BioPharma Case Study Essay

BioPharma Case Questions 1. How should BioPharma have used its production network in 2009? Should any of the plants have been idled? What is the annual cost of your proposal, including import duties? This solution was obtained using the tables displayed below. Note that Germany and Japan produced none of the Relax product and that side of their plants has been idled. The annual cost of this solution is: $24.85Total Transportation Cost (millions) $1,268.31Total Production Cost (millions) $195.15Total Tariffs (millions) $1,488,315,983TOTAL COST Highcal Production Plant Latin America Europe Asia w/o Japan Japan Mexico U.S. Brazil 7 0 0 1.23 0 0 Germany 0 15 0 0 0 0 India 0 0 5 3.77 0 0.35 Japan 0 0 0 2 0 0 Mexico 0 0 0 0 3 12.65 U.S. 0 0 0 0 0 5 Total 7 15 5 7 3 18 Relax Production Plant Latin America Europe Asia w/o Japan Japan Mexico U.S. Brazil 7 0 0 2.77 0 0 Germany 0 0 0 0 0 0 India 0 0.65 3 5.23 0 0 Japan 0 0 0 0 0 0 Mexico 0 11.35 0 0 3 0 U.S. 0 0 0 0 0 17 Total 7 12 3 8 3 17 Total Plant Output Plant Total Brazil 18 Germany 15 India 18 Japan 2 Mexico 30 U.S. 22 2. How should Phil structure his global production network? Assume that the past is a reasonable indicator of the future in terms of exchange rates. Phil should note that the Dollar and Peso have been getting killed by the Euro, Real and the Yen the last three years. Over the five year period, the net movement has not been a disaster, and recognition of business cycles would suggest that it would be wise to retain capacity and capabilities throughout the entire supply chain so that production can be diverted as currencies move against each other. 3. Is there any plant for which it may be worth adding a million kilograms of additional capacity at a fixed cost of $3 million per year? It doesn’t appear this improves the solution shown in question 1. The plants that are at capacity in part 1 are Brazil, India, Mexico, and the U.S.; adding a million kilograms of capacity to those plants does not result in a lower overall cost for the entire supply chain. 4. How are your recommendations affected by the reduction of duties? A reduction in duties to 0% across the board results in the following costs: $38.25Total Transportation Cost (millions) $1,325.40Total Production Cost (millions) $0.00Total Tariffs (millions) $1,363,650,824TOTAL COST The solution matrix is far less sparse; virtually every market receives imports from every other market with the exception of Mexico and Asia without Japan. Production increases in Germany and Japan at the expense of India, Mexico, and the U.S. Highcal Production Plant Latin America Europe Asia w/o Japan Japan Mexico U.S. Brazil 1.20 2.28 0.62 1.20 0.00 4.90 Germany 1.52 2.90 1.23 1.52 0.95 2.98 India 1.12 2.50 .83 1.12 0.55 2.58 Japan 0.53 1.91 0.25 0.53 0.00 1.99 Mexico 1.52 2.90 1.23 1.52 0.95 2.98 U.S. 1.12 2.50 0.83 1.12 0.55 2.58 Total 7 15 5 7 3 18 Relax Production Plant Latin America Europe Asia w/o Japan Japan Mexico U.S. Brazil 1.20 1.48 0.00 1.48 0.00 3.65 Germany 1.52 2.46 0.95 1.66 0.95 3.03 India 1.12 2.06 0.55 1.26 0.55 2.63 Japan 0.53 1.47 0.00 0.67 0.00 2.04 Mexico 1.52 2.46 0.95 1.66 0.95 3.03 U.S. 1.12 2.06 0.55 1.26 0.55 2.63 Total 7 12 3 8 3 17 Total Plant Output Plant Total Brazil 18.00 Germany 21.67 India 16.87 Japan 9.93 Mexico 21.67 U.S. 16.87 5. The analysis has assumed that each plant has a100 percent yield (percent output of acceptable quality). How would you modify your analysis to account for yield differences across plants? To adjust for yields less than 100%, the capacity of each plant could be adjusted down by the loss percentage. Another approach would be to leave capacity as stated but adjust the amount shipped down by the scrap percentage. 6. What other factors should be accounted for when making your recommendations? This global supply chain is exposed to a variety of risks as enumerated below. Supply chain decisions should be made after careful assessment of the likelihood of these events and the effectiveness of possible mitigation plans. Disruptions – disasters, war, terrorism, labor disputes Delays – inflexibility or poor yield of supply, insufficient supply Systems – IS breakdown, system integration issues Forecast – inaccurate forecasting Intellectual property – vertical integration and global sourcing Procurement – exchange rate movement, industry-wide capacity issues Receivables – number and financial strength of customers Inventory – rate of obsolescence, holding costs, uncertainty of demand Capacity – cost and flexibility of capacit