...1 i CASE STUDY ~ SEVEN-ELEVEN JAPAN CO. Established in 1973, Seven-Eleven Japan set up its first store in Koto-ku, Tokyo, in May 1974. The company was first listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in October 1979. In 2004 it was owned by the Ito-Yokado group, which also managed a chain of supermarkets in Japan and owned a majority share in Southland, the company managing SevenEleven in the United States. Seven-Eleven Japan realized a phenomenal growth between the years of 1985 and 2003. During that period, the number of stores increased from 2,299 to 10,303; annual sales increased from 386 billion to 2,343 billion yen; and net income increased from 9 billion to 91.5 billion yen. Additionally, the company's return on equity (ROE) averaged around 14 percent between 2000 and 2004. In 2004, Seven-Eleven Japan represented Japan's largest retailer in terms of operating income and number of stores. Customer visits to Seven-Eleven outlets totaled 3.6 billion that year, averaging almost 30 visits to a SevenEleven annually for every person in Japan. COMPANY HISTORY AND PROFILE Both Ito-Yokado and Seven-Eleven Japan were founded by Masatoshi Ito. He started his retail empire after World . War II, when he joined his mother and elder brother and began to work in a small clothing store in Tokyo. By 1960 he was in sole control, and the single store had grown into a $3 million company. After a trip to the United States in 1961, Ito became convinced that superstores...
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...CASE: SEVEN ELEVEN JAPAN Executive Summary I Executive Summary The goal of this case is to analyze how a firm can be successful by structuring its supply chain to support its supply chain strategy. Once Seven-Eleven Japan decided to provide responsiveness by rapid replenishment, it then structured its facilities, inventory, information, and distribution to support this choice. The case also brings up the question of whether the same approach can work in the United States, especially given the greater distances and lower store density. Table of Contents II I Table of Contents Executive Summary ................................................................................................................. I II List of Abbreviations......................................................................................................... III 1 Seven-Eleven Japan Co........................................................................................................ 1 1.1 History and Profile ........................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Framework of further discussions .................................................................................... 1 2 Discussion ............................................................................................................................ 1 2.1 Supply Chain Responsiveness ..................................................................
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...Case Study #4 (7/11 Japan) A convenience store chain attempts to be responsive and provide customers what they need, when they need it, where they need it. What are some different ways that a convenience store supply chain can be responsive? What are some risks in each case? -A convenience store can be responsive in a few different ways in order to meet customer needs and wants. The store can conduct customer surveys in order to get a direct response on what the store is lacking or what customers prefer. They could do a store analysis also which would show them customer purchase patterns so they can pinpoint the hot items and when they should be in stock. In both cases the risk is that you could get the wrong information and stock your store wrong, or you could end up only tailoring to one customer’s needs, which might not be the same needs as the majority of your customers. Seven-Eleven’s supply chain strategy in Japan can be described as attempting to micro-match supply and demand using rapid replenishment. What are some risks associated with this choice? -Rapid replenishment as a strategy for supply and demand runs a few risk which are: customers will discontinue use of a product, the product will remain on the shelf until the shelf life is exceeded or you might not have what the customer needs/wants at the time of need because you are consistently replenishing other products from other customers. By the time the product that the customer wanted arrives in the store...
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...Sunil Chopra TEACHING NOTE: SEVEN-ELEVEN JAPAN CO. The goal of this case is to illustrate how a firm can be successful by structuring its supply chain to support its supply chain strategy. Once Seven-Eleven Japan decided to provide responsiveness by rapid replenishment, it then structured its facilities, inventory, information, and distribution to support this choice. The case also brings up the question of whether the same approach can work in the United States, especially given the greater distances and lower store density. Questions 1. A CONVENIENCE STORE CHAIN ATTEMPTS TO BE RESPONSIVE AND PROVIDE CUSTOMERS WHAT THEY NEED, WHEN THEY NEED IT, WHERE THEY NEED IT. WHAT ARE SOME DIFFERENT WAYS THAT A CONVENIENCE STORE SUPPLY CHAIN CAN BE RESPONSIVE? WHAT ARE SOME RISKS IN EACH CASE? As responsiveness increases, the convenience store chain is exposed to greater uncertainty. A convenience store chain can improve responsiveness to this uncertainty using one of the following strategies, especially for fresh and fast foods: Local capacity: The convenience store chain can provide local cooking capacity at the stores and assemble foods almost on demand. Inventory would be stored as raw material. This is seen at the U.S. fast food restaurant franchise Subway where dinner and lunch sandwiches are assembled on demand. The main risk with this approach is that capacity is decentralized, leading to poorer utilization. Local inventory: Another approach is...
