Tesla: Creating a revolution in the luxury car industry

If you are somewhat familiar even a little bit about stocks and have an interest in investing, you probably have heard about the recent boom of Tesla Motors (NASDAQ: TSLA) stock. Recently, the stock went as high as $110 a share; this was a 103% increase over a one month period and a 247% increase over a 3 month period.Source: AutoBlog

So you may be thinking, what caused this sudden increase and growth? Tesla stock first jumped 31% on May 8th when it announced its First Quarter sales to be $562 Million and recorded  first quarterly profit in its 10-year history of $15 million.  In a letter to shareholders, CEO Elon Musk mentioned that Tesla delivered 4,900 electric vehicles as well as other important figures. One of them being that their gross margin doubled from 2012 to 17 percent. This was made possible due to better use of raw materials, smarter inventory management, and a reduction in the hours required to build each car by 40 percent over the quarter.

In the first quarter of the year, Tesla delivered more than 4,750 Model S vehicles in the US which when compared to the more traditional luxury car brands such as BMW 7-series and Mercedes S Class, is much higher. BMW sold 2,338 7-Series models in the first quarter while Mercedes sold 3,077 S-Class models. The demand for their most popular model, Model S, is projected to be around 20,000 units per year in North America and in Europe, the current order rate is 200 per week. In order to meet these demands, they have added some changes to their manufacturing process which should drive margins higher.

Some of these changes include:

(1) a reduction in temp workers since the beginning of the      year

(2) increased efficiencies and reduced scrappage both at supplier and in-house production sites

(3) a streamlining of operations leading to a further reduction in full time employee man-hours from 60-70hrs/week previously to 40-50 hrs/week currently

(4) a significant improvement in logistics costs.

 

Currently their body assembly and finished assembly are still running on a 2 shift basis so the main goal of the production team right now is to get production levels of 20,000 on a single shift across most processes.

With the Tesla Model S being a luxury car and priced at $62,400, I feel that its affordable and much better then other cars. Do you see Tesla continuing to be as successful as they are now and do you think their stock price will continue to go up as it is now? As I mentioned earlier, they out sold Mercedes and BMW luxury models, do you think that will continue to happen in the future as well? What would you rather have, Tesla or other traditional luxury car models?

 

 

http://venturebeat.com/2013/05/08/tesla-stock-jumps-almost-20-after-record-562m-in-sales-and-first-ever-quarterly-profit/

http://www.valuewalk.com/2013/04/tesla-motors-inc-tsla-model-s-sells-more-than-mercedes-and-bmw/

http://www.valuewalk.com/2013/05/tesla-motors-inc-tsla-envisions-selling-around-500k-units-long-term/

Saving the Planet One Aisle at a Time: Tesco’s Sustainability Movement

Many companies want to promote sustainability within their markets since it attracts more customers, however competition and living within specific limits are stopping them from achieving this goal. Sustainability, which includes sustainable design, building and operations, is the collection of strategies and policies employed by companies in order to reduce their overall impact on the future generations. By taking waste from one part of the production process and using that waste to generate new product is a great way to minimize the consumption of limited natural resources and maintain their availability for the future.

800px-Bradley_Stoke_Tesco_2It is very important for management to set goals and develop a strategy when searching for improvement opportunities in order to implement a sustainability program within their company. I think it is much easier being sustainable than going green and many other companies are following in such footsteps.

For instance, Tesco, a British multinational grocery store and third-largest general merchandise retailer in the world measured by revenues and second-largest measured by profits, has recently planned out new business strategies and goals in three various areas, one of which is to reduce food waste globally and become a more sustainable company.

Tesco-1024x468

Research by Tesco shows that about one third of the world’s food is never eaten and instead it is thrown out or left to rot. Therefore, Tesco is planning to pursue this food waste issue in three crucial areas which are: its own operations, the supply chain and agriculture, as well as the customers. The company has the ability to track down waste and find where it happens as it leaves the farmer’s field and reaches the customers’ home, and everything that happens in between.

According to the article, Tesco claims that around 32 percent of food is wasted across its value chain, of which 16 percent comes from the supply chain and agriculture, the other 16 percent coming from customers and less than 1 percent is from the retailer.

