Ejemplos de cadenas de suministros

IKEA, FABRICANTE SUECO DE MUEBLES

Fuente: Chopra&Meindl, 2008.

Kellogg

Operations

Kellogg Graduate School of Management Northwestern University

Logistics an Supply Chain Management

SEVEN-ELEVEN JAPAN CO.1

Established in 1973, Seven-Eleven Japan set up its first store in May 1974, in Koto-ku,
Tokyo. The company was first listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in October 1979. It is owned by
the Ito-Yokado group which also manages a chain of supermarkets in Japan and owns a majority share
in Southland, the company managing Seven-Eleven in the US. The last ten years have been a period
of phenomenal growth for Seven-Eleven Japan. Between 1985 and 1994, the number of stores
increased from 2,299 to 5,523; sales increased from 386 billion Yen to 1,282 billion Yen; Net income
increased from 9 billion Yen to 46 billion Yen. In 1994, Seven-Eleven Japan ranked first among
Japanese retailers in terms of ordinary profit. The return on equity (ROE) has averaged well over 20%
over the last ten years. Seven-Eleven Japan is currently Japans largest retailer in terms of operating
income and number of stores. In 1994, customer visits to Seven-Eleven outlets totaled 1.8 billion,
which translates to every person in Japan visiting a Seven-Eleven on average 15 times a year!

Company History and Profile

Both Ito-Yokado and Seven-Eleven Japan were founded by Mr. Masatoshi Ito. He started his retail
empire after the second world war, when he joined his mother and elder brother to work in a small
clothing store in Tokyo. By 1960 he was in sole control and the single store had grown into a $3
million company. After a trip to the US in 1961, Ito became convinced that superstores were the wave
of the future. At that time Japan was still dominated by Mom and Pop stores. Itos chain of
superstores in the Tokyo area was instantly popular and still constitutes the core of Ito-Yokados retail
operations.
In 1972, Ito first approached the Southland Corporation about the possibility of opening Seven-Eleven
convenience stores in Japan. After rejecting his initial request, Southland agreed to a licensing
agreement in 1973. In exchange for 0.6% of total sales, Southland gave Ito exclusive rights
throughout Japan. In May 1974, the first Seven-Eleven convenience store opened in Tokyo.
This new concept was an instant hit in Japan and experienced tremendous growth. By 1979 there were
already 519 Seven-Eleven stores in Japan. By 1984 there were 2001 stores. Rapid growth has
continued since then as detailed in Table 1, resulting in 5,523 stores by the end of 1994.
On October 24, 1990, the Southland Corporation entered into bankruptcy protection. Southland asked
for Ito-Yokados help and on March 5, 1991, IYG Holding was formed by Seven-Eleven Japan (48%)
1

This description of Seven-Eleven Japan was written after discussions with executives at Seven-Eleven Japan. The time
spent by them is gratefully acknowledged. Michael Kligers efforts in setting up the meeting with Seven-Eleven are gratefully
acknowledged. Some of the information used in this case is from a report written by Michael Kliger for the GIM Japan class
(1995).

This note was written by Sunil Chopra, Professor of Operations Management, Kellogg Graduate School of Management,
Northwestern University. This writeup has been prepared as a basis for class discussion.
Copyright 2000 by Kellogg Graduate School of Management. To order copies, call (847) 491-3603. No part of this
publication may be reproduced without the permission of the Kellogg Graduate School of Management.

Seven Eleven

and Ito-Yokado (52%). IYG acquired 70% of Southlands common stock for a total price of $430
million.
Financial data for the different segments of the Ito-Yokado group demonstrates why Seven-Eleven
Japan is worth a detailed study. Even though it contributes under 7% to the groups revenues from
operations, it contributes over 47% of the groups operating income.
Over the last ten years, Seven Eleven Japans revenue has grown on average by 12.6% annually and
its net income has grown by 20.9% annually. Seven-Eleven Japan has managed to improve its return
on sales (RoS) from 11.7% in 1984 to 25% in 1992. Over the last two years, the RoS has decreased
somewhat to 23.8 % due to the economic recession in Japan.
Based on its annual sales, Seven-Eleven Japan is the third largest retailer in Japan. However,
measured by ordinary profits, Seven-Eleven Japan is the largest retailer in Japan, even larger than its
parent company, Ito-Yokado itself. With its 5,523 stores, Seven-Eleven is the largest convenience
store chain in Japan. It is closely followed by Daiei CVS with 5,045 stores.

