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Introduction 

 

The main aim of this report is to analyse the capability and supply chain activities of the Toll Group. This report focuses on the supply chain structure of the company for the effective supply. Meanwhile, this report will identify the products and services, which are manufactured by the Toll Group. On the other hand, this report emphasizes the existing transportation and warehouse system of the company.  Overall, this report mainly focuses the company products and service, distribution system, transportation, inventory and demand management.

 

Toll Group Background

 

The Toll group started as a business of a horse and cart coal hauling business. It was started in 1888. The founder of this business was Albert Toll. This business was purchased by National minerals in the year 1959. The Toll group is headquartered in Melbourne. This organisation is involved in the business practices of transportation and logistics. The parent company of this organisation is Japan Post Holdings. Total numbers of employees in this organisation are 40000. The three principal business of this organisation is the Global Express service, Global logistics service and global forwarding. A total number of 1200 sites are present of this organisation in total 50 countries (Toll Group, 2018). With the help of Express service, the goods of the customer are provided on the same day to the customer. This company works as a mediator between the two that is the customer and another company. The customer purchases the product from one company and the Toll group takes that product from that company and provide it to the customer. The Fright service of this organisation includes delivering a parcel of the dangerous goods and moving commodities.

This company also provides warehousing services and manufacturing facilities so that effective production can be accomplished. Remote and resource logistics are a service in which effective solutions are provided to emergency and humanitarian situation by this organisation. Remote and resources logistics are provided by this organisation to the companies. These companies are the customers of the Toll Group. Offshore and onshore logistics services are also provided by this organisation. This service includes port and Maritime Services.

Supply chain consultancy is the type of service in which consultation and audit service is provided by this organisation to those companies that are involved in the same business. Transport organisation, supply chain planning and management, site location and layout Optimisation are the various services that are come under the consultation of this organisation. Effective distribution is accomplished by this organisation so that products can reach on time to the receiver. For this on time shipping is accomplished by this organisation so that there cannot be any delay from the company side. The airport Management Service is also practised by this organisation. The services are also provided to the passengers (Yu, et. al., 2012). Specialised helicopter services are also coming under the category of airport and Aviation Services of this organisation.

 

Supply Chain Structure

 

This organisation is having now use supply chain capability. There are many types of functions that can be accomplished with the help of supply chain for this organisation. Cross Docking and import Trans load can be accomplished by this organisation for providing affecting supply chain management. This organisation is having a good quality control functions so that effective distribution can be provided. This organisation used to provide warehousing and distribution so that effective supply of the resources can be possible to the manufacturing facilities (Chowdhry & Kone, 2012). This can be helpful in accomplishing the production in the specified time. The supply chain management includes the high-speed sortation system that can tackle the critical situation that used to arrive at the time of distribution of the goods. Unit replacement and unit fulfilment are the functions that are included in the supply chain management buy this organisation. This organisation is having the strong network that utilizes RF Technology. The custom of the different countries is also supplied within the legal limits by this organisation. The online taking of the goods and the products that are supplied by this organisation can be done with the help of mobile phone application and website of this organisation. It is a tracking system that is provided by this organisation so that the customer cannot be dissatisfied with this organisation. Domestic consolidation program is also the part of supply chain management of this organisation. This organisation is present in 50 countries so inter countries and intercontinental supply of goods and the products can be done by this organisation in the easy and effective manner. There are different types of value-added services that are provided by this organisation at both of the point source and the destination to the customer of this organisation. In this way, the supply chain management is functioning efficiently for this organisation (Lord, et. al., 2015).

This organisation is involved in the practice of end-to-end management means the management is provided for the customers in such a way that the customer will not have to wait for the product to be delivered soon. Effective Information sharing is accomplished by this organisation to the customer from time to time so that customer is having a full transparency on the product that will be delivered by this organisation to the customer. The supply chain of this organisation is streamlining the supply chain (Visentini, et. al., 2014). In North America, this organisation is having a wide network that starts from Atlanta to the San Francisco. Many sites are included in this like Chicago, Dallas, the city of industry, Boston, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Philadelphia and it used to supply the goods and products to Canada. In the different part of the world also this organisation is having a huge presence. Due to such a huge presence, this organisation is able to provide delivery easily in different parts of the world.

