Paper Example on U.S. China Sourcing Group's Shanghai Office: Late Delivery Issues Analysis

Introduction

The case study offers an analysis of the U.S. based China Sourcing Group that developed a sourcing office in Shanghai. The company had experienced in the premium and present commodities. Notably, Shanghai was also an office that was tasked with sourcing the sellers in China and entire South Asia. While it is evident that it had a significant contribution to the group, the case study reveals that the company confronted a significant issue, such as the late deliveries that were regular mainly attributed to the innovative goods that were developed from scratch. Various challenges emerged about the new product development. Critically, China's Sourcing team was responsible for design and artwork, which were supposed to be disseminated to different parties. One major challenge associated with the new product development, in this case, lateness. Ideally, the team was often late in sending the information to the Shanghai office, and this put pressure on the sourcing and merchandising team to complete the new development process in time. The late shipment could occur as a result.

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Another challenge that was associated with the new product development was the move by the designers and customers changing the design during the product development process. This issue greatly affected the product development schedule. Under the right circumstances, the designers were not supposed to make any changes to the design and artworks related to the product once the final product design had been arrived at.

Finally, the time-to-market constituted another critical challenge related to the new products. This challenge was attributed to the fact that the time-to-market for the new products involved numerous vendors and processes. Each of them played a critical role in ensuring that the new products are well distributed into the market. The numerous processes from the office to the market further delayed all the operations.

Challenges Associated With On-Time Delivery

Several factors caused the late delivery. Firstly, the Quality Control (Q.C.) rejection meant that the product had to be taken to the design stage for refinement. Inspection in this case was a standard procedure that had to be taken before the goods were shipped. It is critical to note that the quality inspections could be performed by Q.C. team aligned to the company's like an internal affair, or the team linked to a designated party such as that of Walmart or Target. The delay in the shipping dates occurred in the situation whereby the goods were found to be defective or improperly packaged.

Necessary Corrections Had to Be Made

The shortage of parts further caused On-time delivery challenges. It is critical to note that the company ordered parts from the suppliers for assembling. The products were also to be packaged together in line with the company's requirements. In any case, the parts were faulty or delivered to the assembly vendor late. It was not going to be possible for vendors to complete the final products on time. This resulted in late or partial shipment.

Poor communication contributed to another challenge associated with on-time delivery. Communication plays an important role when it comes to the process of product development and, consequently, its distribution. The China Sourcing thus lacked a comprehensive I.T. platform that was critical for the information sharing between the Shanghai office and its headquarters in the U.S. Vendors also found it challenging to communicate with the company due to this challenge. The information was further compartmentalized within the departments. Thus, the process of information tracking became challenging.

Recommended Actions for Time Delivery Improvement

Improving on-time delivery was critical for the effectiveness and efficiency of the office. Regarding the issues raised in the case study, the management should ensure that a secure communication and communication platform is created. Broadly, this involves the establishment of the comprehensive I.T. platform that will enhance and facilitate communication between the head office in the United States and the Shanghai office. Proper coordination will improve not only communication about the product design and development but also the entire objectives of the company insofar the Asian regional mission is considered.

Effective communication will also provide the vendors with an opportunity to communicate the company's management effectiveness in Shanghai. In this way, they can, therefore, be able to involve themselves and promote the activities of the organization. Proper communication will finally facilitate information tracking along the communication channel. Getting the right information at the right time will help the management to align the interests of every stakeholder with the objectives of the group. Not only will the group achieve strategic objectives but also operational ones.

Making the parts readily available whenever needed will be another crucial step for ensuring that the company does not suffer from the on-time delivery. The availability will also allow the vendors to complete their work on time. With this kind of improvement, the management will be able to solve the issue of late shipment, which may otherwise bring losses to the company if not addressed.

Works Cited

O'Connor, Neale G. China Sourcing Group: Delivering on Time. Asia Case Research Centre, University of Hong Kong, 2011.