The Convenience Store Industry and 7-Eleven

As in the US, convenience stores in Japan provide customers with a variety of products
carried by general retailers as well as food retailers. As of 1991, the retail structure was as shown
below.
Comparison of retail outlets by sales (billion Yen)
Type of Retailer
Retailer
Food Retailer
Convenience Store
7-Eleven Japan

Annual Sales
140,633
41,452
3,050
1,081

Relative Annual Sales

100%
29.5%
2.2%
0.8%

Comparison of retail outlets by number of stores

Type of Retailer
Retailer
Food Retailer
Convenience Store
7-Eleven Japan

Number of stores
1,591,186
622,751
19,603
4,629

% of total stores
100%
39.1%
1.2%
0.3%

While it is a small part of the overall retail outlets, Seven-Eleven Japan is a significant part of the
convenience store outlets. Its share of this market has in fact grown since 1991. This growth has been
very carefully planned exploiting the core strengths that Seven-Eleven Japan has developed in the
areas of Information systems and Distribution systems.

Seven Eleven

The Seven-Eleven Franchise System

Seven-Eleven has developed an extensive Franchise network and plays a key role in the daily
operations of this network. The Seven-Eleven network consists of both company owned stores and
third party owned franchises. In 1994 the percentage of company owned stores was 29.2%. To ensure
efficiency, Seven-Eleven Japans fundamental network expansion policy is based upon a market
dominance strategy. Entry into any new market is built around a cluster of 50 to 60 stores. Such
clustering gives Seven-Eleven a high density market presence and allows it to operate an efficient
distribution system. Seven-Eleven, in its annual report, lists the following as advantages of the
market-dominance strategy:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Boosts distribution efficiency.

Improves brand awareness.
Increases system efficiency.
Enhances the efficiency of franchise support services.
Improves advertising effectiveness.
Prevents competitors entrance into the dominant area.

Adhering to their dominant strategy, Seven-Eleven opened the majority of the 417 new stores in areas
with existing clusters of stores.
However, geographically Seven-Eleven Japan has a limited presence. They have stores in less
than half (21 out of 47) the prefectures within Japan. However within prefectures where they are
present, stores tend to be dense. The distribution of Seven-Eleven stores within Japan is contained in
Figure 2.
Less than 1 out of 100 applicants is awarded a franchise (a testament to their profitability).
The franchise owner is required to put 3 million Yen up front. Half of this amount is used for
preparation of the store and training of the owner. The rest is used for purchasing the initial stock for
the store.
Seven-Eleven has an active ongoing relationship with the franchises. Forty five percent of
total gross profits at a store go to Seven-Eleven with the rest going to the store owner. The
responsibilities of the two are as follows:
Seven-Eleven Japan responsibilities:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Development of supply and merchandise.

Providing the ordering system.
Cost of system operation.
Accounting.
Advertising.
Installation and remodeling of facilities.
80% of utility costs.

Franchise owner responsibilities:

