Essay Example: The Supply Chain Design for Ingredion Inc.

The project involves the description of the supply chain of Ingredion Inc., which deals with the production and supply of sweeteners in Northern America. The supply chain of the company consists of many activities that take place hence contributing to the company's success in the market. When designing a supply chain, there is a description of a process in which a company manages and structures its operations in the supply chain to identify the right balance between transportation, inventory, and manufacturing (Fahimnia et al., 2017). The project will be guided by the objectives, which will help in answering the research question. Different strategies are explained in the project in which the company can use for the success of its supply chain operations.

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Project objectivesTo develop a design of the supply chain for Ingredion Inc. when dealing with sweeteners in North America

To evaluate the supply chain practices which Ingredion Inc. can apply in its operations in North America

ScopeThe project focuses on designing and redesigning the supply chain of Ingredion Inc. The project is confined in the supply chain, where it will identify the best strategies and policies which can improve the design and operations in the company's supply chain. The approach the project will give can help the company to enhance its supply chain by implementing them within the organization. The project's target company was Ingredion Inc., which deals with the production of sweeteners. The main aim of developing the plan was on the target company.

Project motivation and significanceThe project is essential to the employees and management in Ingredion Inc. because they will understand the best ways in which they can apply to design the supply chain in their company. The project will also help companies in the food, beverage, and pharmaceutical industries understand the strategies they can use to improve their supply chain. The project is essential in shaping the supply chain's future in the food, beverage, and pharmaceutical industry and thus enhancing better operations that contribute to competitiveness in the market. Ingredion Inc. can rely on the project for strategies in designing the company's supply chain, which can help satisfy the customers, hence improving the business's performance.

Limitations

The main limitation of the project is the lack of enough research materials explaining about the company. When there are enough research materials, this ensures that there is the completion of the project because there are different sources for comparison of information. However, depending on the company selected for the project, there are limited resource materials for reference; thus, some information will be assumed.

1.2 A transitional paragraph for upcoming sectionsIngredion Inc. is a global company with operates in the food, beverage, and pharmaceutical industry. The company has different functional areas within its premises. One of the functional areas is the supply chain, which deals with products like sweeteners. The project will explain how to design a supply chain of Ingredion Inc. through the implementation of different supply chain strategies for improving the company's performance and the enhancement of competitive advantage in the company. The project describes Ingredion Inc. and the current situation of the supply chain in the organization. The design or redesigning of the supply chain of Ingredion Inc. section in the project is included. The chapter explains different supply chain strategies related to customer relationships, procurement, and administration of the supply chain. Objectives and a plan are given for the implementation of the approach in the company.

2. The Firm2.1. Firm's introductionThe project develops a supply chain design of Ingredion Inc. dealing with the supply of sweeteners. The company is existing. Ingredion Inc. is a global public company that manufactures and supplies ingredients. The company's headquarters are in Westchester in the U.S (Gourineni et al., 2018). Ingredion Inc. was founded in 1906 as a corn product refining company when leading U.S corn manufacturers merged. Some of the products that the company produces include oil, glucose, sweeteners, and starches (Ingredion, 2015). Ingredion Inc. supplies its products to customers in over 120 countries worldwide. The company was initially known as Corn Products International until 2012, when its name changed to Ingredion Inc. The company has research and development centers located in key global markets (Nithisathian et al., 2018). The company has an estimated number of employees of 11000 around the world, out of which 1100 are short-term workers (Ingredion Incorporated, 2015).

The mission statement of Ingredion Inc. involves bringing together the potential of individuals, nature, and technology to produce ingredients that enhance people's life. The purpose of the company is to integrate passion and creativity to make life better (Ingredion, 2020). Ingredion Inc. works jointly with other sectors, including food, paper, beverage, animal nutrition, and other industries, by providing ingredient solutions to serve its customer base well. The company's vision eludes that the firm is committed to supplying its consumers with excellence, inventive ingredients that are on fashion, and high demand. The company upholds the virtues of bold creativity and innovation, care, and integrity, which enable the employees to take the responsibility to act in the interest and benefit of the company (Ingredion, 2020). Bold creativity allows workers to strive for relentless innovation and to improve performance.

