A Global Supply Chain Nightmare

NS experienced many of the struggles associated with Supply Chain Management, but found that it lacked information integration. Many of the farmers NS worked with had never even seen, let alone used, a computer. Therefore, it became necessary for someone to visit the various farms to evaluate the anticipated levels of crop output. This required travel and transportation costs and became quite expensive. However, NS felt that it could not rely on local sources for evaluating the crop outputs. Next came the issue of product movement through the logistics process. The infrastructure was often inadequate, often requiring days, weeks, and months to get the product to the plant in Utah. 

As NS grew, extensive international interest in its products developed. The company opened up the European marketplace, after complying with the ISO 

Certification of a medicinal product also became an issue in many countries whose legal requirements forced extensive documentation of the process, even more so than was required by ISO certification. Often, localized chemical testing was required to certify the contents of the pills. 

Here is the challenge for the reader. What would you do Would you go for the low margins of distributor relationships, or would you attempt to manage the vertical supply chain yourself And how about the farmers Would you trust the locals to evaluate the farm production What would change in their current operations  

---