Reference no: EM132259895

All products sold at the Co-op retail stores in Western Canada are purchased and distributed by Federated Cooperatives Ltd (FCL). The produce buyer for FCL purchases 13 loads of Chiquita bananas per week (one load equals one full 40-foot ocean container). Also, one load per week is purchased from Dole. Chiquita bananas usually come from Guatemala in Central America on a Great White Fleet (Chiquita) ship in refrigerated containers. FCL receives the bananas from Chiquita’s (refrigerated) warehouses in three different ports in the United States. The bananas are destined for each of FCL’s food warehouses in Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon, and Winnipeg. For the Calgary warehouse, FCL receives three loads per week from Port Hueneme (just north of Los Angeles) and one load per week from San Diego. For the Saskatoon warehouse, FCL receives four loads per week from Hueneme. For the Edmonton warehouse, FCL receives three to four loads per week from Hueneme. And for the Winnipeg warehouse, FCL receives two loads per week from Freeport, Texas. A refrigerated company truck/trailer is sent down at regular intervals to pick up a load so that the ripening (ethylene) gas chambers in each DC are used evenly.

Is there a better way, in terms of supply chain management, to satisfy FCL’s Chiquita banana demand? Explain in reasonable depth, with diagrams or cost/time estimates as applicable.