 

Sourcing Material and Services

 

This organisation works on the formula of the pick, pack and delivery. The formula is very useful in providing goods to be delivered on time. The cost-effective, accurate and reliable pick pack and delivery are provided to the customer. The orders are shipped quickly and accurately. With the help of tracking information, the customer can track where the goods had reached. The effective inventory management can be possible with the help of this service that provides the complete visibility on the process which is followed along the way by the Toll group.

There are broad ranges of the customers which are involved in taking the services of Sourcing material. The customers from the automotive industry, construction industry, manufacturing industry and other sectors also take the services from the Toll group (Lammgård & Andersson, 2014).

Various type of processes is included in the Sourcing material and services. The order management can be accomplished under this service. The Toll group used to label the product and then ticketing of the product is accomplished. Delivery and warehousing of the product in the end to end serviceman is provided by this organisation. The customisation of knitting and bending is then thereafter for the goods that have to be delivered. The goods then reached to the product assembly. Management of the inventory and the stock is accomplished. Toll group is having a multimodal network that helps in cost reduction in the delivery process. The online tracking system is very useful for the customers that help the customer to track the product (Ngah, et. al., 2014). Warehousing solution included different type of products whether it is dangerous products also. Dispensary reporting is also included in this service in which short, over and damaged processing is done. Return logistics services are also included in this process.

There is the need for the development of the return Logistic services which are included in this service. It is very necessary for this organisation to refine the return logistics service so that there can be more satisfaction in the customer regarding the return products.

 

Transportation and Warehousing System

 

Toll group used to provide the services of supplying goods to the different parts of the world with the help of Airways, Railways, sea routes and Road. This organisation used to provide my transport service. This service can be availed by the customer with the help of the online platform. With the help of this service, a good transport model can be presented to the customers with high efficiency. The customers that are having Complex supply chain are supported with the help of complex transport models that are developed by this organisation. There is flexibility present for the customer in the service transport model of this organisation. This model of service is designed by this organisation in such so that transport can cost efficient also. It is the cloud-based transport model that consists of different information about the good that is transported with the help of this service (Monczka, 2015). This information can be accessed by the user or the customer. 

Depending on the business need of the particular customer planning and of the load can be customised with the help of MTS or My transport service solution. A single invoice can be received by the customer for the different services that are availed by the customer. The customer is having an opportunity of availing Best service provider. Once the specific requirements are fulfilled by the customer then the particular customer get the order requirements, delivery time trains, Fright weights, locations (Grant, 2012). 

The use of MTS can be accomplished by a large organisation to the small organisation. The companies having Complex transport requirement can avail this offer to easily port and deport the goods that are necessary to supply at the particular place. The customers that are seeking the goods to be supplied from home to home across the city and countries can also be possible with the help of my transport service. Therefore it can be said that there is no limit for the user to avail the services of this organisation. MTS helps a lot in the different processes of transportation to the customers in the effective and efficient way to the customer (Sarkis, 2012). This service is completely scalable. 

There are great benefits to use this service. For the large and medium operations, scalability of the solutions can be accomplished under the service. This service is having integration with ERP and WS system. The operation can be very easily functioning with the help of ERP system in an organisation. If the Transportation system of this organisation is connected with the ERP system that organisation to which this organisation is providing transportation service will be very beneficial. In such situation supply in the market can be possible according to the demand in the market. The need of the customers can be analysed effectively and efficiently. According to the demand and the transportation services are provided to the organisation by the Toll group (Hugos, 2018). In this situation, the end to end plan is designed by this organisation. The Toll group facilities the transportation according to the needs in the market for the goods of that company to which Toll group is serving. 

The optimisation of the transportation is accomplished in such a way so that there can be the accomplishment of cost reduction in the process of providing goods in the market with the help of transportation by this organisation. Fright can be located with the help of my transport service. Fright is made according to business rules of the customer of the Toll group. Therefore the cost reduction takes place according to the business rules of the customer facilitating the customer in implementing the supply chain according to the need of the company to which Toll group is serving.

