Case Study Barilla Spa

1190 Words5 Pages
Barilla SpA: An Analysis of Just-in-Time Distribution Individual Assignment Barilla SPA, the largest pasta manufacturer in the world, rooted in Italy, sells to its retailers largely through third-party distributors and experiences widely fluctuating demand patterns from its distributors during the late 1980s. This case describes a proposal to address the problem by implementing a continuous replenishment program, under which the responsibility for determining shipment quantities would shift from the distributors to Barilla. The case describes support and different functional areas and within the distributors. It allows the analysis of how a company can effectively implement a continuous replenishment program to both reduce channel costs and improve service. Topics Efficient replenishment, vendor managed inventory, channel coordination, bullwhip effect, supply chain incentives, joint optimization. Barilla SpA is the world’s largest pasta manufacturer. The company sells to a wide range of Italian retailers, primarily through third-party distributors, and enjoys a strong brand image in Italy. During the late 1980s, Barilla suffered increasing operational inefficiencies that resulted from large variations in its distributors’ order patterns. To address this problem, Barilla’s director of logistics proposed the implementation of a continuous replenishment program, which Barilla called Just-in-Time Distribution (JITD), with Barilla's distributors. Under the proposed system, decision-making authority for determining shipments distributor would transfer from the distributor to Barilla. Barilla produces pasta at factories through Italy, ships to their own central distribution centers (CDCs), from which they fill orders from distributors’ distribution centers (DCs). The current system involves lengthy delays in processing orders at the CDCs and long lead-times

More about Case Study Barilla Spa

Open Document