Supply Chain at Internet Speed

Online Participation

Q&A: Sourcing

Natural disasters such the Japan tsunami of 2011 can cause great disruptions in the supply chain. Read this article on how the supply chain of technology companies has been affected by this event (click here).

What steps can companies take to prevent such disruptions in supply chains?

Q & A: WWT ClearOrbit Case

1.  When WWT diversified by offering higher-end supply chain outsourcing solutions, in 2000, what two services did it focus on in particular?

2. What company, also WWT’s ERP supplier, developed a supplier collaboration tool by the name of iSupplier?

3. What “lessons learned” for future collaborations did Frank indicate, following the success of the purchasing collaboration program?

New Age Warehousing

Warehouse management is a key challenge for companies selling goods on the internet. As we discussed in class, companies such as Zappos use robots to automate the process.  Here are a couple of videos about the Kiva Robots that Zappos uses.

Summarize the benefits of Kiva to Zappos.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvQKGev56qU]

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fdd6sQ8Cbe0]