Because of the large amount of food waste across all markets, the company is working to develop an advanced measurement for the amount of food ruined in its operations. This will permit Tesco to track progress through a period of time which can significantly minimize the waste as well as achieve its goal of sustainability. Since the food waste is much lower in the UK than in other markets, it plans to follow in their specific operational practices and more precise forecasting so that food does not rot or is thrown out with the high supply rate.

Being more transparent and sustainable for a company with a global marketplace is tough, however, Tesco hopes that by keeping a strong track record of its waste management will lead to a decrease in the food waste levels throughout its value chain, attract more customers, and keep increasing its profits.

Do you think the tracking record will achieve greater sustainability for Tesco or should they examine other ways to manage their inventory and to minimize the overall food waste?

Source: http://www.environmentalleader.com/2013/05/29/tesco-announces-goal-to-reduce-food-waste-globally/

Sending Inventory to the Clouds

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Since the creation of inventory management software, many small businesses have not been able to take advantage   of the expensive computer solutions available only to large corporations. But things are about to change, thanks to  BrightPearl and cloud. The Internet cloud, that is.

In traditional inventory management systems, the company is required to purchase the software and install it into the specific office computers that need to use it. The cloud changes the way people can access the software, and it can support hundreds of computers simultaneously. It also can save companies money by regularly updating, without having to install new versions manually. Initial installation is low cost, and does not require highly skilled IT professionals to set up. Brightpearl currently supports Magento, eBay and eKMPowershop.com. It starts at only $99 per user each month, and there is a $120 connector fee to set up the connections to different e-commerce

channels.

The Cloud is useful in a number of ways. Real-time monitoring allows the system to update across the entire system instantly, therefore reducing the amount of error that can occur between the transfer of information from one computer to the next. Just like Google Drive, the cloud will update across offices, and will allow everyone to see the inventory purchases across divisions. The cloud even supports devices such as smart phones and tablets, so you can monitor your inventory at home, in meetings, or on the go. Departmental communication will also be increased, so everyone will know each departments demand, inventory, or when items need to be restocked or shipped. It also allows you to see where the bottleneck issues are, what the fixed orders should be, and how to calculate ROP.

Although there are many upsides to the cloud, there are also several drawbacks. Security is main concern for the use of the cloud, and is very controversial within the industry. If the system was hacked, people could see how many orders are being made, and therefore use the information to their advantage. It could also lead to a loss in IT workers, since the cloud service would handle all customer service problems and issues. IT people would no longer be of service, and many would lose their jobs. Another drawback to using an inventory monitoring system in the cloud is performance risks. According to IT specialist David Kim, “Leaving out integration issues alone, cloud-based ERP are essentially related to threatened speed, reliability of network, outage risks, and limitations on data transfer” (Kim, 2013).

Do you think BrightPearl and the cloud is a good place to monitor the entire inventory for a company, or should they stick to the original software systems? Do you think the cloud will eventually take over business computer systems, or is it too risky for companies to vitally important information like their inventory management systems in a cloud that could be hacked by outside competitors?

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Sources: http://www.mbtmag.com/articles/2013/05/benefits-cloud-based-inventory-management-software

http://www.academia.edu/2777755/Benefits_and_Drawbacks_of_Cloud-Based_versus_Traditional_ERP_Systems

http://www.zdnet.com/cloud-services-make-inventory-management-simpler-7000015550/

Are Corporations Our Personal Shoppers?

The thought of ordering an item online and receiving it the same day, just a few hours later seems unrealistic. With technology becoming more integrated in our world and the demand for instant gratification, this unrealistic idea is now a reality. Major corporations like Wal-Mart, Amazon, and EBay have adopted this new service of same-day delivery. It is really testing the limits of supply chain management, and now a whole new look on logistics is being placed in the hands of these corporations.

walamrt  Wal-Mart , is sitting at an advantage because of its massive fleet of stores across the country. They use their 4,005 locations as inventory holders and distribution centers, so now when you order something before noon you can receive it by that evening. Workers will literally go down the aisle and collect the item you want, which is later delivered to your door. Even though this service is only in the test phase in five major cities, Denver, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, northern Virginia and San Francisco/San Jose, it has proven to be a huge success thus far.

