Blackmore is an Australian based company that deals in the manufacture of health supplements and vitamins. The company mainly focuses on the production of health supplements and vitamins and their distribution to markets where individuals have a high preference for vitamin products (Yang, Zhao, Yeung, H. Y. & Liu, 2016).  It has expanded in its operations in foreign markets such as China to take advantage of huge population willing to supplement their diets with vitamins, and its citizens who have got the capability to pay for the foreign products. Due to stiff competition in the Australian market, the company is targeting foreign markets in order to widen their customer base. As a result, the company’s profits have improved thus increasing its operation which has resulted to problems in control of its supply chain and inventory.  Blackmore Company has faced some problems in its operation evident from its situational analysis informed by some of the recommendations with regards to supply chain and inventory management

The main challenge that the company has faced is the stiff competition from other established companies especially in the foreign markets comprising of local companies. This has greatly hindered the company’s capability to maintain its loyal customers as well as attract new ones (Young et al., 2016). This has resulted in minimal profits in the new market segments as they had anticipated. This has majorly been caused by the inability of the company to enhance proper coordination and management that could aid in the production of goods that meet the consumer needs. Moreover, the challenges have been caused lack of incorporation of new technology in most of its operations so as to maintain their competitive advantage.

Recommendation from supply chain management

The company should use a proper customer segmentation that serves the profitability of the segment. This requires the company to manufacture health supplements that can cater for the consumers’ tastes and preferences in the different market segment(Asgari, Nikbakhsh, Hill & Farahani, 2016).. This will enable the company to widen its customer base thus increasing the sales of the company. Enhancing customer feedback is also an integral part of supply chain management. This should be done through the creation of a platform that give customers the opportunity to present their views on the products to help the company tailor products that meet customers’ needs.

The company should make better use of new technology such as the use of social media in order to increase the customers’ awareness of the products.  Such platforms usually accommodate enormous information and the company can use this to their advantage through communicating the importance of using the product and the specific ingredients that are vital for human health (Asgari, Nikbakhsh, Hill & Farahani, 2016).Similarly, the company can use the ecommerce platforms such as Alibaba in order to health reach more customers who are in other market segments .The use of modern technology in supply chain have proofed to be of benefit to most firms because it reduces the wastages  that were associated with traditional approaches of supply chain management

The company should pay closer attention to the market trends so that they can be updated with demand across the supply chain. The production and distribution of the vitamin products should be in line with trends in the market (Asgari, Nikbakhsh, Hill & Farahani, 2016).  Being in touch with the trends enhances improvement in the company’s supply chain, making the products to be supplied efficiently. This also aids to the betterment of the company’s operations of the activities making it use the available resources wisely to expand the profit margin.

Blackmore should have multiple suppliers of the products needed in the manufacture of health supplements and vitamin products. This will ensure that they are able to source for cheap products thus reducing their production cost (Asgari, Nikbakhsh, Hill & Farahani, 2016). This can further be enhanced through e-procurement in order to enhance the effectiveness of the supply process; this will help the company keep record of its suppliers from which the best and cheaper suppliers can be selected. Having a swift supply chain process increases customers’ confidence and reputation of the company thus attracting more customers

Recommendation on inventory management

The company should manage its stock turn over in order to minimize cost of stock management. This will ensure that keeps a record of how the tock moves in and out of the company (Wild, 2017)..facilitating stock rotation easy delivery of products hence availing products to the customers at the right time. Consumers normally are driven through a given products depending on a number of factors an one of them is normally the availability of the products when needed in the market. Therefore, the company should ensure that they keep record of all their stock in the market so that they are no shortages

The use new technology and demand forecasting techniques in order to anticipate quantity of a given product needed in the market. This will ensure that no given product is either more or less than the one needed in the market (Wild, 2017).. Anticipating the amount of sales will facilitate a given number of products can be maintained in order to avoid wastages. This will also ensure that products are only availed once the products already in market have all been purchased by the consumers

Proper inventory control requires that there is a constant audit of a company’s stock. This will ensure that the company keeps track its stock. This effected once the raw materials for the manufacture of the products are received until when the final products are supplied to the consumers (Wild, 2017).. Through an effective audit of the company’s stock, it will ensure it controls its cost of production thereby putting proper mechanism in place to enhance productivity. Once the company is able to maintain their production cost as low as possible, they will be able to increase their profitability thus enhancing their competitiveness

Blackmore should conduct a proper market analysis so that they only health supplement and the vitamin products they produced meet the consumers’ tastes and preferences. This will ensure that the company produces only products that are needed by the consumers (Wild, 2017)..  The authorities in charge of the production of the product should ensure that only those products needed are produced. Production of the products should also been in line with target market o that the products produced meet the specifications of the given customers

In conclusion, the adoption inventory and supply management techniques can enable Blackmore maintain its competitive advantage in the new segments and foreign markets. The company should ensure that it fully incorporates the use of technology in supply chain management. Through the use technology they can easily provide information concerning the products to the customers and avail the products at the righty time. The suggest ways such as the use of social media platforms in supply management increases consumers awareness which results in higher profits for the company. Information by the products that any given company produces is what informs the customers purchasing decisions, therefore, making such information available is key in ensuring that the company maintains its competitive advantage

References

Asgari, N., Nikbakhsh, E., Hill, A., & Farahani, R. Z. (2016). Supply chain management 1982–2015: a review. IMA Journal of Management Mathematics, 27(3), 353-379.

Wild, T. (2017). Best practice in inventory management. Routledge.

Yang, Q., Zhao, X., Yeung, H. Y. J., & Liu, Y. (2016). Improving logistics outsourcing performance through transactional and relational mechanisms under transaction uncertainties: Evidence from China. International Journal of Production Economics, 175, 12-23.

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