Strategic buying at National Foods, Pakistan – a recipe for success
Publication date: 1 January 2011
Abstract
Subject area
Operations management, purchasing and procurement management, inventory management and supply chain.
Student level/applicability
Introductory courses in Operations Management; MBA level and final year undergraduates in management. Masters level in purchasing/procurement management, inventory management and supply chain management.
Case overview
The case deals with strategic purchase decision of a basic raw material used in ketchups. Ketchups represent 15 per cent of annual sales at National Foods. Mohammad Iqbal, Head of Supply Chain at National Foods, is confronted with the decision of buying tomato paste for fiscal year 2007-2008. He needs to decide how much paste to order from National Foods' supplier in China and when. He has the demand forecast for the paste for 2008 available to help him make the decision.
Expected learning outcomes
The case will introduce the students to issues in strategic buying of a basic raw material that is crucial to production. The case is not designed to teach just the basic concept of trade-off between inventory holding and stock out cost. The students should bring these basic concepts of operations with them to understand how these concepts are combined with knowledge of other disciplines to tackle a complex raw material planning issue. Students learn how to plan for the purchase of a perishable yet important raw material for an organization.
Supplementary materials
Teaching note.
Keywords
Citation
Mumtaz, M.K. and Mir, S.R. (2011), "Strategic buying at National Foods, Pakistan – a recipe for success", , Vol. 1 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/20450621111122174
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2011, Emerald Group Publishing Limited