Business Commons^™

How Do Grocery Stores Utilize Centralized Versus Decentralized Production To Compete In The Power Perimeter?, Lucy Smith

Honors Projects in Global Supply Chain Management

Purpose - The grocery industry, one of the most important industries that individuals need to survive, has been pushed to the limits, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The grocery stores that were able to keep food on the shelves, despite all the delays and shortages that have been occurring, should have the most success, due to the availability of their product. Every business is looking for opportunities to be more cost efficient and effective and the processes to do so are heavily researched. The decision to centralize or decentralize the production processes is different for every store. They must consider …

Feeding Sustainability: The Environmental And Social Effectiveness Of Food Bank Supply Chains, Nicole Craig

Honors Projects in Global Supply Chain Management

ood waste continues to develop as a global issue, especially within the United States. According to 2020 data collected from the Economic Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture, 10.5% of all households in the U.S. face food insecurity. Using grocery supply chains as a context, this study examines how food banks serve as sustainable resources for the distribution of recovered food to feed food insecure communities. Grocery stores, retailers, and other organizations acknowledge waste through the implementation of sustainable initiatives. Food banks and partnering agencies serve as an integral component of waste reduction. The primary data collection …

Automation And Distribution Center Labor Effectiveness: A Case Study Of Operations Company X, James Rizzitano

Honors Projects in Global Supply Chain Management

Distribution center automation has progressed rapidly in recent times, with substantial improvements in automated systems which improve worker efficiency. These improvements have enabled distribution centers to increase their total throughput, while lowering their labor cost-per-case. However, when a distribution center transitions from manual fulfillment to an automated warehouse execution system, there will be growing pains as the facility adapts. In this exploratory case study of Operations Company X, we observe one such facility that recently transitioned to use an automated warehouse management system. To best explore the happenings of this facility, an archival analysis of pre and post automation data …

Mitigating Global Supply Chain Risk In The Fashion Industry, Danielle Nikosey

Honors Projects in Global Supply Chain Management

Purpose – Many supply chains offshore manufacturing to countries such as China to take advantage of low-cost labor, substantial capacity, and expertise. Such low-cost country strategies create supply chain complexity and therefore increase risk potential. Using the fashion industry as a context, this study examines criteria that the fashion industry considers to mitigate risk when selecting their international suppliers.

Methodology – The primary data collection for this paper consisted of an extensive literature review and in-depth qualitative interviews with supply chain professionals of fashion companies. A variety of different businesses and professionals were studied for this research.

Findings – Examples …

Certification Value To Consumers In The Coffee Industry, Alexandra Aubron

Honors Projects in Global Supply Chain Management

The coffee industry is a growing industry characterized by a complex system of interrelated economic, environmental and social issues. While having appeared initially as a response to environmental and social movements, certifications are now used by coffee retailers as a business tool to satisfy consumer demand for greater transparency. They are used as indicators that the coffee retailer is investing in traceability of its supply chain. The purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness of coffee certifications in practice by answering the following research question: are certifications successful in communicating the various traceability efforts made by retailers? To …