1. Operation and management of store.
2. Hiring and paying staff.

Seven Eleven

3. Ordering.
4. Maintaining store appearance.
5. Customer service.

Store Information and Contents

As mentioned in Table 1, Seven-Eleven had 5,523 stores in Japan and Hawaii, as of 1994. In
Japan, each Seven-Eleven store has an average area of 100 square meters. This is about a third the
size of most US Seven-eleven stores. Daily sales at a store average 700,000 Yen (about $8,000),
which is about twice the average at a US store.
Seven-Eleven offers its stores a choice from a set of 5,000 SKUs. Each store carries on
average about 3,000 SKUs depending upon the customer demand in the local area. Each store carries
food items, beverages, magazines, and consumer items such as soaps, detergents etc. Sales across
product categories from 1990 to 1994 are given in Figure 3. Almost 90% of Seven-Eleven stores in
Japan operate on a 24 hour basis and about 40% sell liquor.
Food items can be classified in four broad categories: (i) Chilled temperature (5C) items
including sandwiches, delicatessen products, and milk; (ii) Hot temperature (20C) items including
box lunches, rice balls, and fresh bread; (iii) Frozen items (-20C) including ice cream, frozen foods,
and ice cubes; (iv) Room temperature items including canned food, instant noodles, and seasonings.
Fresh food and fast food items from categories (i) and (ii) have been very big sellers for the stores.
Towards the end of 1993 Seven-Eleven held a 20th anniversary sale over four stages, to appeal to
price conscious customers and publicize the excellent value of the fresh and fast food products. In
1994, Seven-Eleven saw double digit increases of 12.6% for rice products and 10.5% for sandwiches.
In 1994 fresh and fast foods contributed about 40% of the total sales at each store (contrast with a
convenience store in the US). In fact rice products alone (rice balls etc. included in fast foods) were
sold worth 208.9 billion Yen in 1994 (this is equivalent to the sales of Japans leading fast food
chain!). In 1994, there were 32 companies with 72 dedicated plants producing original rice dishes and
prepared bread products for Seven Eleven Japan. In addition there were 120 companies with 129
dedicated plants producing original delicatessen items. Seven-Eleven plans to introduce oven-fresh
bread products which are also expected to perform well. Seven-Eleven will be the first convenience
retailer to introduce such products.
In the beverage category, all stores sell soft drinks. This includes both brand names as well as
private label items (developed for Seven-Eleven). Because of the recent liberalization of liquor license
laws in Japan several Seven-Eleven stores also sell alcoholic beverages (currently 41.1% of the stores
sell liquor). Private label soft drinks and alcoholic beverages (here also Seven-Eleven plans to develop
a private label beer with Philip Morris) have seen an increase in sales.
Magazines have also seen a significant growth in sales of 12.7% in 1994. Seven-Eleven
expects this pattern to continue in the near future.

Bill Payment Service

For customers who choose to pay their utility bills in person each month, rather than relying
on the automatic debit system, Seven-Eleven provides a utility bill payment service. With more
convenient operating hours and locations than banks or other financial institutions, the bill payment

Seven Eleven

service attracts millions of additional customers every year. This service was started in 1987 and more
than 10 million bills were paid using this service in 1994. In April 1994, Seven-Eleven began a
service to accept installment payments on behalf of credit companies. The major thrust for offering
these services is to make Seven-Eleven stores more convenient places to shop. The Integrated store
information system at Seven-Eleven allows it to offer such information and accounting based services.

Seven-Elevens Integrated Store Information System

From its start, Seven Eleven Japan sought to simplify its operations by using advanced
information technology. Seven-Eleven Japan attributes a significant part of its success to a
comprehensive store information system installed in every outlet and linked both to suppliers and the
Seven-Eleven distribution centers. The first on-line network linking the head-office, stores and
vendors was established in 1979. There was no point-of-sales (POS) information collected at his time.
In 1982, Seven-Eleven was the first company in Japan to introduce a POS system comprising POS
cash registers and terminal control equipment. In 1985, the company developed, jointly with NEC,
personal computers using color graphics that were installed at each store and linked to the POS cash
registers. These computers were also on the network linking the store to the head office as well as the
vendors. Up to July 1991, head office, stores, distribution centers and suppliers were linked only by a
traditional analog network. At that point in time an integrated services digital network (ISDN) was
installed. Linking more than 5,000 stores, it is today one of the worlds largest ISDN systems. Seven
Eleven Japan spent 2.4 billion Yen setting up this network.
ISDN uses digital technology to send voice, data and graphic information through a single
optical fiber line. The fiber optic line greatly increases the capacity and speed of the transmission as
compared to traditional copper cable. The 64-kilobit ISDN that Seven Eleven uses can send, for
example, 4,000 Chinese characters per second, 30 times faster than he old analog network. The twoway, high speed on-line communication capability of ISDN enables Seven Eleven to collect, process,
and feed back POS data quickly. Sales data gathered in each store by 11 p.m. is processed and ready
for analysis the next morning.
The current hardware at a store is as follows:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Graphic order terminals for placing orders linked to the store computer.
Scanner terminals to scan deliveries from the distribution center.
A store computer that links to the ISDN network as shown in Figure 4.
POS registers linked to the store computer.

The role of each piece of hardware is detailed below.

The Graphic Order Terminal is a hand held device, and has a wide screen graphic display that is used
by the store owner/manager to place orders. The items are recorded and brought up in the order in
which they are arranged on the shelves. The store manager/owner walks down the aisles and places
orders by item. When placing this order the store manager has access to detailed analysis to POS data
related to the particular item (from the store computer). A listing of the analysis available is given in
Table 5. The store manager then uses this information when placing this order. The order is directly
entered into the terminal. Once all the orders are placed, the terminl is returned to its slot, at which
point the orders are relayed by the store computer to both the appropriate vendor and the SevenEleven distribution center.