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...Seven Eleven Case Study Questions 3, 4 and 6 Question 3 What has Seven Eleven done in its choice of facility location, inventory management, transportation and information infrastructure to develop capabilities to support its supply chain strategy in Japan? In order to support it’s supply chain strategy in Japan, Seven Eleven has developed a number of capabilities to ease the movement of inventory to and from its distribution center and around it’s entire supply chain network. One method in particular that Seven Eleven has implicated is its cluster location strategy. This is where an average of 50 to 60 stores along side a distribution center are located within a region of demand in Japan. This approach provides Seven Eleven with a centralized strategy to its supply chain; meaning an effective distribution network is formed across the company as the stores and distribution center are located within close proximity to each other allowing for a reduction in transportation times and cost. Another strategy Seven Eleven has implicated to support its supply chain strategy is its effective use of a combined delivery system. This enables the company to distribute products in a more efficiently manner across the supply chain network, as products that fall into similar temperature categories can be transported together and to several store at one given time. Seven Eleven’s investment in inventory management and information Infrastructure has also aided improvements to...
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...SEVEN-ELEVEN JAPAN CO. CASE ANALYSIS What is the future outlook for Seven Eleven Stores in USA? Seven-Eleven is part of an international chain of convenient stores. 7-Eleven, primarily operating as a franchise, is the world's largest operator, franchisor and licensor of convenience stores, with more than 46,000 outlets. The Seven-Eleven business model consists of five key elements: * A differentiated merchandising strategy; * Utilization of 7-Eleven’s retail information system & Managed distribution; * Providing a convenient shopping environment; and * A unique franchise model. Let us have a brief look over 7-Eleven stores in US and Japan: Seven-Eleven Japan: * High density market presence with 50-60 stores supported by distribution centre. * Limited geographical presence * Emphasized regional merchandizing * Processed and fast foods contributed to most of its sales * Products like food and beverages, magazines and consumer items such as soaps and detergents * Services offered like payment of electricity bills, telephone, gas bills, meal delivery services, 7 dream e-commerce, electronic money offering and many * Advanced information technology helped store to analyse store data every day morning and helps in having valuable shelf life * Information system installed in every outlet and linked to HQ, Suppliers and 7-eleven distribution centres. Uses ISDN to collect, process and feedback POS data quickly * Delivery frequency...
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...Seven-Eleven Japan1 Established in 1973, Seven-Eleven Japan set up its first store in Koto-ku, Tokyo, in May 1974. The company was first listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in October 1979. In 2004 it was owned by the Ito-Yokado group, which also managed a chain of supermarkets in Japan and owned a majority share in Southland, the company managing 7-Eleven in the United States. On September 1, 2005, Seven & I Holdings Co., Ltd., was established as the holding company for Seven-Eleven Japan, Ito-Yokado, and Denny’s Japan. Seven-Eleven Japan realized a phenomenal growth between the years of 1985 and 2007. During that period, the number of stores increased from 2,299 to 12,034, annual sales increased from 386 billion to 2,574 billion yen; and net income increased from 9 billion to 91.5 billion yen. Additionally, the company’s return on equity (ROE) averaged around 14 percent between 2000 and 2004. In 2004, Seven-Eleven Japan represented Japan’s largest retailer in terms of operating income and number of stores. Customer visits to Seven-Eleven outlets totaled 4.1 billion in 2007, averaging almost 35 visits to a Seven-Eleven annually for every person in Japan. Company History and Profile Both Ito-Yokado and Seven-Eleven Japan were founded by Masatoshi Ito. He started his retail empire after World War II, when he joined his mother and elder brother and began to work in a small clothing store in Tokyo. By 1960 he was in sole control, and the single store had grown into a $3 million company...
