Supply Chain Flexibility Case Study

1. Introduction

With the development of market economy as well as the shorter and shorter product life cycle, supply chain management is supposed to be more flexible to meet diversified demands of customers. However, increasing variables in supply chain management makes it more challenging to administer the market environment, product quality, quantity and information transferring. While supply chain flexibility is regarded as one of the most effective ways to deal with uncertainty. Therefore, building an open, dynamic and flexible supply chain, for retail chain enterprises, is a good way to reconfigure in accordance with customer demand and be outstand in the field.

Supply chain flexibility, as an indicator to measure performance of supply

Pujawan also did similar research (Pujawan, 2004). He selected and assessed four dimensions of supply chain flexibility as well as explored drivers behind these four variables. Zhang mainly summarized the supply chain flexibility in retain chain business (Jinxia, 2015). According to Jinxia (2015), Slack N thought that supply chain flexibility is the ability of retail enterprises to change supply chain to meet customers’ demands. Voudo regarded flexibility as one indicator to assess performance of supply chain management.

2. Analysis of flexibility types in retail supply chain

The purpose of this paper is to analyze flexibility in retail chain business. And in the paper supply chain flexibility refers to the ability to deal with the uncertainty encountered by fast- speed involving retail chain enterprises during the manufacturing process. The ability is divided into three different levels and forms, innovation, adaptiveness and buffering, based on the concept.

Supply chain innovation flexibility refers to the ability of various components and links in the chain to influence external environment. Innovation flexibility makes retail enterprises in a positive position. Because they make use of new technology and mode of production to influence external environment actively instead of being forced to reconfigure to adapt to the

As a result, the demand is exaggerated because of information asymmetry among factors mentioned above and increases instability of retail chain enterprises in producing, supplying, marketing and inventory. In addition, excepting for increasing inventory risk and supply risk, it also undermines operational rules of enterprises. In conclude, bullwhip effect makes retail chain enterprises more difficult to form quick and right responsiveness, weakening relationships with suppliers.

3.3 Market uncertainty

Market is often influenced by macroeconomic situations, demand of consumer market, quantity of consumers, preference and many other factors. Market uncertainty in retail chain business mainly includes quantity of raw materials supply, price fluctuations, customers’ requirements towards products etc. Varied uncertainties intensify the operational difficulty and increase vulnerability of supply chain. Meanwhile, diversification and differentiation of customers’ requirements lead to the frequent change of producing procedure and supply procedure, which makes supply chain system more complicated and challenging to design, construct. Therefore, retail enterprises are not able to guarantee supply chain system can be operated in a safe