Seven Eleven

The Scanner Terminals read bar code and record inventory. They are used to receive product coming
in from a distribution center. This is then automatically checked against a previously placed order and
the two are reconciled. Before the scanner terminals were introduced, truck drivers waited in the store
till the delivery was checked. Currently, the driver simply drops the delivery in the store, and a store
clerk receives it at a suitable time when there are few customers. The scanner terminals are also used
when examining inventory at stores.
The Store Computer is linked to the ISDN network, the POS register, the graphic order terminal and
the scanner terminal. It communicates between the various input sources, tracks store inventory and
sales, places orders, provides detailed analysis of POS data (see Table 5), and maintains and regulates
store equipment.
In 1993, Seven Elevens ISDN network handled 200 million bits of sales data per day or 7 billion bits
over the year. The network completely integrates information among stores, distribution centers,
suppliers, and the headquarters (see Figure 4). The information network further improves the ordering
process, inventory control, merchandising mix, and the efficiency of store operations as well as the
distribution system.
To better understand the functioning of this information network, consider a sampling of daily
operations. As soon as a customer purchases an item and pays at the POS register, the item
information is retrieved from the store computer and time of sales automatically recorded. In addition
the cashier inputs the age and sex of the customer. To do this (s)he has five register keys for the
categories: under 13, 13-19, 20-29, 30-49, 50+. This POS data is automatically transmitted on-line to
a host computer. All sales data collected by 11 p.m. is organized and ready for analysis by next
morning. The data is analyzed on a company wide, district, and store basis.
The analyzed and updated data is sent back to the Seven Eleven stores via the ISDN. Each
store computer automatically updates its product master file to analyze its recent sales and stock
movements. The main objective of the analysis is to improve the ordering process. Table 5 gives a
complete overview of the results of the analysis provided by the store computer. All this information
is available on the Graphic Order Terminal used for order placement.
A major benefit of the information system is that it has allowed Seven Eleven stores to better
match supply with demand. The information system has allowed store staff to adjust the
merchandising mix on the shelves according to consumption patterns in the course of the day. For
example, popular breakfast items are stocked earlier during the day while popular dinner items are
stocked later in the evening. The identification of slow and non-moving items allows a store to free up
shelf space that can be used to introduce new items. Over 50% of the items sold at a Seven Eleven
store change in the course of the year. Part of this relates to seasonality of demand and part to new
products. When a new product is introduced, the decision whether to continue stocking is made within
the first three weeks. Each item on the shelf contributes to sales and margin and does not waste
valuable shelf space.

Seven-Elevens distribution system

The strength of the Seven-Eleven distribution system has been to tightly link the entire supply
chain for all categories of products. The Seven-Eleven distribution centers and the information
network play a key role in this regard. The major objective is to carefully track sales of items and

Seven Eleven

offer short replenishment cycle times. This allows a store manager to accurately forecast sales
corresponding to each order.
Seven-Eleven currently offers the stores three times a day delivery of all rice dishes (which
comprise most of the fast food items sold). Bread and other fresh food are delivered twice a day. The
distribution system is flexible enough to alter delivery schedules depending on customer demand. For
example ice cream is delivered daily over the summer but only thrice a week at other times. The
replenishment cycle times for fresh and fast food items have now been shortened to under 12 hours. A
store order for rice balls by 10 am is delivered before the dinner rush.
As discussed earlier, the store manager uses a graphic order terminal to place an order. All
stores have been given cut-off times for breakfast, lunch and dinner ordering. When a store places an
order it is immediately transmitted to the supplier as well as the distribution center. The supplier gets
orders from all Seven-Eleven stores and starts production to fill the orders. The supplier then sends
the orders by truck to the distribution center. Each store order has been separated so the distribution
center can easily assign it to the appropriate store truck using the order information it already has. The
key to store delivery is what Seven-Eleven calls the Combined Delivery System. At the distribution
center, delivery of like products from different suppliers (for example milk and sandwiches) is
directed into a single temperature controlled truck. There are four categories of temperature controlled
trucks: frozen foods (-20C), chilled foods(5C), room temperature processed foods, and hot foods
(20C). Each such truck makes deliveries to more than one retail store. The number of store per truck
depends on the sales volume. All deliveries are made during off-peak hours and are received using the
scanner terminals. The system works on trust and does not require the delivery person to be present
when the store personnel scan in the delivery. This has cut down on the time spent at each store
during delivery.
This distribution system has enabled Seven-Eleven to reduce the number of vehicles required
for daily delivery service to each store, even though the delivery frequency of each item is quite high.
In 1974, 70 vehicles visited each store every day. Now only 11 are necessary. This has dramatically
reduced delivery costs and enabled rapid deliver of a variety of fresh foods.
Seven-Eleven has a total of 45 distribution centers (DCs) for combined delivery of rice dishes
(20C) and 38 distribution centers for refrigerated items (5C). These DCs handle all the fast food and
fresh items. None of these DCs carry any inventory. They merely transfer inventory from supplier
trucks to Seven-Eleven distribution trucks. These items are delivered from a total of 152 companies
and 201 plants. The transportation is provided by Transfleet Ltd., a company for the exclusive use of
Seven-Eleven Japan, set up by Mitsui and Co. The outline of the combined distribution system is
shown in Figure 6.

