International Logistics and Supply Chain Management

International Logistics and Supply Chain Management
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Table of Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u 1.0 Introduction PAGEREF _Toc500352994 \h 32.0 Advantages of Local Purchasing by Asda in the UK PAGEREF _Toc500352995 \h 33.0 Disadvantages of Asda buying locally PAGEREF _Toc500352996 \h 44.0 Advantages of Asda Buying Internationally PAGEREF _Toc500352997 \h 55.0 Disadvantages of Asda buying internationally PAGEREF _Toc500352998 \h 55.1 Retail Logistics and Supply Chain Management PAGEREF _Toc500352999 \h 66.0 Theory of The Industrial Chain in Relation to Asda’s Strategy PAGEREF _Toc500353000 \h 107.0 Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc500353001 \h 11
International Logistics and Supply Chain Management
1.0 Introduction
The development of international logistics is associated with the demands of its customers and their need to have goods moved from one region to the other. Contemporary logistics require adherence to demand based planning, which necessarily makes modern management practices to be more inclined towards supply chain management and maximize on available resources in regard to transport (Mena, Humphries& Choi, 2013, p. 59). Production requires conditions such as those related to supply, cost and information consumption. This scenario is evident in Asda supermarket which is cautious about its pricing strategy upon which it boasts of being the lowest priced supermarket in Britain. It majorly deals with groceries, financial services, general merchandise and because of diversification, it is now in mobile products. Information systems continue to play an important role in the achievement of these roles.
2.0 Advantages of Local Purchasing by Asda in the UK
Asda is a local retail outlet in the UK which is now owned by Wal-Mart that supports organic foods. Customers get to access fresh supplies which encourage them to frequent the store that deals in local products. Secondly, sustainability is achieved in the local markets with steady supply of the necessities. Thirdly, environmental benefits are realized as a result of reduced waste from packaging. The fourth disadvantage is that one of food miles which are cut down because Asda and other supermarket chains get fresh supplies without investing heavily in transportation. Finally, there is increased profitability because of direct purchasing from farmers in case of cereals.
This has provided an avenue for customers to reach out and get their much-needed fresh products. This has indeed brought about sustainability in the consumption to their advantage. In the recent years, some initiatives have been put in place to create local food systems (LFS) together with short food supply chains (SFSC) that are directed to direct purchases from the farm, partnerships that are formal between consumers and producers, and delivery schemes (Kneafsey et al, 2013 p 19). Commercially Asda is cutting down on their operation costs because of shorter distances whenever they procure their products locally.
3.0 Disadvantages of Asda buying locally
Most of the products bought have preservatives which discourages customers who are health conscious. People in the UK are health conscious and as such are wary of taking intoxicated foods. They...