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...1. What has Seven-Eleven done in its choices of facility locations, inventory management, transportation, and information infrastructure to develop capabilities that support its supply chain strategy in Japan? Seven-Eleven has two levels of facility locations, one is distribution center, and another is retailer store. Distribution center is a platform to collect and allocate the order from supplier to retail store. Limited number of distribution center supports the near cluster stores. Distribution center focus on efficiency rather than responsiveness to transmit product. Seven-Eleven tends to open the stores in a dense network. It opened the majority of its new stores in areas with existing clusters of stores. Dense stores can maintain a high responsive level to the market. Besides, it also can reduce delivery cost. For instance, the trucks do not need to replenish stocks in dispersed locations. This makes the supply chain be more effective owning to the faster and convenience transportation route. In view of the inventory management, Seven-Eleven keeps no stock in distribution center and limited inventory in retailer stores. Supplier will immediately deliver stock to distribution center if receive store order. Store only keep daily inventory and place the product in particular time to response customer buying behavior. For example, breakfast, newspaper and fresh food will be placed in the shelves on the morning. The popular dinner box is placed in the evening...
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...CENTER FOR INFORMATION SYSTEMS RESEARCH Sloan School of Management Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge Massachusetts 7-ELEVEN Japan Co., Ltd.: Reinventing the Retail Business Model Kei Nagayama and Peter Weill January 2004 CISR WP No. 338 and MIT Sloan WP No. 4485-04 2004 Massachusetts Institute of Technology. All rights reserved. Research Article: a completed research article drawing on one or more CISR research projects that presents management frameworks, findings and recommendations. Research Summary: a summary of a research project with preliminary findings. Research Briefings: a collection of short executive summaries of key findings from research projects. Case Study: an in-depth description of a firm’s approach to an IT management issue (intended for MBA and executive education). Technical Research Report: a traditional academically rigorous research paper with detailed methodology, analysis, findings and references. About the Center for Information Systems Research CISRMISSION CISR was founded in 1974 and has a strong track record of practice based research on the management of information technology. As we enter the twenty-first century, CISR’s mission is to perform practical empirical research on how firms generate business value from IT. CISR disseminates this research via electronic research...
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...1. Describe the type of supply chain used by 7-Eleven. For example are they agile, adaptable, aligned? 7-Eleven is the largest operator and franchisor of convenience stores in the world, with more than 46,000 outlets and currently selling 500 million litres of petrol, $500 million of merchandise and serving almost 80 million customers worldwide. With figures like this, you have to wonder how they did it? Aside from the fact that the store operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and hence adhere to the ‘convenience store’ label, 7-Eleven addressed some key aspects that often other organisations overlook. “We must be open to change to remain successful,” said7-Eleven CEO Joe DePinto (and recent “Undercover Boss”) at the conclusion of his Tuesday morning keynote address at the IFA 2011 Annual Convention. Noticing a need to change, 7-Eleven turned their whole outlook around, focusing on the franchisees instead of focusing on the headquarters of the organisation. After all, the franchisees are the ones that work at ground level with customers on a day to day basis, establishing relationships and recognising customer needs. 7-Elevens response to a changing marketplace yielded significant benefits and further more allowed the implementation of technology and supply chain integration to increase functionality. An efficient supply chain maximises planning, organising and helps distribute a flow of the organisations product to end customers. This is done through implementing innovative...
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...Course: Logistics and Supply Chain Management Prof. Dr. Stephan M. Wagner Seven-Eleven Japan Co. 1) Demand uncertainty – Demand uncertainty means your business has difficulty accurately predicting customer demand in the future. This poses a significant challenge because it makes inventory hard to control and manage. Using technology to monitor sales over time can help offset demand that fluctuates from one period to the next. In the Seven Eleven case the company implied demand uncertainty can be categorized as high, due to the nature of the customer needs and product properties. Customer needs: customer is usually in a hurry making an urgency-buy, he has a low tolerance for response time, requires high product availability & high service level. The range of quantity demanded can also be high due to unexpected events, e.g. super ball game increasing the demand for beer, chips and commercial. These customer needs causes a high implied demand uncertainty. Products properties: middle range of products (3000SKUs) 60% of total sales at each store are processed and fast foods, 50% changes in the course of a year due to seasonal demand & new products. Local preferences are important and vary, different consumption patterns throughout the day, stores have limited shelf space and little buffer inventory (limited store size) Seven Eleven supply uncertainty is medium to high. Supply uncertainty is increased due to: high diversity of products,...
