The COVID-19 Pandemic has Affected Global Supply Chains Worldwide: Supply Chain Management Assignment, SIM, Singapore

Question 1

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected global supply chains worldwide. While the retail industry has been negatively impacted by the pandemic, the grocery market has seen accelerated growth. In Singapore, traditional wet market grocers and supermarket chains have turned to online platforms as an alternative means to sell their products.

(a) Some of these players have both online platforms and existing physical stores located all over Singapore, while some do not have brick-and-mortar stores and only take in online orders.

Apply what you have learned in Study Unit 2 (DISTRIBUTION & TRANSPORT IN A SUPPLY CHAIN)to investigate the factors that these two groups of players can possibly take into account when deciding on their respective distribution networks.

(b) Amid stay-at-home directives and shift in demand for certain products during the pandemic, major players such as Amazon Prime, FairPrice, and Redmart have been struggling to fulfill the increasing online orders.

Show the possible changes to their distribution and/or transport networks that can enable them to minimize stock-outs while achieving their strategic direction in the current business climate.

For the sake of illustration, you may wish to make reference to a particular supermarket. You are encouraged to suggest novel ideas or measures. Your write-up for Question 1 should not exceed 1,000 words.