Seven Eleven

TABLE 1

Financial Figures for Seven Eleven Japan (1985-1994)

For fiscal years ended

February 28/29
Net Sales (Billion Yen)
Revenue (Billion Yen)
Ordinary Profit (Billion Yen)
Net Income (Billion Yen)
Net Income per share (Yen)
Dividends per share (Yen)
Number of stores

For fiscal years ended

February 28/29
Net Sales (Billion Yen)
Revenue (Billion Yen)
Ordinary Profit (Billion Yen)
Net Income (Billion Yen)
Net Income per share (Yen)
Dividends per share (Yen)
Number of stores

1985

1986

1987

1988

1989

386.7
69.8
20.0
9.1
29.9
23.0
2,299

453.6
83.7
25.5
11.6
38.2
28.0
2,651

521.9
94.7
31.2
14.4
47.1
23.0
2,964

559.1
94.0
37.9
18.4
59.9
26.0
3,304

686.3
100.2
45.2
22.3
72.7
26.0
3,653

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

780.3
113.8
53.0
26.2
83.8
26.0
4,012

931.9
137.2
66.9
33.1
106.1
29.0
4,328

1081.8
162.8
77.6
40.6
129.9
32.0
4,687

1194.9
181.9
85.1
45.0
143.8
34.0
5,106

1281.9
195.7
88.1
46.5
148.7
35.0
5,523

Seven Eleven

Figure 2
Geographic Coverage of Seven Eleven in Japan

Seven Eleven

Figure 3: Sales by Product Category

Processed Foods
Fast Foods
Fresh Foods
Nonfoods
Total

1990
334.4
148.6
111.5
185.8
780.3

1991
394.3
179.2
143.4
215.1
931.9

1992
447.6
223.8
167.9
242.5
1081.8

1993
604.8
229.5
163.9
196.7
1194.9

1994
648.3
231.8
154.5
247.3
1281.9

1400

1200

1000

Processed Foods

800

Fast Foods
Fresh Foods
Non Foods

600

Total

400

200

0
1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

10

Seven Eleven

Figure 4
Seven-Eleven Japans Information Network
To improve the efficiency of operations among franchises, distribution centers and manufacturers,
Seven-Eleven established an unrivaled, fully integrated information network. In 1991, to enable the
rapid dissemination of important information at low cost, they installed one of the worlds largest
capacity store information systems using ISDN. Sales data gathered from all stores can be analyzed
the following day. This information enables them to constantly revise their merchandise mix and
develop appropriate new products, thereby boosting sales.

11

Seven Eleven

TABLE 5: Information Analysis of POS Data

Sales analysis of product categories over time

SKU analysis
Analysis of waste or disposal
Ten week sales trends by SKU
Ten day sales trends by SKU
Sales trends for new products
Sales analysis by Day and Time
List of slow moving items
Sales analysis by product categories
Analysis of sales and number of customers over time
Contribution of product to sections in store display
Sales growth by product categories
Evaluation of merchandising

12

Seven Eleven

Figure 6

13

Seven Eleven

Figure 7

Trend of Inventory from 1984-94

Year
Inventory

1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994
12.3 11.1 10.9 10.6 10 9.4 8.8 7.9 7.7 7.8 7.7

Average Inventotry

Days of Inventory
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0

Inventory

1984

1985

1986

1987

1988

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

Year

14

Seven Eleven

Figure 8
Trend of Sales

Year
1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994
Sales/store 485 502 506 508 524 545 564 629 669 682 669

Average Daily Sales per Store ('000 Yen)