Amazon has a new technology that now sends your order to the closest of its 40 massive and highly efficient distribution centers that has same day service available. From here a robot find your item and places it in a place where a human can package it and ship it to you just in time before the day is over. This is pretty crazy, right? Wait till read this next corporation’s new strategy!

debay   EBay, a dominant online seller has a brand-new beta service that brings same day delivery to an even new level. It currently operates in beta form in New York, San Francisco, and San Jose. This service involves personal shoppers, or “valets, that EBay will send to pick up a good you have just ordered. They will literally drive to the outlet from which you ordered it from through EBay, and deliver it to your doorstep that same day, sometimes even within only few hours! If this doesn’t impress you then this will. EBay now even offers an iOS app that you can use to buy, and track your item for same day delivery. This app tracks your “valets” progress in real time so you know exactly where he/she is, what step of the delivery they are on, and how far away they are from your home. This tracking app will even give you a picture of what the “valet” looks like so you can recognize them when they arrive. Once they have arrived, all you have to do is simply swipe your credit card, or pay with PayPal. The best part about this service is that it costs only $5, yes that’s it!

With this extremely gratifying service from these corporations how do you think it tests the limits of supply chain management and inventory management? Could this be the future for online shopping or delivery? Do you think implementing the service that EBay has in many other corporations could add a lot of jobs to the economy?

 

Sources:

http://www.wired.com/insights/2013/05/once-refined-same-day-delivery-will-be-commonplace/

 

http://blog.apptricity.com/bid/283436/How-Walmart-and-Others-Are-Achieving-Same-Day-Delivery

 

Abercrombie & its Hitch.

Abercrombie & Fitch has been affected by a dramatic decrease in sales in the US. ANF’s stock had once been gaining 20%, when the stock market barely moved. However, everything came to an end on May 24, 2013, when ANF reported its earnings. ANF’s store sales declined 17%. Their shares then went down 8%. Even though they reduced their loss to $7.2 million from $21.3 million, it completely blew Wall Street’s prediction of $0.05 loss per share.

What could be the cause of these huge losses that Abercrombie is facing? Is it the result of CEO Mike Jeffries’ comments that resurfaced recently from a 2006 interview, on how the Abercrombie and Fitch brand don’t carry plus sizes for teens, because the brand exclusively only goes after the cool, good-looking kids? Or could there be something more?

Well, it turns out that Abercrombie started declining before the CEO’s comments reemerged this year. Even though there has been a lot of consumer out lash at the company, the CEO insists that the main problem facing Abercrombie is inventory shortage issues. Abercrombie hasn’t been able to bring in their spring merchandise quickly into the stores, compared to most of their competitors like H&M, who believe in fast-fashion. To gain a competitive advantage and to get back on their sales track, Abercrombie is changing the way they order their inventory, for a quicker turnaround. The CEO stated that most of their inventory issues have been resolved now, however, their sales profits forecasts has been lowered for the rest of the year, compared to previous years. With the company operating 1,053 stores currently, they also predicted to close 40 to 50 stores in the United States. Abercrombie has been acting really quickly on addressing key issues throughout their company to get their profits back up.

In class, we learned about the ten critical decisions which includes inventory management, then we learned about ethics and social responsibility and finally forecasting. Abercrombie’s situation ties in all of these things we’ve learned and teaches us how important these factors are in a business.

The company is now dealing with their losses and their shares plunging, just because of the inventory issue. Another issue, I think they’re facing is the social media. As a reputable company, they have a social responsibility to respect all of their customers. Ever since the CEO’s comments appeared in the media, many people have been fighting against Abercrombie (Examples: A man donating Abercrombie clothes to homeless, a plus size blogger posing in similar Abercrombie ads, a teen activist who petitioned for an apology from the CEO with 68,000 signatures). Do you think that Abercrombie is dealing with these losses solely because of their inventory management or because of the recent outlash at the company? Also, will Abercrombie  remain confident in their solid brand equity, when its competitors like H&M, American Eagle, and Aeropostale are attracting teens with their prices and fast fashion layout, bringing in new merchandise to the stores more often?