The warehousing system of this organisation is having the multi-user facilities. There are three types of services like long term, short term and medium term warehousing services by this organisation. The purpose of dividing services of warehousing into 3 parts is to make the services cost effective for the customer as well as for the organisation. If the particular company is having seasonal operations of supply then shared warehousing services offered by this organisation to such type of customers. Additional space resources can be provided to the companies are the customer of the Toll group if the business requirement of the customer changes. It is also helpful in inventory allocation. The warehousing of this organisation is suitable for the dangerous goods, materials that require controllable temperature storage can be stored in the warehouse of the Toll group. Warehousing is also people for the food products. Other types of goods can also be stored in the warehousing provided by the Toll group. Short-term and long-term storage options are provided to the customers according to the business need of the customer. Capital solution software is used in the warehousing system of Toll group so that inventory Optimisation tools can analyse the demand and need of the market and according to this warehousing can be provided to the customer of Toll group. The warehousing system is automated storage that can be easily retrieved therefore this system is a retrieval system (Martens, et. al., 2012).

There can be a different type of improvements that can be accomplished in the existing service like the network can be expanded more. This organisation is present in 50 countries so there is a need to expand the sites in 50 countries. It is necessary because the system gets to slow down because of the non-presence of the site in some of the area in which this organisation is present in the country but not in that particular area. As far as other systems are concerned, other systems are very regularised and refined. In the warehouse system, real trying transaction system should be promoted in those sites where it is not present. This will be helpful in providing more effective warehousing system with more transparent inventory.

 

Inventory System and Demand Management

 

Various services are included in inventory management of Toll group. The storage of the product of which the delivery is being accomplished is done. The particular product of the good is located with the batch. There are different types of the batch in which the goods are divided so that inventory monitor can be possible (SteadieSeifi, et. al., 2014). At the same time, the order is managed with the help of ERP. If the company is a customer of the Toll group then there can be three options in which the inventory management for cycle count is done. This includes daily, monthly and weekly cycle counts. There is also a presence of wall to wall full stock count option is available.

The demand management is accomplished for three types of processes that come with the transportation of product after the order that is given to the Toll group by the customer.

Hub and spoke

In this process, the product is received and is stored by the Toll group. It is already discussed that the products are divided into the batch. In this products are combined so that shipment can be easy and the product can be reached to the destination efficiently and quickly (Vuchic, 2017).

Consolidation

There are smaller consignments received by the Toll group that are combined into the larger shipments and deliver to the destination.

Deconsolidation

There can be the situation in which the larger shipments are received by the Toll group. In this situation, the load is broken into the smaller load (Lin, et. al., 2013). In this way, transportation and delivery of the product are a completely.

Consolidation and deconsolidation are the processes which are less cost-effective as compared to the hub and spoke. Therefore it is very necessary to make these processes cost-efficient and cost-effective. This will lead to attachment in the customers of this organisation. Effective management of the damaged goods should also be done by this organisation so that there will be less conflict between the customer and the Toll group. It is very necessary because stock damage results in additional handling.

 

Conclusion

 

It can be concluded from the assessment that the supply chain structure of this organisation is having a good capability. The functions are totally controllable by this organisation. The production can be possible in the specific time for the customer company of the Toll group with the help of supply chain. Sourcing of the material is the necessity of the customer that is fulfilled by this organisation in an efficient manner. Effective labelling and ticketing on the products is the effective operational function that facilitates the service of transportation. Return logistics process should be improved and more transparent. The MTS service of this organisation is serving a single customer to a big venture. The scalable part of this service is helpful for the customers also. Inventory and demand management is helpful in providing the transportation of the goods within the decided time. The warehousing is also helpful for the companies that are involved in the different manufacturing process. The overall transport facility of this organisation is remarkable.

 

References

 

Chowdhry, S. and Kone, D., (2012) The business analysis of faecal sludge management: Emptying and transportation services in Africa and Asia. Report.Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle, WA, USA.

Grant, D.B., (2012) Logistics management. Australia: Pearson Higher Ed.

Hugos, M.H., (2018) Essentials of supply chain management. USA: John Wiley & Sons.

Lammgård, C. and Andersson, D., (2014) Environmental considerations and trade-offs in purchasing of transportation services. Research in Transportation Business & Management, 10, pp.45-52.

Lin, J.R., Yang, T.H. and Chang, Y.C., (2013) A hub location inventory model for bicycle sharing system design: Formulation and solution. Computers & Industrial Engineering, 65(1), pp.77-86.

