1. Use of Information Technologies in the logistical operations of examples.
Cali Inc. is an ice cream manufacturer that sells ice cream and related products in the southwest states of the United States of America. The company produces ice creams in plastic containers and nacelles. The company has the production facility in Moapa Town in the Clark County of Nevada, United States of America. The production facility has two production lines, a raw material area, and finished products area. The company sells almost all its production in the states of Nevada and California. The company has ten years of operations when John Cook and Rick Peterson started a small ice cream shop in Paradise, Nevada, the metropolitan area of Las Vegas. Once the demand is increased, they choose to change from a home-made ice cream to an industrial scale. After extensive considerations in costs, location and warehouse availability they choose to move operations to Moapa Town in the same state. The model changed from a small shop model to industrial production delivered to retailers, theme parks, cinemas and supermarkets (Emmanson Me, 2012).
The change in the model required the use of Information Technologies from the raw material acquisition to the delivery of the final product to the clients. In the raw material acquisition, it is necessary to follow the delivery of fruits, milk, water, envelopes additives. Each raw material has a tracking number from the purchase order generation to the reception in the warehouse and the delivery to the final client. The company uses a tracking system with code bars and code readers that give information to the logistic information center of the company. The operators took information in the reception area of the warehouse with wireless readers and send the information to the Supply Chain system of the company. The system analyses purchase order date, price, quantity or weight, reception date and manufacture date. The information allows the company to have signal alarms when a material stays in the company more time than the standard. Due to the fact, that the company is in the food industry, it is necessary to assure the freshness of the products. The average time of residence of a purchased material is 8 days. When a raw material stays more than 8 days, the system sends an alarm to the managers to take action (Coronado, 2013).
The other use of information technologies in the logistical operation of the company is in the delivery process. The company outsources the distribution of its products directly to the clients in the states of Nevada and California. The provider gives to Cali Inc. information in real time of the location and transaction status of all the packages. Supermarkets, retail stores, and gas stations are the current clients of Cali Inc. offering the products in bailment the refrigerators and the stands to the retailer. The information technology gives to the company the inventory time of each retail store. With the information of each retail store, the company analyzes the people preferences according to location, and it is used for the monthly production plan.
2. Coca-Cola logistic system. Advantages and weakness.
The Coca-Cola Company is a beverage corporation with its headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America. The company has interests in almost all the countries of the world with one of the brands most known in the world. Although the brand and products of the company are available in all the countries of the world (BERRY, 2010), The Coca-Cola Company does not operate directly in all those places. The Atlanta offices are responsible for the global strategy, advertising, brand positioning and formula development while the manufacture, bottling, and distribution is the responsibility of national franchises. For example, Femsa from Mexico and Coca-Cola Consolidated Bottling Company in the United States are independent companies from the Atlanta Offices. That means a consumer can drink the Coca-Cola beverage bottled in his country and sold by the nearest supermarket or retailer. The most important advantage for the company is that the company avoids custom expenses and reduces the risks of the company from demands and legal hearings in the countries where they sell the Coca-Cola beverages. The logistic operations in each country are not the responsibility of the Atlanta Offices (Felini, 2015).
The disadvantage of the decentralized bottling and distribution is the necessity to track the quality of the products of all the bottlers worldwide, different to a centralized production.
Below the bottles in each country or region in the world, there are the big retailers and the Manual Distribution Centers. The big retailers receive an order of at least one container per day or week from the bottle and sell to consumers. The other way of distribution are the Manual Distribution Centers (MDC), those are the key tool the company uses to bring the Coca-Cola to almost any place in the world. The MDC sell the products in small purchase orders to small retailers and entrepreneurs in small populations in the world.
The logistic system has a three-level structure, the Atlanta Office to the bottlers, the Atlanta Office gives the formula, technology, and advertising support to bottles; the bottles gives to the big retailers and MDC the final product. That structure gives a competitive advantage over other companies that have a centralized production site, for example, Red Bull, Heineken or Smirnoff.
Reference List
BERRY, S. (19 December 2010). How Coca-Cola’s distribution system works. Retrieved 31 May 2016, from Colalife: How Coca-Cola’s distribution system works
Coronado, H. (15 May 2013). Information Technology and Its Impact on the Logistics Industry - See more at: http://onlinecareertips.com/2013/05/information-technology-and-its-impact-on-the-logistics-industry/#sthash.hwMJfcdN.dpuf. Retrieved 31 May 2016, from Online Carreers Tips: http://onlinecareertips.com/2013/05/information-technology-and-its-impact-on-the-logistics-industry/
Emmanson Me. (12 March 2012). Role of Information Technology in Logistics and Supply Chain Management. Retrieved 31 May 2016, from Emmanson Me: https://emmansonme.wordpress.com/2012/03/12/the-role-of-information-technology-in-logistics-and-supply-chain-management/
Felini, R. (22 June 2015). Coca-Cola isn't one giant corporation — it's a system of almost 275 companies. Retrieved 31 May 2016, from Business Insider: http://www.businessinsider.com/inside-coca-cola-franchise-system-2015-6