800
700
600
500
Sales/store

400
300
200
100
0
1984

1985

1986

1987

1988

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

15

Tpicos de especializacin II -1 semestre 2011

Oerlikon Soldadura se dedica a la fabricacin de electrodos por extrusin de prensa e hilo tubular y
a la comercializacin de todo tipo de productos para la soldadura fabricados en las diferentes
empresas del grupo francs AIR LIQUIDE WELDING. En Oerlikon Soldadura se entiende la
Gestin de la Cadena de Suministro (GCS) como la total integracin y sincronizacin de todos los
departamentos involucrados en las diferentes etapas por las que atraviesa un producto: compras,
produccin, almacenaje y distribucin. El modelo de Supply Chain de Oerlikon Soldadura se
fundamenta en cuatro factores claves: estrategia, agilidad, integracin y medicin. La estrategia de
gestin de la cadena de suministro est liderada por el Supply Chain Manager y respaldada por la
Direccin General. El apoyo y dedicacin de la Direccin General, otorgando a la cadena de
suministro un papel relevante y diferenciador dentro de la empresa, se considera parte muy
importante del xito. Los responsables de cada departamento involucrado en la GCS son los
responsables de definir las estrategias y procesos dentro de la misma. Para generar y revisar todas
las estrategias se realizan reuniones bimensuales de los responsables de la GCS, donde se analizan
diversos puntos: evolucin de las medidas adoptadas y ventajas competitivas generadas, evolucin
de los ratios mensuales (relacin causa-efecto), previsiones a corto y medio plazo, gestin personal,
benchmarking, etc. Los temas y decisiones adoptadas en estas reuniones son transmitidos por los
lderes de la GCS a los miembros de su departamento, para que los empleados conozcan, a todos los
niveles, la misin de la empresa y sus objetivos y planes de futuro. Para ello ha sido necesario
establecer unos mecanismos de comunicacin muy efectivos, apoyados en una fuerte motivacin y
reconocimiento del personal dentro de Oerlikon. La planificacin estratgica viene definida con
periodicidad anual y horizonte a tres aos a nivel multinacional, con revisin continua de la misma
a nivel interno de cada pas. Esta planificacin es transformada con posterioridad en indicadores
valorados econmicamente a travs de un planning de accin muy detallado.
La agilidad est basada en un proceso de mejora continua de la planificacin operacional y tctica,
que ha supuesto grandes ahorros va reduccin de stocks (20% aproximadamente), aumento de la
productividad, reduccin de los costos de transporte (17% aprox.), reduccin del espacio de
almacenaje y buenos procesos de servicio al cliente. Para la gestin de planificacin de la demandadistribucin y para el suministro de materiales-produccin, Oerlikon dispone de dos herramientas
informticas (DRP distribution resource planning y MRP II manufacturing resource planning)
integradas dentro de su sistema ERP que, si bien son parte importante dentro de la planificacin de
la empresa, siguen siendo un complemento a las reuniones mensuales de GCS. La diversidad de los
integrantes de estas reuniones (gerencia, produccin, comercial, calidad, logstica, compras, postventa) permite abarcar la prctica totalidad de la empresa, y generar as planes operacionales y de
posicionamiento tctico en el mercado basados en diversos factores: bsqueda de productos
sustitutivos a los ya existentes, introduccin de productos nuevos en el mercado, gestin de
campaas y promociones, realizacin de simulaciones, anlisis de las causas que provocan los
cambios acaecidos, anlisis de actividades y productos que no generan valor aadido, anlisis de
reclamaciones de clientes, y anlisis de las desviaciones en los planes de produccin y previsin de
ventas. La planificacin de la produccin est basada en un programa de produccin MPS
(Programacin maestra de produccin) y un programa de clculo de las necesidades de materiales
MRP II, que se parametriza en funcin de las necesidades y que se adapta a cada producto en
funcin de sus caractersticas. El resultado de cada uno de estos programas es analizado y revisado
conjuntamente para adecuarlo a los objetivos y planes fijados en las reuniones mensuales. La gran
versatilidad de estos programas, y los diferentes mtodos de clculo estadstico de que disponen, ha
hecho que la flexibilidad de la produccin aumente, adecundose cada vez ms con la demanda,
siendo la desviacin entre los planes de produccin y ventas prcticamente nula. La planificacin
de la distribucin se fundamenta en el programa DRP que, basndose en el histrico de ventas - a
travs de diferentes mtodos estadsticos, genera una previsin de la demanda (la mejor para cada
articulo en funcin de las caractersticas de cada producto y en qu fase se encuentra: estable,