Lord, R.T., Lord, R.W., Myhrvold, N.P. and Tegreene, C.T., Elwha LLC, (2015) Methods, systems, and devices for providing transportation services. U.S. Patent Application 14/318,182.

Martens, K., Golub, A. and Robinson, G., (2012) A justice-theoretic approach to the distribution of transportation benefits: Implications for transportation planning practice in the United States. Transportation research part A: policy and practice, 46(4), pp.684-695.

Monczka, R.M., Handfield, R.B., Giunipero, L.C. and Patterson, J.L., (2015) Purchasing and supply chain management. USA: Cengage Learning.

Ngah, A.H., Zainuddin, Y. and Thurasamy, R., (2014) Barriers and enablers in adopting Halal transportation services: A study of Malaysian Halal Manufacturers. International Journal of Business and Management, 2(2), pp.49.

Sarkis, J., (2012) A boundaries and flows perspective of green supply chain management. Supply chain management: an international journal, 17(2), pp.202-216.

SteadieSeifi, M., Dellaert, N.P., Nuijten, W., Van Woensel, T. and Raoufi, R., (2014) Multimodal freight transportation planning: A literature review. European journal of operational research, 233(1), pp.1-15.

Toll Group, 2018. About us. [Online]. Available at:https://www.Tollgroup.com/about. [Accessed: 24 September 2018].

Visentini, M.S., Borenstein, D., Li, J.Q. and Mirchandani, P.B., (2014) Review of real-time vehicle schedule recovery methods in transportation services. Journal of Scheduling, 17(6), pp.541-567.

Vuchic, V., (2017) Transportation for livable cities. Germany: Routledge.

Yu, Y., Chu, C., Chen, H. and Chu, F., (2012) Large-scale stochastic inventory routing problems with split delivery and service level constraints. Annals of Operations Research, 197(1), pp.135-158.

Introduction

Efficiency and effectiveness in business operations can be maintained by a business organization if all of its function of management is performed properly. There are various categories of management that are performed by an organization to make its operations profitable and one of such function is Supply Chain Management function. Supply chain management can be defined as a process that shows the flow of goods and service from a supplier of raw material to the distribution of finished goods to the final consumer (Monczka et.al, 2015). In this report, various aspect of SCM has been evaluated from the perspective of Telstra Corporation which is involved in the Telecommunication market of Australia.  

Background of the company

Telstra Corporation Limited is considered as largest communication company in Australia. The main operation of the company is to provide services of a telecommunication network, mobile, internet access, DTH services and other related services. Telstra is also one of the oldest companies in Australia as it was established as an Australian postal service Company under supervision of the government. As of today, it is fully privatized and has become a profit-making and customer focus company. Current CEO of the company is Andy Penn along with CFO Warwick Bray and COO Robyn Denholm. These three employees are considered as key management personnel of the company along with another member of the board of directors. As of 2017, the company has given employment to around 32000 people in Australia. In the last financial year that is 2017 has made a total revenue of 26 billion Australian dollars which indicates that this business is a high profit generating business. There are various offices of Telstra Corporation in Australia with the headquarter situated in Melbourne. As of 10th August 2018, the share price of the Companies listed at Australian dollar 2.84 (Telstra Corporation, 2018). 

The current financial condition of companies is very strong and it is also listed under ASX-100 list. ASX-100 List is a list in which ranking is given to Australian companies according to the capital of the company. Telstra Corporation is one of such companies which indicate that the market capitalization of the company is very good and it is already discussed that the revenue generating a capacity of the company is very high.

All of the services provided by Telstra Corporation are divided into three major categories that are personal, small business and business & Enterprise. Services provided to each of these categories of customers varies from each other. 

Personal- services of mobile, pre-paid mobiles, tablet, mobile broadband, broadband, smart home and TV, movies and music, etc. 

Small business- Products and services related to mobile phone, bundles, tablet, broadband, landline phones, e-commerce, etc. (Telstra Corporation, 2018)

Business and Enterprise- production services related to mobility, cloud, collaboration, customer related services, network services, internet of things etc. 

Major competitors of the company are Optus, Vodafone, , etc.

