Bruynzeel Keukens: Mastering Complexity

Seminar paper from the year 2008 in the subject Business economics - Supply, Production, Logistics, grade: A-, University of Derby, course: Business and Professional English 2, language: English, abstract: Pursuant to Basu and Siems’ research (2004), plenty of books, journals and articles have been published in the recent past, to display growing importance of supply chain management. It is one of the most significant aspects of any kind of business. How does a company get the Right Things, to the Right Places, at the Right Time and for Profit? These are decisions which must be made. Throughout history and due to new ideas and technologies, supply chains have been changed. Railway, electricity and new ways of communication made them better, faster and cheaper. Nowadays, businesses are effectively improving their supply chains through better information engineering using the Internet and wireless telecommunications. The supply chain includes all activities linked with the flow and transfer of goods and services from the raw materials’ level through to the customers. (Basu and Siems, 2004) Synchronization between warehousing and distribution channels through the retail channels and ending with the consumer has become one of the main problems for Bruynzeel Keukens in 2005. Should the company completely restructure its supply chain or should it merely modify some processes along the chain? What exactly should be reorganized and how fundamentally should the restructuring be made?