Supply Chain of Coca Cola - Essay Example

Supply Chain of Coca Cola Table of Contents Summary 3 Introduction 4 Coca Cola 4 Supply Chain Management 6 Recommendations 8 Conclusion 9 References 10 Bibliography 10 Summary Coca Cola is one of the leading soft drink brands not only in US but also in Europe and throughout the world. In the upcoming London Olympics to be held in UK in the summer of 2012 Coca Cola will be a part of the London food supply operations. The summer Olympics brings with it, large crowd of audience along with the need for refreshment drinks like Coca Cola. In this period, to maintain the proper need of soft drinks, the company has look in the supply chain and logistics operations that are followed in United Kingdom. The country in due course has been able to establish itself as a leading business zone for Coca Cola. They have an established supply chain and logistics system in operation. The company has to develop a proper upstream and downstream flow of supply to maintain their supply at the rush period. Introduction Coca Cola is a global soft drink producing brand. It was brand which was first started in United States more than 100 years ago. It is the maximum selling soft drink company in the world. In US the consumption of Coca Cola is around 30 gallon per year where as in the Europe it is substantially lower in European countries like UK, Italy, Portugal and France. Through their venture in Germany Coca Cola have been able create a strong foothold in European region including UK. It has made coca cola a global and more profitable brand. They have also been able to be globalised through this period of time. Thus they have been able to achieve economies of scale and more profit from their business activities. Coca Cola Coca Cola has always kept their main emphasis on supply chain and logistics activities. Coca Cola have developed ‘focus factories concept’. According to this concept, they have developed European manufacturing point along with the global manufacturing facilities. They have developed low cost manufacturing locations and strategic “hubs” across the world. The company has started putting emphasis on long distance modes of transport for developing efficient mode of transport and distributions of products. Coca Cola have also developed specialist nature of logistics and supply chain operations. They have opted for software driven solutions in supply chain management. Coca Cola has its own supply chain management in place for more than 100 years. They have implemented the PowerAde method of supply chain management which has improved their overall supply chain system (Coca Cola, n.d.). Coca cola, in European region have also benefitted from elimination of internal tariffs. They have started growing chain stores in European nations. They have also focused on low cost and rapid delivery as their success factor. Coca Cola in UK has established itself as a leading soft drink producing brand. It had a slow beginning in European region but through the improvement of logistics and supply chain management, the company has established themselves. They are now involved in various sponsorship activities in UK e.g. football. Coca Cola as a brand has always associated itself with sporting events. The 2012 London Olympics will be a great extravaganza. Coca Cola, as a leading soft drink provider, has to develop a strategy in combination with their efficient supply chain and logistics activities to maintain availability of sufficient canned coca cola. As there will be enhanced demands for their products as athletes and officials along with crowd from around the world will come for the games. They have to maintain proper upstream and downstream flows of logistics to keep up with the demand anticipated to be present at the time of summer games. They have to maintain availability of the remote vending machines at the time of summer games for maintaining constant supply. Coca Cola has maintained a policy and an aspiration to be the most respected company globally. In this conquest, they have looked upon their vision for guiding them throughout which tells about sustainable growth through profit, people, partners, portfolio and planet. They have always considered themselves as global citizens by taking responsibilities for their social conduct. They conduct their business by following their citizenship framework of: marketplace, workplace, environment and community. Supply Chain Management The functions of supply chain and logistics are two main areas of contention for Coca Cola to move towards the global business. It is helps to create the modern global operation. Coca Cola is much proud to be the first supporters of London Olympics which is to be held in 2012. It is one of the great opportunities as well as challenge for the company. The company believes that this game provide them with a unique opportunity to encourage the customer’s behaviour for lasting changes. Promoting recycling and reducing the wastage of packaging are the great issues that are high on their priorities in United Kingdom. So, the company is thinking deeply for promoting their products on the basis of their marketing expertise for both at the venues of Olympic Games as well as to the world outside (Coca Cola, 2009). The ingredients of the product for Coca Cola (citrus, sugar, coffee, water and added flavours) are provided by the suppliers. The main idea of the company is to deliver the product directly to warehouses. The headquarters of Coca Cola is located in North America. The company has reorganized information technology, supply chain management and other procurement process as the areas of concern. In London, Coca Cola started to take in excess of a lime twist and new ways of packaging to maintain the desired level of profits. For this reason, big bottler is trying to pursue software-development talents those deals with the SAP’s for improvement in the application of delivery process. Not only in London but also all over the world, the goal of Coca Cola is to keep the product of the company available in every part of the retail framework. This responsibility lies under the company’s in-store merchandisers as well as to the delivery drivers. Several business units take the initiative for this project as upstream partner of the company as well as the enterprise; both are looking for the massive profit with reticent volume growth during the time of Olympic Games. In order to have record volume of sales and resultant profit, during the London Olympics of 2012, the company plans to build up software application system to manage the merchandising efforts, price list and product promotions, all integrated into the SAP application. Up till now, Coca Cola at a halt, have work in data sharing which is the most promising and the pressing issue that create immediate advantages for whole supply chain management system of the company. The internet based SCM system of Coca Cola is directly correlated with the company’s suppliers (upstream) and the company’s clients (downstream and) also it is expected to provide the exciting result of sales initiative in the London Olympics of 2012. It will reduce the cost and help the overall SCM parties to manage the plan and current resources as per the future demands. Recommendations There are various steps to be followed and inducted by the Coca Cola to improve their supply chain management in order to enhance their efficiency and effectiveness during the London Olympic, in 2012. Firstly, they must have clear cut project objective and competency as per the customer needs and preferences. This step would cover all of the information of consumers, distributers, suppliers, warehouse staff and the manufacturing facilities which are part and parcel of supply chain management process. The second step is to find out the process, people and things which exist as a part of supply chain. At the outset, the customer purchasing report, invoices and shipping report for identification of the customers are to be checked. Next, the carriers and the shipping costs are to be determined. Then, the data regarding the company’s supply facilities are to be compiled. Next, checking of the data and finding out the existing problem in their supply chain management process should be held and also a hypothetical scenario, which allows planning for the future crisis, should be implemented as a proto run. Finally, review of the test results is to be done and those should be formulated into action plan. The company should apply the software applications to bring together the result of the test and store the data into a user friendly mode. Conclusion The Coca Cola as a main supplying brand of Soft Drinks at the times of Olympics has to maintain their current way of supply chain activity. They have to identify the products whose demand will be the maximum at the time of Olympics. They need to maintain proper upstream flows and also downstream flows at the time of demand rush. They also need to maintain continuous flow of raw material supply for the production unit. If, the company can handle such pressure and can make plan to have better efficiency of supply chain management process, it can surely expect to increase their profits in London Olympic of 2012. References Coca Cola, No Date. What We Do. Coca Cola in UK. [Online] Available at: http://www.coca-cola.co.uk/what_we_do/ [Accessed May 08, 2010]. Coca Cola, 2009. London 2012 Olympic Games. Corporate Responsibility Review. [Online] Available at: http://www.cokecorporateresponsibility.co.uk/future-challenges/london-2012-olympic-games.aspx [Accessed May 08, 2010]. Bibliography SupplyChainer.Com, 2006. Coca Cola to Restructure Its Supply Chain. News. [Online] Available at: http://www.supplychainer.com/50226711/coca_cola_to_restructure_its_supply_chain.php [Accessed May 08, 2010]. The Coca Cola Company, No Date. Suppliers and Customers Relationships. Sustainability. [Online] Available at: http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/citizenship/value_chain.html [Accessed May 08, 2010]. Read More