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...Executive Summary 7-Eleven is a famous brand and provide more than 40 thousands convenience stores for the customers in the worldwide and the most important factor is successful performance in Supply Chain Management (SCM). However, 7-Eleven still has been facing a lot of problems which should be sorting them out in order to get more business opportunities. This report focuses on the supply chain management of 7-Eleven and suggests the improvement for potential problem of its whole supply chain system. At first, will introduce the company’s background by collecting data about its current situation and identifies the issues which are supported by SWOT analysis. And through the GAP analyses of the business the key existent issues faced by 7-Eleven. According to those above, the report will finalize the recommendations and implementation methods in order to improve the business and set a benchmark for future development. In the end, although 7-Eleven’s trend is led more convenience stores to satisfy the need of customers, but it still needs to improve its supply chain and operation mode to Commercial global optimization to continue keeping its leading position in the retail market. 7-Eleven Background 7-Eleven is the largest convenience store chain in the world, which has approximately 47,500 stores in 16 countries. The first Australian store was opened in 1977 owned by the Withers/Barlow family which has the license to operate and franchise 7-Eleven stores in Australia from...
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...Industry & competitor analysis Define industry: Convenience stores industry So for 7-eleven absolutely it belongs to convenience stores industry. Based on 7-eleven mission, The concept of convenience stores, developed by 7-Eleven, was shaping the way Americans shopped; in turn, American buying behavior and the American landscape were both shaping the identity of convenience stores. As a matter of habit, American shopped at big-box stores and supermarkets for all their weekly or monthly supplies. Convenience stores served as sources for supplementary shopping, for picking up daily-use items that had run out. Convenience stores were thus stuck in a warp. They could not gain top-of-mind recall among American consumers; they seemed destined to stay on the fringes. The concept of convenience stores had evolved in countries outside the United States along the same lines as it had evolved in the United States. Convenience stores served as a source of supplementary purchases of essential items that could be readily consumed by shoppers. The format established in the United States could be replicated in any part of the world. Operators in this industry are retail businesses that primarily sell basic food, beverage and tobacco merchandise in convenient locations that are generally open during extended hours. This industry…. In the not too distant past, every convenience store looked about the same -- 2,400 square feet of packaged consumer items. Today, companies in...
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...Walmart in Japan I. Problem identification phase Introduction Walmart is an American international retail company that is headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas. The company began operations in 1962 after being founded by Sam Walton and incorporated in 1969. The present brand name—Walmart—came about in 2008 and before that it was referred to as Wal-Mart. The company is famous for operating chains of large discount departmental stores and warehouse stores. Presently, the company is the 18th public corporation in terms of size and the biggest in terms of revenue, private employment, and retailer (Walmart 2011 Annual report). Furthermore, the largest shareholders are the Walton’s with 48% shares; hence they control the company. The company has approximately 9000 stores in over 15 countries all operating under different names. For instance, in Mexico it is called Walmex, in UK Asda, and in Japan Seiyu. This article analyses Walmart in Japan through three phases. The three phases are: problem identification, analysis, and solution phases. Background Walmart bought 6.2% of Seiyu in May 2002 (Holstein 73). The shares of the company increased over time and in 2005 December, Walmart was the majority shareholder of 50.9%. In 2008, Seiyu was entirely owned by Walmart whose headquarters are in Tokyo. The company has 419 retail units that are inclusive of: Seiyu Hypermarket, Seiyu Supermarket, Wakana, and Seiyu General Merchendise. Setting operations in Japan was not an easy feat...
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...and data analytics software. But many of them don’t have much to show for their efforts. It’s possible they never will. What’s the problem? To begin with, big data ARTWORK: CHAD HAGEN, GRAPHIC COMPOSITION NO. 2, 2009, DIGITAL has been hyped so heavily that companies are expecting it to deliver more value than it actually can. In addition, analytics-generated insights can be easy to replicate: A financial services company we studied built a model based on an analysis of big data that identified the best place to locate an ATM, only to learn that consultants had already built similar models for several other banks. Moreover, turning insights from data analytics into competitive advantage requires changes that businesses may be incapable of making. One retailer, for example, learned that it could increase profits substantially by extending the time items were on the floor before and after discounting. But implementing that change would have required a complete redesign of the supply chain, which the retailer was reluctant to undertake. The biggest reason that investments in big data fail to pay off, though, is that most companies don’t do a good job with the information they already have. They don’t know how to manage it, analyze it in ways that enhance their understanding, and then make changes in response to new insights. Companies don’t magically develop those competencies just because they’ve invested in high-end analytics tools. They first need...
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