Source:

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-abercrombie-earnings-20130525,0,6735405.story

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/chi-abercrombie-earnings-20130524,0,3689716.story

Plus size blogger: http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/business&id=9113106

Video:

Man giving homeless people, Abercrombie & Fitch clothes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPmqZAhLVuI

“Lets Cap Up!” -Ford

Ford has increased their production capacity for the second year in a row in order to meet their production demand for their cars, trucks, and utilities. The Chicago assembly plant, one of the many plants included in the plan, will play a critical factor in the company’s production capacity who seeks to increase total production by 200,000 units. It seems like the company will for now only focus on their more popular automobiles which include the Ford Explorer, Ford Fusion, and the Ford F-Series. Ford plans on increasing the production capacity by only allowing one-week summer shutdowns which in turn will produce 40,000 new units. Currently Ford’s stock is listed at $14.49 per share, while General Motors is trading at $32.87.

General Motors is also planning on increasing their production capacity, however they are focusing on introducing 23 new cars and trucks to their automobile portfolio. Ford states that the company is planning to add 1,300 hourly jobs this year alone and it is planning to offer 12,000 hourly jobs by 2015. Ford’s revenues increased 10.5% to $35.8 billion.

The automobile industry has been considered America’s backbone for many years and we have heard of the struggles it went through especially during the recent recession with needed government aid. I understand that the industry as a whole is looking to increase capacity however Ford has not mentioned any new automobiles to be added as part of the plan. We have all heard of the phrase, “just because everyone’s jumping off a bridge does not mean you have to.” I believe that this is a risky move for Ford with what they plan on doing with their production right now and we all know the costs that run along with production and storage.

The company states that in plans to increase hourly jobs. However, adding these hourly jobs does not completely mean that hourly workers would be able to work full-time hours. The company has yet to declare whether or not these workers will be working full-time and the type of benefits they would receive. I believe Ford is eager to increase their production due to what other companies are doing and because of their recent growth. However, in the automobile industry, bad forecasting can be very costly for many reasons. For example, if revenue drops for the next year or two, then the company is stuck with a large number of vehicles in their storage centers. No company wants to report new hiring and then go downhill with reported job cuts and firings after.

In Ford’s case, is it too soon to increase this production capacity and plan on new hires? Does one good fiscal year call for changes in operational management for next year? And quite frankly, can Ford compete with the innovation that General Motors is adding to their portfolio?

 

Source: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/ford-enhances-production-capacity-141502358.html

Wal-Mart Just Can’t Keep Products on the Shelves (In a Bad Way)

Wal-Mart Just Can’t Keep Products on the Shelves (In a Bad Way)

Wal-Mart has seemingly had a considerable amount of trouble keeping shelves in its stores adequately stocked since reducing the number of employees on staff at once in stores.  This is odd for a retail location since when products are not on shelves, there is not a large chance of them being purchased.  Especially disconcerting is that Wal-Mart has become the largest retailer in the world on the back of a supposed mastery of its supply chain.

Wal-Mart is now taking measures to ensure that the issue with product stocking is corrected.  The latest effort employed to do so is an external auditing process which entails a detailed process of checking each and every Wal-Mart location to make sure that products (when in stock) are on the shelves for consumption.

Wal-Mart refers to whether or not stores are adequately stocked via a metric known as on-shelf availability or OSA.  Due to the recent issues and the need to involve an external company to help stores ensure that they are stocked properly, shareholders are expected to vote at the next meeting as to whether or not Wal-Mart managers and executives should have their performance reviews and potential compensation tied to OSA.

When visiting a Wal-Mart location, check for neon green stickers next to the price tags on certain products; those are the ones that the auditors are going to be looking for.  Originally, the idea was to have the auditors go into the Wal-Mart stores and check on certain pre-determined items (unknown the store employees) and assign a grade based on how stocked those products were.  However, before the actual auditing process ended up taking place, it was determined that it would be beneficial to the employees at the stores to know the products that were being checked because those would most likely be highly driven items for the time of the year.  This entailed a rather tedious process for store managers as they had to allocate employees to the task of sticking green stickers next to products that needed to be stocked instead of actually just stocking them.

