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ASSIGNMENT NO: 1

ASSIGNMENT QUESTION:

What was the supply chain Alignment Strategy at

Crocs? Please explain with respect to “Tastes of a

good supply chain strategy” in Ch 1 of the Cohen

book.

The best companies are the ones that use their supply chain model to have a competitive

advantage. Crocs was using its supply chain model to compete on responsiveness .They broke

the traditional norms of industry for retailers and distributors of placing the order in bulk many

months before the season and introduced a new model that did not impose these kind of

limitations on retailers. Crocs supply chain strategy was more fast and flexible than others and its

focus was on customer needs. Though the product planning was based on pre-books for each

model but it could fill new orders within the season by quickly manufacturing them and shipping

to retail stores. They were reducing the retailer’s risk by catering to rapidly changing demand of

customers even within the same season. For this purpose Crocs purchased its manufacturers

“Finproject” and owned the formula for the proprietary resigns “Croslite” from which its shoes

were made. This move gave Crocs control over the production so they can fulfill the order/

requirements of the retailers anytime during the season. Crocs made its production global using

contract manufactures in different countries to become nearer to its retailers and customers.

Contractor manufacturers outside Asia were unable to adopt company’s supply chain model so

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they brought the global supply chain In-house and also changed its warehousing model. Crocs

also shifted its production to reduce duty payments for example if in one country the

manufactured products had a high tariff then they shift its production to a low tariff location.

Since company owned all type of molds and molding machines so it was easy for them to shift

production to any country at any point of time.