Cabot owns or has controlling interest in the production of rubber in various plants located in a various countries. These include Canada, China, Brazil, Argentina, Japan, Colombia, Italy, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Malaysia and the United States. The company has been expanding its manufacturing capacity of rubber in a number of emerging markets. In 2009, the company began operating two additional plants in China increasing the capacity at that facility by 150,000 metric tons. In 2011, Cabot increased the production capacity in Indonesia by 50% (Form 10-K). Furthermore, the Cabot Company has begun new projects at the facilities located in Brazil and Argentina. This is aimed to increase the capacity in South America by 20% over the next three years. Moreover, Cabot also produces carbon blacks, fumed metal oxides, and aerogels and inkjet colorants in approximately 20 countries.
According to Form 10-K, Cabot Company market is variable. Seasonal declines only occur during the holiday periods. Some of the challenges in supply chain include the uncertainty in the global economy that may affect the distribution of the company products worldwide. Furthermore, expansion of existing facilities and development of new one s may be impeded by environmental regulations and other regulations. Technological changes experienced in the company’s end markets may affect the company’s product demand negatively.
Cabot Company utilizes a new product development stage that has several checkpoints to allow understanding of potential hazards of materials under development. In addition, extreme caution is applied in the movement and storage of materials by implementing environmental controls related to the materials.
Inventory is managed by employing the last in, first out method (LIFO) in the United States. In seasons that there is increased fluctuating cost of raw materials, the inventory method used can have a substantial impact on the profitability. The LIFO method allows the higher priced purchases to be charged to the cost of sales.
Cabot Corporation currently uses the aspenONE manufacturing suite that has assisted in streamlining the supply chain processes, improve customer responses and develop the quality of production (Mason and Parker 1). This software allows the coordination of activities across the various elements of the supply chain to be effective. The use of this software allows Cabot Corporation to achieve its goals. Cabot Corporation has a competitive advantage among other industries in the field since it incorporates new technology and has well-coordinated operations and logistics portfolio.
Works Cited
“Form 10-K.” U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 May 2012.
Mason, Erik & Mike Parker. “Aspen Technology Selected By Cabot Corp, to enhance Its Global
Supply Chain Systems”. PDF File.