While the idea is good in theory, the actual outcome has been less than stellar since a good portion of the stores now have incredibly well-stocked green dot items with very poorly stocked products immediately next to them.  This should have been expected since the employees could focus purely on the products they would be evaluated on.

This situation is a very direct link to supply chain concept discussed in class.  In this case, the retail stores a sort of bottleneck.  After the products are produced and shipped to retail locations, they are not being put out fast enough to get to the customers.  Managers need to focus on properly allocating their limited employee resources to getting the task completed.

Do you think that this process will work?  How else could Wal-Mart improve its product stocking?

 

Retail to E-tail

There are a lot of pros and cons to doing online shopping as opposed to in-store shopping. Online shopping seems like it only affects consumers by giving them a different medium to make their purchases but we fail to realize that it affects the sellers as well. Through online purchases, businesses gather a lot of data about consumers. Sellers can track which sections of items are the most popular, which products are the most viewed and for how long, and which products are most browsed at but not bought. This gives online sellers a competitive advantage over in-store sellers as they know more about their customers. And everyone knows that the understanding your customer is one of the most important factors in having a successful business. This is empowering in-store sellers to seek e-commerce level data.

The article talks about one company that brings customer tracking data to in-store businesses. This is in hopes of slowly bridging the competitive gap between in-store purchases and online purchases. How can they possibly get consumer data without changing the in-store purchase process? By simply observing the customers! Prism Skylabs specializes in in-store surveillance equipment that tracks customer movement. Prism installs special cameras that captures everything in the store and then is sent to the store’s computers where it is processed by Prism’s special software. The images of the actual shoppers are cut out to respect their privacy.

What is so different about Prism’s techniques than regular surveillance cameras? Prism’s software allows them to “look at which products are hot, which are being moved around and touched, and all kinds of data that allow merchandise teams to understand what is going on across a wide range of stores”. This allows the sellers to get information that the type of information that online sellers use to enhance their systems to get more purchases.

Who is using Prism? Right now, Prism has partnered up with 30 retailers. Retailers that Prism is working with include T-Mobile and Famous Footwear. Does it actually work?  A candy store in Oklahoma City was using Prism in their stores and after close observation they changed their premium display to low-selling seasonal candy rather than their famous candies that buyers usually take the time to look through the store to buy. This allowed the store to quantify the customer’s thoughts and make an effective decision in their operations.

Moreover, Prism is not the only data providing company that is emerging. Other companies are picking up on the importance and building unique strategies and techniques to sell to businesses. For example, Shopkick is an app which personalizes deals for a customer in real time as they walk through the store.

Is it worth it to sellers to invest in these data gathering companies?

How do you feel as a consumer towards this type of innovation? Do you feel that you will be making more beneficial purchases or do you feel manipulated by the sellers to buy their preferred products?

Link:http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-04-25/to-catch-up-with-e-tail-tools-to-track-shoppers-in-the-store

Boeing, flying high once again?

After 15 months and millions of dollars spent, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner has resumed commercial flights. The groundbreaking jet, introduced in July 2003 was dubbed as the next generation airplane that would revolutionize the way air travel operated. Soon after preliminary flights, major aircraft corporations began to notice technical and mechanical issues that affected the reliability of the jet. These problems resulted in flights being delayed and cancelled. In January, two 787s owned by Japanese airlines experienced burning batteries that would later ground all 787s.

Prior to the grounding, delivered 787s logged a reliability rating of 97.7% (23 delays/cancellations out of 1000 flights). This result was comparable to the long tested and proven 777 that that 787 aims to replace. As technology expands, systems become more intricate and coincide with higher rates of failure. The 787 is an example of new age lithium-ion batteries, electrical systems, and computer systems that alter service requirements. This plane alone requires 10 times more power during startup than traditional Boeing planes, computer and electrical systems to be turned on three hours before each flight, and scheduled maintenance in between each flight.

