Marketplace Simulation Case Study

SUPPLY CHAIN TASK 2
Cheri Jill Upshaw
August 12, 2014
Task two is the second task that applies the results of the Marketplace
Simulation. In my simulation I named the company Airborne. I used a very conservative approach in all four quarters. The company did not have to borrow any money or pay any carrying charges for inventory. I did however, lose sales in all quarters due to higher than expected sales and product demand. Loss of sales can cause ill will and can cause you to lose customers permanently. However, the increased demand can also create a sort of frenzy to get the product that is not available such as with Apple and the first I phones. In my simulation, I chose Travelers and Mercedes to focus on. Several times the company
I focused on the smaller, high market segments and geographic markets in the middle of the cost/continuum. The company’s competitive posture was to build a specific market position and defend it while providing the most reliable product on

the market. When companies start out cheap, their reputation is that of building cheap products and that image is hard to shake. What is LG now used to be Gold Star. Customers like and buy LG but older customers that remember Gold Star would most likely walk away and not buy the product just because of that image. So image is very important. With that in mind I chose to target Mercedes and Traveler and build and design according to what the market research stated that each division preferred. I considered the market share. It is every company’s goal to be number one in market share and number one in profits. However, it is more important to make a profit and have a lesser market share. We were number 4 in market share with
Workhorse and that was fine. We were selling a lot to Workhorse but they were not our target group. We did target Mercedes and we were number four.
We did much better with Traveler in that we got number four in market
The company will provide more jobs in every sector. As more people come on board, there is potential for labor issues that will have to be dealt with effectively to avoid any unfair employment issues. Labor unions will also have to be considered with any growth and expansions. Certain areas are more prone and accepting of labor unions than other areas. Another possible labor consideration her in the states are the individual state laws and state incentives. Some states are cheaper to operate in while providing large tax incentives if a company relocates in their state or certain parts of a given state.
While international expansion is the main consideration , the company also needs to continue to analyze its’ local operations in the United States. Many companies are so convinced they can manufacture outside the country cheaper that they fail to thoroughly evaluate what is available here in the United States.
In conclusion , Airborne has grown into a viable, profitable company that

in its’ first year produced a product that is number one in demand. Once the local current demand is supplied and serviced, there is no reason not to consider expansion into other