estacional, lanzamiento, crecimiento, final...). Este programa genera una serie de propuestas de
accin en funcin de las necesidades: aumentar o retrasar plazos de entrega, aumentar o disminuir
cantidades en pedidos, generar rdenes de compra, reclamar pedidos pendientes por fecha de
entrega, etc. Los procesos de servicio al cliente se realizan a travs de un departamento de atencin
al cliente cuya misin principal es la grabacin y gestin de pedidos de cliente. Este departamento
de reciente creacin -tras la centralizacin en Zaragoza de toda la red de distribucin- ha propiciado
un incremento en la satisfaccin del servicio al cliente, como demuestran las encuestas. Este
departamento mantiene puntualmente informado al cliente sobre la situacin de los pedidos, la
disponibilidad y caractersticas de los productos, los plazos de entrega, los precios y condiciones de
cliente, las reparaciones post-venta, etc. La total integracin con el proveedor de transporte
nacional permite poder disponer en tiempo real, va Internet, de la situacin en la que se encuentran
todas las expediciones en cada momento, pudiendo as dar una informacin veraz y real a los
clientes sobre la situacin de sus pedidos. Estos procesos de servicio al cliente se complementan
con un continuo seguimiento de las reclamaciones del cliente por parte del departamento de calidad,
que ha conseguido la total documentacin de las mismas, y con un buen proceso de gestin de
cobro a clientes. Oerlikon utiliza varios KPI para medir su gestin, entre stos:

Servicio al cliente: medido en funcin del plazo de entrega de lneas por pedido (el objetivo
en Oerlikon est fijado en 24 horas). Para analizar este indicador se apoya en el informe de
calidad de servicio del proveedor de transporte.

Evolucin de quiebres diarios de stock: distinguiendo entre alta, media y baja rotacin, y
analizando su impacto monetario.

Evolucin de roturas fin de mes.

Niveles de inventario: valorados en das o meses de venta, as como rotaciones del mismo.

Tiempo de ciclo total: el tiempo que transcurre desde que un cliente realiza un pedido hasta
que recibe el producto.

ROCE (rentabilidad de los capitales empleados) y ROE (rentabilidad de los fondos

propios).

Cash to cash o anlisis del plazo medio de cobro frente al plazo medio de pago.

Costos de Supply Chain propiamente dichos: % costo servicio cliente s/ventas, costo de
servicio y procesamiento de pedidos por pedido, % costo aprovisionamiento s/compras,%
costo almacn/distribucin s/ventas, costo almacn/distribucin por pedido, % transporte
de ventas s/ventas, % transporte de compras s/compras y obsolescencia de productos s/valor
del stock total.

Productividad por trabajador: tanto en fbrica como en almacn (por ejemplo, nmero de
lneas preparadas por operario/da).

% errores de envo por n de pedidos da, % de planes de produccin alcanzados sobre los
previstos, Cumplimiento de las previsiones de venta (% de desviaciones respecto a lo
previsto), % de entregas del proveedor recibidas a tiempo, % de entregas del proveedor
recibidas completas.

Encuestas de satisfaccin externa (clientes externos) e internas (clientes internos: red

comercial de Oerlikon).

Preguntas:
1. Con relacin a los 4 pilares de la cadena de abastecimiento (inventarios, instalaciones,
transporte, informacin) que estrategias identifica Ud., qu objetivos tendrn?.
2. Es esta empresa una productora de un commodity? Como aplica el concepto de calce
estratgico?
3. Que KPI aplica Oerlikon para medir customer service y eficiencia?.
4. Como se mediran estos KPIs (datos requeridos, frmulas de clculo)?

