Deck 3: The Role of Information in Supply Chains

Question 1

Supply chain managers need information for three basic purposes. Which of the following is not of one these purposes?

A) Maintain asset visibility
B) Manage daily operations
C) Planning and strategy
D) Meet customer needs

Answer 1

Meet customer needs

Question 2

_______ refers to the use of resources to gain a competitive advantage.

A) Corporate strategy
B) Supply chain management
C) Planning and execution
D) Cost leadership

Answer 2

Corporate strategy

Question 3

A leading retailer is developing its supply chain strategy, and as a result, will consider three main issues. Which of the following is not one of these issues?

A) How many DCs should we have, and where should they be located?
B) Should the firm own or outsource these DCs?
C) What channel(s) should we use to provide goods to our customers?
D) Which social media outlets are most critical for consideration?

Answer 3

Which social media outlets are most critical for consideration?

Question 4

Which of the following strategies as described by Porter places the greatest pressure on the supply chain?

A) Stuck in the middle
B) Cost leadership
C) Differentiation

Question 5

Manufacturers and retailers benefit from the use of bar codes for several reasons. Which of the following is one of these reasons? Bar codes

A) add to the cost of products, as they have to be printed and applied to products
B) can facilitate the process to determine which items are selling quickly, and which are not
C) reduce sales labor involved in replenishing items at the shelf level in a store
D) reduce forecasting accuracy

Question 6

Lilly's Lettuce wants to track each individual head of lettuce from the farm to the retailer. In this instance, the best tool to use would be:

A) Bar codes
B) Distribution requirements planning (DRP)
C) ASN's
D) RFID

Question 7

_______ was one of the first to mandate its most important suppliers use passive RFID chips.

A) Department of Defense
B) Macy's
C) Walmart
D) Bloomindales'

Question 8

In the case of RFID implementation at the individual item level there are social concerns with

A) the added energy costs and batteries used by the chips.
B) the added labor costs associated with reading all of the tags.
C) the issue of privacy.
D) the issue of governmental control and surveillance.

Question 9

______ is a nonprofit organization "overseeing the creation, promulgation and use of norms and guidelines that directly impact businesses."

A) ANSI
B) EDI
C) WERC
D) CSCMP

Question 10

__________ starts with the initial contact between customer and supplier. It ends with the delivery of the order and subsequent after-sales service.

A) Customer service
B) Vendor management
C) Order management
D) Coordinated inventory deployment

Question 11

Costs associated with the order management process can originate from which of these causes?

A) Employee training
B) Duplication of activities
C) Inventory costs
D) Start-up costs

Question 12

Which of the following tools is a visual representation of an order management process?

A) ERP software
B) Process map
C) Inventory tags
D) RFID tags
E) Venn diagram

Question 13

Bailey, Inc. has discovered a number of continuing customer service issues that originate with incorrect pick lists. In which step of the Order Management Process is the problem located?

A) Order generation
B) Order receipt
C) Order processing
D) Order fulfillment
E) Pick lists are prepared in every step of the Order Management Process

Question 14

Define order cycle time.

A) The time period between a customer placing an order and its delivery
B) The time period between the customer's credit check and the customer's warranty claim
C) The time period between a customer's first inquiry to the installation of the purchased product
D) The time period between a customer's quote and a customer's order confirmation
E) The time period between the first customer inquiry to any warranty claim

Question 15

How does a process map facilitate a common understanding of the order management process?

A) Managers share the process map with the firm's customers.
B) The process map of the Order Management Process is the same map as that for the whole Supply Chain.
C) All people involved in the order management system base their views on the same information.
D) The process map is another name for a customer order.
E) All of these options facilitate a common understanding.

Question 16

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) refers to systems and software to manage day-to-day activities including:

A) Order generation, receipt, processing, fulfillment, shipping, and support
B) RFID, EDI, and API systems
C) Order management process
D) Accounting, procurement, project management, and manufacturing

Question 17

Which of the following are supply chain planning software tools?

A) Inventory management software
B) Warehouse Management Systems (WMS)
C) Transportation Management Systems (TMS)
D) Yard Management Systems (YMS)
E) All of these are supply chain planning software tools.

Question 18

All types of firms can benefit from the use of a Warehouse Management System (WMS). However, WMSs are best suited to which of the following?

A) Firms with minimal warehouse operations because of the limited data capacity of a WMS.
B) Firms with large warehousing operations because of the cost to acquire and implement a WMS.
C) Service firms, such as architectural or accounting partnerships.
D) Firms with extensive administrative functions, such as a credit card processing company.

Question 19

What type of supply chain collaboration describes a supplier managing the customer's inventory using data supplied by the customer?

A) Yard Management System (YMS)
B) Customer supplied data management (CSDM)
C) Vendor managed inventory (VMI)
D) Economic Order Quantity (EOQ)
E) Business to Consumer (B2C)

Question 20

Which of the following statements is FALSE concerning Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)

A) Each EDI document serves the same function as its paper-based equivalent.
B) There is a single, universal standard available to be adopted by individual firms, industries, and regions of the world.
C) EDI messages are structured because both parties must adhere to a standardized, predetermined format for each document.
D) EDI is a one-way communication standard designed to exchange structured computer-to-computer messages.
E) EDI messages are typically transaction related documents such as purchase orders, invoices, order status inquiries, shipment information, and others.

Question 21

Supply chain management relies on timely information to minimize costs and optimize customer satisfaction.

Question 22

Of all of the supply chain planning tools discussed, collaborative planning is the easiest to implement.

Question 23

Supply chain strategy should be determined and defined prior to developing the corporate strategy.

Question 24

Like RFID technology, bar codes store data in a chip.

Question 25

Lilly's Lettuce wants to track each individual head of lettuce from the farm to the retailer. Data is gathered after each head of lettuce is washed, tagged, wrapped and packed in a box containing 23 other heads of Lilly's Lettuce. In this instance, the best tool to use would be bar codes.

Question 26

In general, the smaller the unit receiving RFID tags (individual items versus a pallet), the greater the cost of implementation.

Question 27

RFID is a one-way communication standard designed to exchange structured computer to computer messages.

Question 28

APIs must conform to the ANSCI ASC X.12 standard which is commonly used in the United States.

Question 29

EDI implementation includes initial setup costs for hardware and software, but does not require changes in business processes.

Question 30

The Order Management process ends with the delivery of the product and the customer's payment.

Question 31

The Order Receipt step of the Order Management process requires a customer order be received electronically.

Question 32

The order is a key contact point between customer and supplier.

Question 33

Longer order cycle times can result in the need for customers to hold more inventory.

Question 34

Application Programming Interface (APIs) are clearly defined means of communicating between various software programs.

Question 35

Connectivity gaps inherent in Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) transmissions, as well as delays caused by batching EDI transmission, cause shippers to act on stale or inaccurate information.

Question 36

To be effective, managers need input from other supply chain firms to make operational decisions affecting the supply chain and their individual firm.

Question 37

The exchange of information in the supply chain need not include everyone in the supply chain. Only transportation providers and the subject firm are required.

Question 38

Data capture is the process by which data enters an information system

Question 39

Manufacturers and retailers of consumer products benefit from bar code adoption because bar codes are labor saving technology.

Question 40

Blockchain and the Internet of Things (IoT) are two impactful applications that will affect the future role of information.