Facoltà: Ingegneria Gestionale - classe 10
Collocazione: 5176
Autore: Cucurachi Stefano
Data: 18/12/2006
Titolo: Supply chain management, strategy and competitive advantage. An overview of three sectors in the UK beverage industry: beer, bottled water and soft drinks. The Adnams Brewery's case
Relatore: Creazza Alessandro
Correlatore: Hormbrook Sue
Autorizzazione per la consultazione: SI
Le tesi si possono consultare unicamente in sede
The paper starts from considering that the perceptions of both big and small companies about Supply Chains have changed in the recent past. Managers had to face a new reality: the continuous request of savings by shareholders and the need to be competitive in the market at the same time. They started to understand how to use Supply Chain Management (SCM) as an effective lever to reduce costs and to be sustainably competitive in their markets. This paper analyses the UK beverage industry and three single sectors in it: beer, bottled water and soft drinks. SCM has been subject of much investigation in the past by many management experts. The origins, evolution and important features of this discipline are discussed. Within the modern market context I have presented different means that companies? managers, especially those in the beverage industry, can utilise to effectively reduce the costs of SCM and to be competitive in the new global marketplace. Considering each of them in turn, the research tries to provide some information about new technologies and how to make a strategic use of them, presenting examples of leader companies that are already experimenting with them in their activities. I also investigate other strategies and new management theories to which companies can resort to grow in the beverage industry, and in general in every industry, improving the communication with their partners within the chains. The modern concept of ?value chain? is presented as point of arrival for the modern and efficient supply chain. After a focus on supply changes in a globalised marketplace, each of the sectors subjects of the research is analysed with particular attention given to trends, market shares and average tastes of English consumers. Having considered those three sectors, which share common features on a supply chain point of view, the paper moves to consider common practises in the management of supply chains, logistics and accesses to distribution channels. I present then a successful example of productive and effective SCM of a medium-sized growing company in the beverage industry, who benefited from a new organisational structure and new investments in SCM. The intention of Adnams Brewery?s case is to provide an example of a firm which is able to be successful in a turbulent and concentrated marketplace by adopting a modern approach to supply chain management. Strategic suggestions for future development are given and the attention is focused on levers that can enhance the efficiency of the supply chain. My intention is to stimulate critical thinking and, by considering a general overview of trends and practises in three sectors in the beverage industry, to highlight the importance of management and investments into SCM to be competitive in the market. The purpose is to examine the state of logistics and supply chain management (SCM) in the beverage industry to find means to be competitive in a market dominated by multinational groups.
