Toyota : A Global Manufacturer:

Q1: Where should the plant be located and what degree of flexibility should be build into each ? What
capacity shoould each plant have ?
Ans: Each plant should possess the capability of producting or fullfilling the demands certain regions
accordingly. Also every plant must be capable of fullfilling its regional factory demands.
Q2: Should plant be able to produce for all markets or only specific contingency market?
Ans: The plant should be capable of managing the demands of other regions if necessarily required.
Moreover it should facilitate its local region without facing any disruption.
Q3: How should market be allocated to plant and how frequently should this allocation
be revised?
Ans: Normal allocations should be assigned annualy or based upon necessities .
Q4: What kind of flexibilities should be build into the distribution system?
Ans: Supply chain should be managed properly in such manners that the lead times and costs of operations
must not increase. Managing activites and procedures accordingly to minimize the loses.
Q5: How should the flexible investment be valued/
Ans: Such flexible investments could be valued based upon the outcomes achieved over several period of
times.
Q6:What action may be taken during product design to facilitate this flexibility?
Ans: Keeping business operations in alligned to every market they serve . In depth analysis of all local
markets leading to making uniqe strategies that can be implemented across all facilities without any
disruptions.

Amazon Case Study:

Q1: Why is Amazon building more warehouses as it grows? How many warehouses should it have
and where should they be located?

Ans: As Amazon is increasing its warehouses annualy clearly means that their sales are increasing day by
day. In other words the numbers of customers are increasing. Therefore the increasing number of
warehouses will result in achieving lead times and also to increase customer satisfaction as they will be
able to deliver their orders on time.
The number of warehouses and their locations may vary from state to state because some states can have
more number of customers than the others, therefore a proper analysis would be required to make such
decisons.
Q2: What advantages does selling books via the internet provide over a traditional bookstore? Are
there any disadvantages to selling via internet?

Ans:
Advantagess:
1: People dont have enough time to go to book stores and spend the time to search or ask for the specific
books they require.
2: Also the availability of books is a major concern .
3: Amazon gives wide vairety of books and buying options on a single click.
Disadvantages:
1: Time management can be a difficult task in organizing orders of books.
2: Check and balance of inventory and inventory handling costs.
Q3: should Amazon stock every product it sells?

Ans: It isnt necessary to stock every item you have , understanding demands and trends can lead to better
forecast demands and based upon forecasts we can manage our stocks accordingly.
Q4: what advantages can bricks-and-mortar players derive from setting up an online channel?
How should they use the two channels to gain maximum advantage?

Ans: Brick and mortar players can gain a significant amounf of advantage in managing their customers.
The customers that are satisfied may visit the physical stores to collect the books they searched online on
their websites. Thus increasing customers trust and actually leading to long term customer relationship
maintainance by gradually getting feedbacks.
Q5: what advantages/ disadvantages does the online channel enjoy in sale of shoes/
diapers relative to a retail store?

Ans:
Advantages:
1: Saving time.
2: Gaining profits based on portfolios.
3: Real time inventory management based upon forecasts
Disadvantages:
1: Cost of stock handling may become a challenge if sales are less than expectations.
2: Any natural or un natural disaster may lead to spoilage loses.
Q6: For what products does the online channel offer the greater advantage relative to retail stores?
What characterizes these products?
Ans: Online channel can give a wide variety of choices to the customers and also can provide real time
feedbacks of people already made that purchase.