Please refer to this site for direct channel: https://smarterbusiness.telstra.com.au/growth/business-strategy/the-evolution-of-distribution

Please refer to this site for indirect channel: https://www.arnnet.com.au/article/597585/telstra-tiers-resellers-new-channel-program-structure/

Sales and distribution channel can be defined as a process through which an organization distributes its product and services to customers. Generally, this is a specified course that is used for distribution of product and services. It is important to set a specific distribution channel for each of the service so that product and services can reach to customers with effectiveness and efficiency (Jacobs, Chase and Lummus, 2014). There can be two type of distribution channels i.e. direct distribution and indirect distribution. Both of these distribution channels have their own advantages and disadvantages. Indirect distribution channels, there is no middleman and services are provided directly to the customer by the main organization. For this channel to be in effect an organization should have their own distribution channels but it will increase the overall cost of operations of the business. This type of distribution channel will also require a separate Department that should give an integral part of the organization. Generally, a direct distribution channel or not used by large organizations as they are more focused on their main operations of the business.

Indirect distribution channels distribution channel in which products and services are availability customer through various type of middleman such as a wholesaler, retailer, agent etc. In an indirect distribution channel business organizations outsources its distribution of products and services to various other companies. It is a better method of distribution of product and services as there are various services which could be performed only by a specialized organization (Mangan, Lalwani and Lalwani, 2016). For example, Cloud Computing services provided by a Telecom company are generally outsourced to IT organizations. This distribution channel is also adopted by Telstra Corporation. Business partner for distribution of cloud computing and other related services of Telstra Corporation is IBM cloud. Indirect distribution channels also help in providing Quality Services to its customer as such distribution companies are a specialized company that is working in a particular area of operation.

Distribution Chain of Telstra Corporation   

Distribution Chain of Telstra Corporation

Where is the reference for this diagram above?

Suppliers are people or organization that are providing the raw material for the production of goods and services to the organization. These are also called as component suppliers for the company as they provide components for product and services that are manufactured by the company. These organizations are not exclusive organizations as they provide services to various other telecommunication companies. Therefore it is very important to maintain a good relationship with the contract with suppliers so that raw material can be obtained at lower prices or discounted prices. The raw material is purchased from the suppliers and transferred to contractor manufacturer for production of goods and services. In case of Telstra Corporation manufacturing processes conducted within the organization. After production of goods and services hardware produced by the company are transferred to service providers or distributors of the company. After this step, the product and service reach to the final consumer which can be a particular organization, retailer or individual consumer.

Sourcing material and services by Telstra Corporation

Effective and efficient procurement of material and services by an organization is a very important function as it can have a vital impact on the Cost structure of the company. It is considered that stability in the supply of material for the production of goods and services can have a vital impact on financial as well as the operational performance of the company. Basic Data Services for providing services of calling are generally allotted by the government on the basis of bids made by each of the telecommunication company. Telstra Corporation is one of the oldest companies with a large amount of financial and capital support, therefore bids made by it are generally more as compared to other competitors in the market. The main competition in the market is for the supply of other services such as cloud computing, high-speed internet, mobile phones, and other products and services manufactured by the companies. Telstra Corporation has specific procurement procedures and policies that are published by them on their official website under the heading “Suppliers” (Wang et.al, 2015). 

Telstra Corporation has been in business for around a hundred years and they consider their suppliers and partners very important resource for the business. In the year 2017, they purchased product and services from around 4800 suppliers that cost them around $6.5 billion (Telstra Corporation, 2018). This figure shows that company has various suppliers for their product and services and they do not depend on any particular group of suppliers. This is an advantageous situation for the company as they are not dependent for the production of their goods and services. Limitation of suppliers can affect overall cost structure of the company which will ultimately affect overall pricing of product and services. Telecommunication market in Australia is very competitive and each service provider is looking for a manner in which they can reduce their cost. As Telstra Corporation has a large number of suppliers then they have the power to negotiate with their suppliers and they can reduce their prices by getting discounts on their raw material. This will definitely give a competitive advantage to the company over its competitors. 

Telstra Corporation has a separate Department for procurement of raw material whether such a material is direct or indirect to the process of production. The primary function of this department is to purchase a diversified different range of products which can vary from office uniforms to satellite infrastructure. Suppliers of the company also range from small Companies to very large companies in Australia so that the above-mentioned range of products can efficiently satisfied. Some of the biggest Corporation that are suppliers of the company are Sony Ericsson, Google, and IBM. 