One of the main strategies of Ingredion Inc. is to foster growth in the ingredient specialty by concentrating on many trends that cause changes in the beverage and food sector. Ingredion Inc. can boast of its excellent value proposition and intends to combine its strength to improve its sales. The firm is aligning its operation policies with the food industry changes since they have significant effects on the company's customer base (Ingredion Incorporated, 2015). Ingredion Inc. stakeholders are optimistic about meeting the firm's growth projections by using endless creativity opportunities in the production and supply of high-quality products. Another strategy of Ingredion combined is its unique international reach and local touch. The company supplies its products to various countries worldwide. For instance, research indicates that companies that take the necessary actions to balance their capacity and product demand continue to gain consumer loyalty (Juanamasta et al., 2019). Ingredion Inc. intends to use its ability of technological advantage and market model to connect to consumers locally and globally.

2.2 The current situation of the supply chain of the firmIngredion Inc. uses supply chain analysis to deal with the changes in the demand for sweeteners. The company applies the hedging policy in the price of corn from the Chicago board of trade. The system has enabled the company to reduce production costs and hence the cost of supply of sweeteners. According to the company website, Ingredion Inc. mainly deals with the production and supply of sweeteners to various parts of the world using corn (Ingredion Incorporated, 2015). The primary raw material in the production of sweeteners is yellow corn. The company has been facing the problem of price fluctuations in its supply chain of sweeteners. The firm anticipates that the supply of corn in the United States will continue to be steady since it affects the supply chain of sweeteners. The company website indicates that the supply chain of corn has been adequate for Ingredion Inc.'s domestic use, especially in its sweeteners production process (Ingredion Incorporated, 2015). The steady supply of corn ensures that the company produces and supplies sufficient amounts of corn to its customers.

3. Design or redesign of the Supply Chain3.1 Customer RelationshipsCustomer relationship strategy for the firmCustomer relationships involve marketing communication, customer service, sales support, and assistance in technology (Armstrong et al., 2018). Ingredion Inc. needs to be significant in developing customer relationship strategies to improve customer experience with the company products and services. There are several elements which the company can focus on so that it can improve its customer relationship. One of the components is commitment. The company should apply the strategy of commitment to meeting customer requirements (Stevenson, 2012). Customers have different needs and required attention from the company to ensure their demands are met. When the company gets committed to the customer's needs, this improves the level of customer satisfaction. The commitment can be achieved through frequent communication with customers. Customers prefer a company that communicates through reflecting the primary segment of the customer (Eggert et al., 2018). Therefore, when Ingredion Company communicates with its customers, it should focus on the communication of its brand through words and images that inspire people's emotions.

Another element of the customer relationship strategy involves forecasting. The company should come up with the ideal steps to apply in the prediction of demands (Stevenson, 2012). Before the company considers building a customer relationship, it needs to identify the type of customers it will serve based on the customers it wants to reach in the market. Identifying the customers makes the business analyze the profitability from the customers, thus aligning its organizational goals with the target customers (Keiningham et al., 2020). Another customer relationship strategy the company can apply involves evaluating the unique customer needs using its sales and marketing processes. Ingredion Inc. can depend on the customers' feedback to identify the individual needs that other companies have not satisfied and focus on them as a strategy of meeting the customer needs.

Objectives to achieve the strategiesOne of the objectives when achieving customer relationship strategies involves satisfying the customers. Happy customers become loyal to the products of the organization because of the satisfaction they receive. When the organization enables customer satisfaction, this is the surest way to achieve customer relationship strategies. Satisfied customers become connected to the brand, and this ensures the customer relationship strategies get made (Pansari $ Kumar, 2017). Another objective when the company wants to meet customer relationship strategies involves improving business efficiency. When Ingredion Inc. concentrates on improving its operations for efficient business with the customers, it helps the company achieve its customer relationship strategies. A business needs to focus on essential objectives that ensure a strong customer relationship (Pedron et al., 2016). The plan set for achieving customer relationships is implemented; a set of goals should be followed to ensure the strategies' achievement.

Plan for achieving set objectivesA plan involves a method of achieving something. When an organization wants to make an objective, it focuses on how it can reach them. To achieve customer satisfaction, which is an objective that is ideal for Ingredion Inc. to use in its customer relationship strategies, there is a need to develop proactive customer service. The customer service will help in the communication between the customers and employees to enhance the supply of feedback for the improvement of the operations for proper service delivery in the organization (Scheidt $ Chung, 2018).