Supply chain management is defined as the integration of a network of suppliers, manufacturers, distribution centres and retailers through which raw materials are acquired, transformed and delivered to their intended customers. Sony has been able to develop its own supply chain management strategy which has played a great role in the company's success within the global market. Sony has designed its assembly plants to produce and supply goods to meet the consumer demand for electronic products. Some well known examples are the Mexican assembly plants also referred to as maquiladoras located in many of the Mexican cities which have been designed to supply goods to consumers (Kelly and Booth 159).
The company established a Manufacturing Centre in the state of California because the area had all the important components that Sony needed to conduct successful business operations. These components included a successful economy, cheap and available labour and a suitable location that would facilitate the shipment of various components from Japan. To support the operations of the California Manufacturing Centre, Sony decided to establish a facility in Tijuana, Mexico to manage the increasing supply chain management activities of the company. Other assembly plants opened by the company to support its supply chain management activities included a TV assembly plant in Bridgend Wales, a manufacturing plant in Tagajo, Japan, an audio/video product assembly plant in Colmar, France (Kelly and Booth 159).
The goods that supply Sony Corporation have been estimated to be 120,000 hard to find parts and accessories which are used to develop Sony electronic products. The categories of goods that bring business to Sony include computer and peripheral products such as laptops, adaptors, batteries, keyboards, storage media and remote controls. The other category is the camera and camcorder category which offers products and accessories such as tripods, accessory starter kits, carrying cases, digital photo frames, chargers and lenses.
[...] Discussion 4.0 The discussion will focus on supply chain management in Sony 5. Recommendations 5.0 Recommendations will be offered for every risk identified in the supplies of the company 6. Conclusion 6.0 This will be an analysis of the report's findings 1.0 Introduction The company that will be assessed in this report is Sony Corporation which is a large multinational Japanese conglomerate that manufactures electronic products for the global consumer and professional markets. The corporation which has its headquarters in Tokyo, Japan is one of the world's largest media conglomerate with revenue of $ 77.20 billion for the 2010 financial year. [...]
[...] Because of the global nature of its suppliers, the company has introduced its own set of global standards which can be used to manage its supply chain management activities. It has developed the Green Partner Environmental Quality Approval Program which is meant to ensure that suppliers are able to maintain the global standards for purchasing electronic parts. The company's suppliers who have been approved through an audit assessment and have been endorsed as Green Partners are able to operate on the company's quality approval program. This ensures that Sony has genuine suppliers of various electronic parts who are able to provide materials that are authentic (Sony.net 6). [...]
[...] Conclusion The study was aimed at assessing and examining the supply chain management activities of Sony Corporation by examining the categories of products that are sold or supplied by the company as well as the countries in which Sony Corporation has its operations in. The study has also examined Sony products which might be at risk and the reasons why they are at risk. It has also offered recommendations which can be used by the company to address these risks. Works Cited Crossley, Rob. Kotick slams PS3 for high development costs. June Web 3 May 2011. [...]
[...] These countries have been able to support the activities of the main manufacturing plant in Japan by ensuring that the various categories of goods have been produced to meet the demand for electronic products in the global market. The main consumers of Sony's products are the professional and consumer clients where the professional clients buy Sony products for business or professional purposes while consumers purchase Sony products for personal uses (Reuters Supplies that are at Risk 3.1 Sony Television Sets One of the company's supplies or products that are at risk include the Sony television set which is facing stiff competition from Samsung Electronics Company which has enjoyed considerable success with its 3D LCD flat screens (Ferrari Reason for the Risk The reason that has been given as to why the Sony television sets are experiencing a major challenge in sales is that the television manufacturing unit of the company has been losing a lot of money for the last five consecutive years as a result of poor sales and also a poor volume market leadership. [...]
[...] Ferrari, Bob. Sony's supply chain challenges. May Web 3 May 2011 Kelly, Louise and Booth, Christopher A . Dictionary of strategy: strategic management A-Z. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications Reuters. Sony Corporation. N.d. Web 3 May 2011 Sabbagh, Dan. [...]
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