There are some specific steps that are followed by the organization and its purchase department before procurement of indirect or direct raw material. The steps are formulated so that the best quality raw material is purchased by the company and best possible services can be provided to the customer. 

Steps followed by the purchasing department of the company are as follows- 

  1. Identification of requirements essential for the production of goods and services.
  2. Internet step invitation is sent to the suppliers who produce a bid the company on their official website or through emails.
  3. Each of the suppliers is assessed on a variety of factors such as quality of product and services, the value of money, duration of the contract, technology and innovation, the risk involved in doing business with such supplier, health procedures to be followed, reliability, robustness, scalability etc. 
  4. At last best supplier is selected for a particular contract and negotiation is done on price with such supplier (Telstra Corporation, 2018).  

Another concert that was adopted by the company in relation to the procurement of supplies is sustainable procurement. Telstra Corporation is a member of the United Nations Global Compact which is an organization formed for insurance that all its member practice responsible business policies in the market (Telstra Corporation, 2018). There is another organization named “Joint audit Corporation” that is formed for verification, assessment, and development of Corporate Social Responsibility practices in suppliers. Telstra Corporation is also a member of this organization so that they can ensure that their suppliers are socially responsible. In addition to that Telstra Corporation has also formulated the supplier’s code of conduct that describes their expectation in relation to human rights, workplace safety, ethical business practices and supply chain management. 

These code of conduct also help in ensuring that other factors such as social factors and environmental factors are also considered while selecting a particular supplier. Some of the important points that are included in the supplier’s code of conduct are as follows-

  1. Legal obligation- supplier should comply with all the legal requirements that our government of the country has imposed in which the supplier is operating along with regulations imposed by the government of Australia. 
  2. Human rights- special consideration has been given to human rights and labor rights in this code of conduct formulated by the company. Some of the human right that should be followed by the supplier are as follows- 
  • There should not be any discrimination with regard to gender, age, sexual orientation, race, pregnancy, disability, financial income etc. 
  • There should be specific policies to deal with bullying and harassment at the workplace. 
  • All the laws and regulation in relation to wages and benefits applicable in the respective country should be strictly followed by the supplier. Payment to workers shall be made at the decided time. 
  • Working hours should also be in accordance with the workplace rules and regulations. 
  • Practices such as forced labor, compulsory labor, child labor, etc. should be identified by the supplier in their organization and strict action should be taken against if such practices are continued.  (wheres the reference for this part above?)
  1. Suppliers of the company should identify and follow all the workplace health and safety consideration to ensure that a safe working environment is available to the employees.
  2. Environmental laws and regulation should also be followed by the supplier of the company. In addition to the legal obligations, they should also form their own practices for environmental protection. 
  3. Being a supplier of Telstra Corporation, they might procure some operational confidential information that can be very useful for competitors. Therefore it is important that the supplier of the company maintain a certain level of privacy as desired by Telstra Corporation (Telstra Corporation, 2018).  

While getting into a contract with Telstra Corporation, a supplier of the company agrees all the code of conduct formulated by the company. Any violation of such codes can result in the termination of the contract and it can also result in a heavy penalty on part of the supplier.

Suggestions for improvement

Efficiency and effectiveness of supplies procurement policies of a company can be evaluated with the fact that it has been in business for over a hundred years and it is still the largest telecom service provider in Australia. Therefore it can be said that supplies procurement policies of the company are very effective and they are performing in favor of the company. There is one deficiency that is identified during the process of evaluating the procurement of supplies. Limitation identifies in the process is that the company should have some fixed and regular supplier that give priority to the Telstra corporation over other telecom service providers.

The distribution system of Telstra Corporation-

The distribution system is a system through which services are provided from the organization to a potential customer of the company. The separate distribution system has been selected by Telstra Corporation for the urban and rural population. Management of both of these type of distribution system is different but the general process used in the distribution of product and services is similar to each other. Product and services of the company such as mobile phone, SIM card, routers, Cloud Computing services, internet of things etc. are given to the authorized distributors of the company. Once the product reached to the distributor following process is followed by the distribution as per the distribution system authorized by Telstra Corporation (Kummetz et.al, 2017). 

