Transport Improvement Plan

Supply chain is a very important part of any business. It determines the level of customer satisfaction as it ensures the availability of goods and services at the right place and at the right time. In addition, supply chain management is essential for quality production because through supply chain, raw materials for production can be transported to the production plant in a timely fashion. Therefore, transport is an important activity in the supply chain. As such, it is imperative for business organizations to have a transport improvement plan that will facilitate proper transportation of goods and raw materials. Transport improvement plan is a program of how transport can be improved in a certain area. It refers to the improvements of highways, transit, bridges, and other transport related facilities. It should include a plan for transport improvements in the later years as well. This paper discusses a multi year transport improvement plan for Walt Disney.

Background of Walt Disney

Walt Disney is an organization that is based in the United States of America and that operates in the entertainment industry. Headquartered in Burbank, California, the company is a conglomerate of entertainment and multinational mass media. It was founded in the year 1923 by Disney brothers, Roy O. Disney and Walt Disney (“About Walt Disney company”, 2016). At the time, it became a leader in the animation industry but later, it expanded its operations into film production, theme parks, and television. Disney is among the biggest companies in the world. In terms of revenue, it is ranked second in the world among the media conglomerate businesses. It has become recognized as the best entertainment business in the United States. Walt Disney aims to become the leading producer and provider of family entertainment in the world (“About Walt Disney company”, 2016). It offers a wide range of services and consumer products and uses these to develop the most innovative entertainment experiences.

Products and Services

As it has been mentioned earlier, Walt Disney is a company that provides entertainment services to its customers. Therefore, its main products are films, music, video games, cable television, theme parks, and radio as well as broadcasting and web portal services. It also offers licensing services to other businesses in the entertainment industry (“About Walt Disney company”, 2016). Additionally, the company owns restaurants and resorts where it offers hospitality services.

Markets

The company operates worldwide. However, its main market is in the United States of America. Its target customers are mostly children and families in general (“About Walt Disney company”, 2016). Youths are also part of the target market as they buy music and video games.

Demographic Information

Walt Disney operates in the entertainment industry. It is among the leading companies in this industry. The company has operations worldwide. By the end of the year 2015, Walt Disney had about 185,000 employees (“About Walt Disney company”, 2016).

Supply Chain Strategies

The current freight flows include freight consolidator, courier services, mail and postage services, warehousing, shipping and transportation, customs brokers and expedited services. In addition, the company has international freight forwards. In the future, the company should improve its freight flow in order to sustain its competitiveness (Staff, 2012). In the first year, it should focus on improving online sales for its products and bookings for the theme parks and resorts. In the second year, it should increase the number of stores in the overseas as this would increase convenience in the international market. In the third year, the company can improve its air cargo freight flow by purchasing some aircrafts instead of the current method of hiring flights. In the forth year, Walt Disney can further improve delivery services so that it could deliver goods at the customers’ doorsteps. The metrics used to utilize the supply chain includes delivery time and cost reduction. Goods and services should be delivered within the shortest possible time for an effective supply chain. The supply chain should also reduce costs. The supply chain supports the company’s strategic goals in that it helps in improving customer satisfaction by ensuring that goods are delivered in a timely manner and at the right place. The supply chain also improves the company’s effectiveness and efficiency and as a result it is able to facilitate strategic goal achievement.

Suppliers to Walt Disney

The company has a diversified business portfolio. As a result, it has a wide range of suppliers who include Christie, which provides projector, Electronic Arts, HandsOn Network, Barleys New, Imax, McDonalds, Goo Systems, OPI, ESPN, Cox Communications, and Harmonix Music Systems among others (“About Walt Disney company”, 2016).

Supply Chain Weaknesses and Strengths

The supply chain supports the company’s operations in that it provides all the necessary goods and services required for the businesses. The fact that Walt Disney has many suppliers means that it has a high bargaining power and it is able to consistently get the goods and services it needs. By this, the company is able to continually provide its services. This improves its goodwill and hence, gives it a competitive advantage.

The main strength of Walt Disney’s supply chain is that it is able to provide it with a wide range of supplies that are essential for its diverse business (Staff, 2012). The company has a wide portfolio of business that reduces its risk greatly. The supply chain is able to support this portfolio, and this gives the company a competitive edge.

The weakness for Walt Disney’s supply chain is that it is mainly composed of children’s related products and services. In this regard, the company lacks a reliable supply for adult products, a factor that have a negative effect on its business.

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