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Dps 301: Supply Chain Management Question Paper
Dps 301: Supply Chain Management
Course:Bachelor Of Commerce
Institution: University Of Nairobi question papers
Exam Year:2012
UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI
MODULE II DEGREE PROGRAMME-2012/2013
(NAIROBI EVENING)
THIRD YEAR EXAMINATIONS FOR THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF COMMERCE
DPS 301: SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
DATE: DECEMBER 21, 2012 TIME: 6.00P.M.-8.00P.M.
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. This paper contains Four questions.
2. You are required to attempt question one and any other two questions.
3. Be as practical in your answer as possible.
NOKIA DEALS WITH UNCERTAINTY
In march, 2000, a thunderstorm struck the Philips semiconductor plant at Albuquerque in New Mexico, which made silicon chips for products like cellphones. Damage at first seemed minor, and fire fighters soon left the premises. At first, the Philips told major customers like Nokia and Ericsson that the delay to production would only be one week. But the damage to some of the clean areas in the plant- created by smoke and water- was actually going to take months to remedy. Clean rooms in semiconductor plants must be spotless, and particles of more than 0.5u are filtered out.
The one-week delay was quickly reported by Tappio Markki, Nokia''s chief component purchasing manager, to Pertti Korhonen, Nokia''s top troubleshooter. ''We encourage bad news to travel fast'', said Mr. Korhonen. While Philips initially rejected offers of help from Nokia, it soon became apparent that production delays would be much more than one week. Korhonen put together a team to find solutions to supplying the five chips that were affected by the Philips fire. Three were quickly re-sourced form Japanese and American suppliers, but the other two were only supplied by Philips. This time Philips cooperated at the highest level. Nokia chairman and chief executive, Mr. Ollila, met with the Philips CEO Mr Boostra and the head of the Philips semiconductor division, Mr Van de Poel. Factories at Eindhoven and at Shanghai were rescheduled to supply the missing chips, and engineers from both Nokia and Philips worked to accelerate the return of the Albuquerque plant to full production. As a result of these intensive efforts, there were relatively minor delays to Nokia''s cellphone shipments.
Executives at Erickson in Sweden only learned of the problem several weeks after the fire. Company culture was less proactive than at its Finnish rival. The bad news was withheld from senior management long after it became clear that delays were becoming serious. By the time that Ericsson realised the magnitude of the problem it was too late to find alternative sources. Nokia had seized remaining world capacity, and it took nine months for the situation to be rectified. The disruption led to a 3 per cent loss of share market by Ericsson, and contributed in turn to its exit from the phone handset market.
QUESTION ONE:
a) Read the article above and answer the following questions;
i) What supply chain performance issues are raised in this case? (6 marks)
ii) How did the companies in the case deal with disruptions to the supply chain? (6 marks)
b) i) Highlight any THREE benefits of looking at the whole supply chain. (6 marks)
ii) Discuss the decisions that should be made in supply chain design. (12 marks)
QUESTION TWO:
a) "Lean or agile?". The supply chain manager of a leading supermarket was overheard asking.
Required:
Highlight the circumstances under which she/he should consider each of these supply chain strategies. (14 marks)
b) What is "Muda" as used in lean supply chains? (6 marks)
QUESTION THREE:
a) "The adoption ERP is a waste of resources of an organisation". Do you agree with this statement? Discuss your answer. (10 marks)
b) Discuss the role of e-business in the Supply Chain Management. (10 marks)
QUESTION FOUR:
a) What do you understand by the term consideration in contract management? Use appropriate cases to support your answer. (12 marks)
b) The best way to manage a supply chain is through "pulling rather than pushing". Explain. (4 marks)
c) What is the argument behind the proposition to change the name Supply Chain Management to Demand Network Management. (4 marks)
end
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