Discussion 5
Article: Rapid Fire Fulfillment by Ferdows, Lewis, and Machuca
Harvard Business Review
November 2004
For this group discussion, read the article listed above and that illustrates the integration of business functions and other decisions in a responsive supply chain. The article states that, although Zara’s supply chain practices seem crazy when considered individually, their overall supply chain system is very effective. That is, as stated in the article, Zara’s supply chain approach can be said to be “penny foolish, and pound wise.”
You should post a detailed example of how Zara integrated their business functions to achieve a responsive supply chain. Consider any or all business functions including planning, production, procurement, quality, logistics, sales, marketing, finance, HR, accounting, engineering, design, and IT. For example, in Lean production settings, the HR department needs to focus on hiring people who can play a role in process improvement, the planning department needs to allocate time for process improvement activities, the finance department needs to agree to higher salaries for production workers, and the procurement department needs to find suppliers who can deliver parts reliably (even if they are not the lowest cost supplier).
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