Reference no: EM132805179

Question 1: Discuss the role of distribution in the supply chain. Provide examples of how distribution operations can positively and negatively impact supply chain performance.

• One of the key purpose of supply chain system is to move value from one point to another. This often is represented by moving goods and services. In doing so we often have single source of production and multiple destination. As a result, we need to optimize the routing process from the source to the destinations. Since the number of destinations are mostly larger than the number of sources, the role of distribution of the products/services become crucial to the overall creation value.

• Let's say products are manufactured in a facility and needs to be distributed across over 100 locations, then the product needs to be sent in bulk to a distribution center, which in turn categorizes and sorts the products into smaller shipments and distributes them to different warehouses and destinations. This is the advantage of the distribution. The disadvantage is that it requires additional effort to manage the distribution networks.