Page 287 - Electronic Commerce

Chapter 5

favorite search engine, identify at least three apps that a trucker might use to do two or
more of the following: obtain routing information, manage fuel consumption, find truck stops
or truck-friendly rest areas, record what they have hauled and where they have hauled it,
track required permits, locate Department of Transportation weigh stations, maintain elec-
tronic log books, or find potential loads and place bids to carry them. For each app you
identify, write a paragraph that explains what the app does, how much it costs, and on what
type of devices it runs.
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5. A number of standard-setting organizations offer memberships to business firms. You are
working for Grace Henry, chief information officer (CIO) of Flex-Electric, a midsize company
that manufactures components for electronic medical and laboratory instruments. Flex-
Electric uses EDI to process transactions with both its vendors (purchases) and customers
(sales). The company is also exploring ways in which it might use RFID tags to track its
inventories. Grace asks you to learn more about the international supply chain standard-
setting organization, GS1. Prepare a memo to Grace of about 300 words in which you out-
line the purposes of the organization and identify how it might be useful to Flex-Electric. In
your memo, identify at least one other standard-setting organization that might be useful to
Flex-Electric’s RFID tag initiative
6. Companies in a particular supply chain can work together to eliminate costs from the supply
chain. In many cases, these cost savings are not shared evenly among the companies in
the supply chain. Using research resources on the Web or in your library, identify an indus-
try in which savings are not shared equally. In two or three paragraphs, explain why some
supply chain participants in your chosen industry can obtain more benefit than others from
cost reductions in the supply chain.

Cases

C1. Harley-Davidson
Harley-Davidson manufactures high-end motorcycles and sells them worldwide. The company
sells more than $6 billion in motorcycles and related products each year, and has one of the
most recognized brands in the world. However, business was not always so good for the com-
pany. In the 1980s, the company was on the brink of bankruptcy. Facing increasing competition
from Japanese and German manufacturers, Harley-Davidson had allowed its quality standards
and cost controls to slip. In a legendary business turnaround, the company rebuilt itself. Harley-
Davidson completely changed its supply chain to fulfill the expectations of its brand-aware
customers.
Over a period of several years, Harley-Davidson reduced its number of suppliers from 4000
to fewer than 350. More important, it began to work with those suppliers to reduce costs
throughout the supply chain. Each supplier is expected to find ways (with the help and cooper-
ation of Harley-Davidson) to reduce manufacturing costs and improve quality every year. This
was the only way Harley-Davidson believed it could avoid moving its factories to lower-cost
locations in other countries. The efforts paid off and the company still manufactures its motor-
cycles only in the United States.

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