During this downtime Boeing continuously has been mass producing these airplanes to fill the 800+ orders that have been filed from 50+ customers. By April 2013, 50 planes have been built and delivered to their respective companies. However, this plane does retain more positives than negatives, thus accounting for the 800+ orders. With this new technology, the planes will be able to be serviced in as little as 45 minutes. This will allow for companies to keep their planes in the air instead of on the ground. In addition, new light weight materials have been used and new fuel efficient engines fitted on the wings that allow for longer distance flights without using more fuel.

Aboard the new computer system, Boeing has also included a transmitter that will upload the airplane’s data to a world-wide network managed by Boeing’s facilities near Seattle. This system will track each jet’s information, making it easier for mechanics to fix any issues that may have occurred during a flight. This system will also allow for Boeing to monitor necessary maintenance updates as well as be able to ground any planes that it deems unsafe to fly.

Years behind schedule and plagued with problems, the Boeing 787 did not have a successful start. Boeing executives believe that in the future years to come, this plane will be more reliable than the 777 and project a reliability rating of 99+%. The 787 is a key example of problems during the operations strategy of a company and their ability to overcome difficult situations that result in millions of dollars of losses. At this point the 787 is operational, but if similar problems occur in the future, Boeing may lose potential orders.

With so many problems occurring with the 787, do you believe that its main competitor (Airbus) may be regarded as a safer investment?

What do you believe lies in the future for the 787? Will it continue to experience more problems or will it beat the projected 99+% reliability?

Works Cited
Ostrower, Jon, and Andy Pasztor. “Dreamliner’s Other Issues Draw Attention; Boeing and Airlines Try to Improve More Systems After Fixing Battery Flaws.” Wall Street Journal (Online): n/a. May 20 2013. ProQuest. Web. 22 May 2013.

Can You Have Your Cake and Eat It Too

As I’m lounging on the sofa in the family room watching my husband decorate the cakes that he baked for both our moms on Mother’s Day, thoughts about how he plans the whole process are running through my head. While my husband wasn’t enthused about the interruption, I was busy asking him multiple questions regarding how to forecast future demand, how to manage quality and quantity, and finally what inventory method is used by businesses that produce wedding cakes.

Forecasting is a critical aspect of the business to effectively manage overhead costs, ingredient inventories and most importantly, volume projections to meet demand while maintaining a profitable business. To achieve desired profitability, the business should deliver a wide variety of designs at competitive prices.

In class, I had learned about five quantitative forecasting methods. The simplest method to forecast how many wedding cakes will be produced next month is looking back at the last month’s production quantity. Another forecasting model is using the moving averages forecast method. This method uses an average of the most recent periods of data to predict of how many wedding cakes need to be produced next period. For example, the bakery may use a 3-month moving average by adding the last 3-month production of wedding cakes and dividing by 3 months. However, to use this method, we would assume that the market for wedding cake demands is quite stable.

Next important aspect for a Wedding Cake business is how to efficiently manage the quantity and quality of the cakes. Higher quality of ingredients used during production will lead to a better reputation for the business and create higher customer satisfaction, leading to repeat customers. Moreover, business would save ingredient costs by purchasing larger volumes.

This reminded me of what I had recently learned in my class about product focus. Some bakery businesses focus on producing high volumes and low variety. For example, one business can focus on a niche market and produce only wedding cakes that will deliver a high volume but limited designs. But such a business will need to be highly completive in the market in order to be successful. On the other hand, another bakery might produce low volume of cakes, but cater to a much broader customer base such as birthdays, graduations, anniversaries, Bar Mitzvahs, etc.

Managing inventory of raw ingredients as well as finished goods is another critical aspect that has to be closely managed. The perishable nature of the products makes it very important to effectively manage inventory of seasonal products, while maintaining stocks for rush orders. Also, inventory management is crucial in maintaining business profitability by reducing waste of both raw ingredients and expired finished products.

Although I learned a great deal regarding the wedding cake industry from my husband, I”m still left with a few questions: What is the best way to forecast wedding cakes? What process strategies should be used by bakeries? Would it be more profitable to use process focus or mass customization strategy?

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/examples-management-strategies-cake-bakery-business-12208.html