Caso WW Grainger
W.W Grainger es un distribuidor de empresa a empresa (B2B) de suministros de MRO (mantenimiento.
reparacin y operacin) que vende ms de 200.000 productos diferentes que van desde consumibles como
lubricantes de maquinaria hasta ferretera como tornillos y tuercas. Tradicionalmente venda utilizando un
catlogo impreso. Los clientes colocaban los pedidos por telfono o caminaban para tal efecto hasta una de las
400 sucursales (similares a las tiendas minoristas) en Estados Unidos. El comprador recoga los pedidos
telefnicos en la sucursal o un servicio de envo por paquetera las entregaba al consumidor final. Temprano, ya
en 1995, la compaa estableci Grainger.com. que permiti a los clientes colocar sus pedidos en lnea. Este
negocio ha crecido rpidamente en la industria de los suministros de MRO con competidores como McMasterCarr, que ha construido el suyo propio.
Grainger.com le da acceso al cliente a 220,000 productos, mientras que el catlogo impreso ofrece slo cerca
de 80.000. En comparacin con el catlogo, la bsqueda de un producto es ms simple por Internet gracias a
los motores de bsqueda que ha desarrollado. El incremento de la variedad le permite atraer ms clientes y
satisfacer ms necesidades de los existentes. Internet le permite incrementar los ingresos al introducir nuevos
productos tan pronto como estn disponibles. Con las campaas de marketing y publicidad directa tendra que
esperar a que se enviara un nuevo catlogo para que los clientes estuvieran informados de los nuevos
productos. El comercio electrnico tambin le permite ofrecer promociones y cambiar los precios con facilidad
sin tener que enviar nuevos catlogos. Grainger.com permite a los clientes colocar pedidos y verificar el
estatus en cualquier momento. Esto constituye un beneficio significativo para los compradores, quienes
pueden aprovechar esta capacidad para mejorar sus procesos de compra. Por ejemplo, el personal del turno de
la noche puede emplear Internet para colocar y verificar los pedidos que necesita. Ya no tiene que esperar a la
gente del turno de la maana para colocarlos. Esto mejora la precisin de los pedidos y reduce el tiempo
necesario para procesarlos. Un estudio realizado por la consultora Aberdeen Group indica que las compras en
lnea disminuyen la duracin y el tiempo de surtido del pedido de un promedio de 7.3 das a un promedio de 2.
La disminucin en el tiempo permite atraer ms pedidos a travs del negocio electrnico. Otro estudio
realizado por W.W. Grainger Consulting estima que los distribuidores de MRO podran ver ganancias
incrementales en las ventas de 10 a 20% al vender en lnea.
W.W. Grainger emplea el comercio electrnico para disminuir sus costos de procesamiento y, en cierto grado
los de sus instalaciones. Es notable que sus clientes tambin vean una significativa reduccin en los costos de
procesamiento del pedido como resultado de su uso.
Con el incremento en los pedidos por Internet que se entregan por medio de servicios de paquetera, W.W.
Grainger es capaz de agregar ms sus inventarios lo que da como resultado la reduccin de los mismos y aun
ms, si las ventas en lnea crecen lo suficiente permitira a la compaa cerrar algunas de sus sucursales. Sin
embargo, los beneficios quiz sern pequeos, puesto que la red existente de la cadena de suministro esta
bien adaptada para las ventas en lnea. Los clientes tambin ahorran en costos de inventario como resultado
del comercio electrnico, ya que los tiempos de entrega del reabastecimiento en Internet son ms bajos que
con los mtodos tradicionales. En los primeros meses de puesta en marcha se observ aumento de costos de
transportes de paquetes y cierre de algunas sucursales. Debido a que ahora los clientes que hacen pedidos por
Internet realizando todas las actividades de colocacin, esto ha permitido disminuir el nmero de
representantes de servicio al cliente en todos sus centros de atencin telefnica (call centers).
Los clientes tambin ahorran en los costos de procesamiento de sus pedidos como resultado del comercio
electrnico, puesto que es una manera conveniente en que la corporacin coloca catlogos de amplio
contenido en las manos de los usuarios finales de MRO. Como resultado las compaas ya no requieren de
personal para procesar los pedidos. Asimismo para muchas empresas, el comercio electrnico representa una
oportunidad rpida y conveniente de deshacerse de los ineficientes mtodos manuales de abastecimiento. El
grupo Aberdeen estima que la compra en lnea de suministros de MRO ahorra cerca de 30 dlares por pedido
en costos administrativos.

1) En los indicadores y/o criterios siguientes, establezca si aumentan (+) o disminuyen con una
breve argumentacin del por qu:
1. Tiempo de respuesta a los clientes (distribuidores de MRO)
2. Variedad de productos
3. Disponibilidad de productos
4. Costos del cliente
5. Visibilidad del pedido
6. Valor de las ventas
7. Costos de Inventario
8. Costo de Instalaciones
9. Costos de Transporte
10. Inversiones en Informacin
2) En base a su experiencia y conocimientos cmo definira Ud., y de donde obtendra los datos
para calcular valores de los indicadores de arriba?