed growers: The parent seed from the company is provided to the seed growers, who are contracted by the company to cultivate the parent seed under conditions specified by the experts of the plant breeding company. The seed growers are selected on the basis of the fertility of the soil, climatic conditions of the region and the surrounding lands. The seed production company negotiates with neighboring land owners/cultivators to ensure that unwanted cross pollination is avoided. The whole cultivation process is monitored by the experts of the seed production company.
Seed conditioners: The cultivated seeds are harvested at 30% and are shipped back to the seed producer. The seeds are kept under inspection at a fixed temperature and moisture levels. They were then let to dry, packed and shipped to the seed

Instead Pioneer should look into possible outsourcing, Pioneer Hi Breed can carefully assess various similar manufacturers locally and outsource the technology. Since the technology is patent protected, Pioneer do not have to fear of the technology being misused. Having said that it is important for Pioneer to personally conduct regular quality checks. To ensure that the seeds match the evaluation criteria, the outsourcing company can be provided with strict regulations to adhere to. This method could benefit Pioneer by providing them with ample time to understand the market, assess the demand in the newer region and develop relationships.
Role of Linear Programming
There are several constraints involved in the decision making involved at Pioneer, Linear programming aims at categorizing the available data with the constraints and provide solutions to gain highest profit. In the current scenario, the two major concerns that affect the profitability of the company are over production and overseas production (Chopra, S et al., (2012) .
In the LP model for the current scenario, the below can be used as