Pusela Easy Meals Case Study

MODULE 1: Introduction to Logistics and SCM

ASSIGNMENT 1

Answers to Question 1

Problem #1 - Supply of products to Retail Chain Stores

Currently Pusela Easy Meals are facing a challenge in that these Retail Chain Store Buyers are complaining that there has been a number of stock-out in certain Stores. This could either be attributed to long leads times to supply products, or that the demand is exceeding the supply. Whatever the root cause of the stock-out is, this appears to be of serious concern, as it is indicated that these Chain Stores are considering switching or moving to other brands. Moving to other brands would result in a loss of revenue for Pusela Easy Meals, as well as a loss of market share.

Problem #2 - Customer Service

If we look at problem #1, I would also add a dimension of poor Customer Service or service delivery as another major problem. If there was an isolated incident of a stock-out, this could be explained, however from the case study, it is apparent that there have been a number of stock-outs experienced. Pusela Easy Meals’ commitment to the Retail Chain Stores is to provide products to them on time, and if there is a problem in meeting this commitment, then Pusela Easy Meals should engage with the Retail Chain Stores and address these problems with them in a hope of resolutions being reached. There should not be any excuses for multiple stock-outs.

Problem #3 – Order process

The first problem with the current method of order placements that Pusela Easy Meals are using is that Sales Representatives are calling on Customers for Orders. If for some reason, there is no communication between the Sales Rep and the Customer, there is a risk that an order may not be captured. The Sales Rep now becomes a dependency on order placement, which is in turn a risk for the Retail Stores.

The second problem I foresee, and this has been a real problem in my organisation, is that orders are sent to...