The distribution system of Telstra Corporation-

All the sales field executives and retailers of the company are selected by the distributor of the company after getting permission from the management of Telstra Corporation. There is a specific code of conduct that all the organizations and individual involved in distribution system should follow while performing their functions on behalf of the company. 

In addition to the above-mentioned distribution channels, there are two additional distribution channels that are used by Telstra Corporation for the distribution of their goods and services. These channels are- 

Sale through official outlets- there are variously licensed and authorized Telstra outlets situated all over the Australian. The customer can locate the outlets an official website of the company and can purchase any of their product and services from such an outlet. These are very trusted outlets to purchase product and services as they are licensed and authorized by the pool (Karthikeyan and Nauck, 2017).

Online Trade 

This has become one of the most popular modes of accessing product and services due to its simplicity and ease of access. The intended customer can search for product and service of the company on their official website and order desired product or service on such online platform. Product and service will be delivered to address mentioned by the customer (Ahmad and Saifudin, 2014). It also has various modes of payment mode through which payment can be made by the customer online. 

Suggestions for improvement- (this improvement statement below does not carry any weight. Lecturer wants to see how advance and professional approach for improvements to the distribution system)

Telstra Corporation can get into a contract with its official partners such as IBM and other popular business partners who sell product and services at their stores. 

*****I need you to revamp the areas needed that goes with the assignment guide here:****

Discuss the supply chain structure of Telstra (marks: 10%)
• map its distribution chain;

  • contract (if possible) etc.

    Discuss the sourcing materials and services; producing what type of goods/services
    (marks: 20%) • discuss the existing system; • suggest improvement from reputable sites

    Discuss the distribution system of the identified major customer
    (transportation and warehousing system (marks: 25%) 
  • discuss the
    existing system; 
  • suggest improvement with good substance/info; and • use model where ever feasible (MS Excel) (optional)

Demand and inventory management

Assessment of demand of an organization is a very important function of the management. Assessment of demand help in taking various operational and strategic business decisions. Every organization has specific policies and procedures through which they can identify the demand for products and services offered by them. There is a basic four-step strategy that is followed by Telstra Corporation for assessing demand of its product and services in the market. Description of strategy has been provided as follows-

Defining market

First of all management of the company identify all the potential end user that can be included in the target market of the company. The entire market is divided into various subdivisions as services provided in a particular market may not be needed in another market. For example services of large Cloud Computing storage facility will be more popular in the business organization as compared to individual customers. This categorization is done on the basis of various factors such as needs and requirement of the customer, value addition to business, the income-generating capacity of the population and other relevant factors.

Demand analysis and division into components 

In this stage Telstra Corporation asses, the demand of their product and services among their customers. This demand is analyzed on the basis of various primary and secondary research. These researchers are conducted by specialized research organizations who are contacted by Telstra. It is essential to contact such an organization as they specialize in this kind of services. After an analysis of the demand, entire demand is divided into smaller components so that a separate analysis can be done in detailed form. For example, a man can be subdivided into the demand of additional features, the demand for current, feedback, demand for improvement etc. 

Deciding and forecasting demand drivers

In this step, various factors will be analyzed on the basis of which such demand can be altered and customer satisfaction can be achieved.

Inventory management 

In this last step, inventory is produced and management in accordance with the demand for specific product and services. Telecom industry has to manage two type of inventories that is logical inventory and physical inventory. Physical inventory that can be physically assessed by the organization such as mobile phone, switches, routers, network wires etc. on the other hand logical inventory is a combination of non-physical items such as IP addresses and Mac addresses.   

Hence it can be said that inventory management and demand management are very important functions in a telecom company such as Telstra Corporation. 

Conclusion

It can be concluded that management of the company has been very effective in the long run of the company. Special consideration has been given to Supply Chain management of the company so that quality services can be provided to its customers at lower costs as compared to other telecom service providers in the country. This report has evaluated various aspects of supply chain management of Telstra Corporation such as distribution chain, supplier’s management, demand management, inventory management, supply chain structure etc. after evaluation of all of these functions of SCM, it can be said that SCM of the company is very effective and efficient. It has been working for the company for the last 100 years and it is expected to give a positive response to the company in the coming future.

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