Staples Supply Chain and Global Marketing, Essay Example

Introduction and Background Information

Staples is a stationary and office supply company present in 26 countries, with more than 2000 stores. It mainly focuses on serving business owners, and has several rewards programs online and offline. It focuses on three main methods of sales: in-store purchases, online purchases, and the combination of the two: click and collect. Business customers can take out the  Business Account Card that provides them with 60 days of free credit. Recently, according to  Peterson (2014), the company started to shift its operation online. Closing stores and focusing on online sales hav been proven to be a successful method of reducing operational expenses and increasing overall profits. Peterson (2014) confirms that now online stores account for around 50 percent of the total sales. At the same time,  the company has made plans to expand its product range. This will require a careful review of Staples’ global supply chain to ensure that inventories and stocks are kept at an optimum level.

Supply Chain Analysis

Staples has over 60 delivery fulfillment centers in the United States, to support the company’s operations in North America. Further, the company has several regional delivery fulfillment  centers, based in Europe’s cities with the highest concentration of stores (WikiInvest, 2010). Individual stores are required to submit orders to the distribution centers. One of the main issues with the supply chain management of the company is that the increased  number of products to be introduced are likely to increase storage, delivery, and packaging costs.

The supply chain of Staples follows products through from raw materials to the end user and realizing profits. The global management of the company estimates demand in various regional centers and selects suppliers that are able to provide the products (office supplies) at the most reliable manner at the lowest cost. The products are then shipped to the regional distribution centers, and ordered by individual stores. Once the products are in the store, customers can make a purchase in person or reserve their items on the company’s website using the Click and Collect feature offered. Online orders are fulfilled by home delivery services, therefore, the company needs to employ individuals to deliver larger items to customers’ address.

Recommendations for Improving Supply Chains

In order to improve the above supply chain, it is recommended that STAPLES introduces Lean supply chain management principles. Nightingale (2005) states that Lean supply chains are built upon close collaboration among suppliers, distribution centers, delivery service providers, and integrate reporting and forecasting to minimize the cost of storage, delivery, and the time that elapses between the raw material (or product) reaching the customer.

Improving Supply Chain Management Using Robotic Technology

One method of implementing robotic technology Staples’ supply chain is to automate the packaging and delivery to stores. As Manners-Bell, Lyon, and Virtual Partners (2014) confirm, robotic technology can be successfully utilized in the warehousing industry, and as a  result human resource costs can be significantly cut. As the authors state. “Once the truck arrives at the distribution centre it would seem entirely possible for the unloading and put away process to be entirely automated” (Manners-Bell et al., 2014, p. 3). For the successful implementation of robotic technology, however, there is a  need for making the software of the robots compatible with the company’s central supply chain management software, including data from suppliers, delivery contractors, individual stores, and online ordering systems. The development of such system would result in long term improvement of efficiency and reduced cost of delivery and warehousing, However, the initial investment related to the project is believed to be significant.

References

Manners-Bell, J., Lyon, K., Virtual Partners (2014) The impact of robotics and automation on   logistics An insight into how the logistics sector could be impacted by advances in manufacturing technology. Retrieved from http://johnmannersbell.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/The-impact-of-robotics-and-automation-on-logistics.pdf

Nightingale, D. (2005)  Lean Supply Chain Management Principles and Practices. Retrieved from http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/aeronautics-and-astronautics/16-852j-integrating-the- lean-enterprise-fall-2005/lecture-notes/7_lean_sup_ch_mg.pdf

Peterson, H. (2014) Staples is trying to revamp its business by becoming more like Amazon. Business Insider. March 10 2014.

WikiInvest. (n.d.)  Supply chain of Staples. Retrieved  from http://www.wikinvest.com/stock/Staples_(SPLS)/Supply_Chain