Report – 100 Marks [4000 words]

This assignment provides you the opportunity to explore the Supply chain and logistics management challenges as Vice president of an airline company. You have recently been assigned the position of Vice President of procurement of a reputable Middle Eastern airline called Flysafe. The organisation was established in 1973 where it operated only 5 aircrafts and two routes within the region. In those days, competition was limited and so, they were able to make significant profits despite some operational challenges. Looking forty plus years ahead, the organisation has grown significantly with over 2000 employees and an aircraft fleet size of 300 state of art of the aircrafts. The market has now changed with several non-middle eastern airlines running the route with low budget airfare options. Consumers are choosy & have exercised “price conscious” attitudes by seeking advantages of current market competitive scenarios. The reporting and data transfer lines are not linked between flying hours of rotating spares, supplier schedules and the supply chain shipping plans. The organisation has also lost favor with many of their strategic suppliers, Super Turbines and North Star Aircraft limited, mainly for engine, landing gear and other power plant supplies. This has led to delays in major overhauls, coupled with limited supplier concessions. Flysafe has also recently diversified their business model, converting two of their older 777 aircrafts into freighters to support their Flysafe Global Caterers subsidiary. Just two years running, their Oman, and Saudi based airlines have complained that their Dubai location does not allow for the fastest delivery, although FGC thinks otherwise. Management now considers dissolving this new entity, but some board members believe that the new Procurement VP can devise a distribution plan to save the subsidiary. These realities, unfortunately, have been compounded by some major procurement related shortcomings that has weakened the entire company, soon to the point of closure. You have been given a three month mandate to turn around the organisation, reversing much of its losses, often caused by poor sourcing decisions.

You are required to help your organisation by answering the following questions:-

1. Critically review the cross functional drivers in the context of current global trends for Flysafe and analyze a range of current theories and concepts that might impact the sourcing decisions for Flysafe. Discuss current issues facing global supply chains and its relevance to Flysafe with an in depth assessment of the market environment. Evaluate outsourcing strategies and develop original and creative responses to the issues surrounding outsourcing strategies for Flysafe. (25 marks)

2. Critically evaluate multimodal systems and system strategies which can be beneficial for Flysafe and implement an operational project that can address some international logistical challenges. Conduct an in depth analysis for problems in warehousing and inventory management and prepare a comprehensive action plan to address these problems at Flysafe. Critically review the different approaches for selecting logistics modes and choosing the best physical distribution strategies for Flysafe.(25 marks)

3. Discuss two supply chain management system models and their influence on advance planning and scheduling strategies for Flysafe and critically analyze a wide range of ICT applications to support and enhance Collaborative, Planning, and Forecasting Replenishing (CPFR) techniques at Flysafe. Critically analyze the relationship between CPFR models and Artificial Intelligence (AI) strategies in the context of overcoming the supply chain challenges in Flysafe and critically discuss supplier relationship management.(25 marks)

4. Evaluate the relevance of commercial and operational financial statements and agreements for overcoming the current supply chain challenges at Flysafe and develop a total cost strategy for the acquisition of capital equipment for Flysafe. Critically review the impact of digital payment methods on supply chain and logistics, making mention of their features, boundaries and terminology which can be useful at Flysafe.(25 marks)