Dealing with problems

Transcription

1 YH LOGISTIKPROGRAMMET ENGLISH FOR INTERNATIONAl TRANSPORT MANAGMENT Dealing with problems WORK IN PAIRS. Note well: It is essential that each person does their equal share of the work!. If you prefer, you may do the written parts of the assignments individually In this assignment you will be dealing with two mini-cases. You will: Read the background information Discuss the problems Make realistic business decisions to solve the problems Write 2 s 2 short business reports 1 fax Speak make a phone call (role play). This is an obligatory assignment for grades. All parts of the assignment must be completed and handed in to me ON PAPER AND BY . Be sure to put your names on all pages of your documents! 1

2 MINI-CASE 1: "We all make mistakes - sometimes" A. You work at Zenith International. You have just got back from holiday. While you were away Max, the 19-year-old son of your boss, was in charge of your office This is a note you left for Max before you went away: Max, while I'm away please place an order for 45 x 100 metre reels of 40 mm MCL88 cable from Uniflex SpA in La Spezia, Italy. All the details are in the files. This is a repeat order - just copy the previous one and change the dates. Thanks! (Your name) and this is a note that Max has left for you, which you find on your desk when you come back: Hi! MCL88 cable ordered as you instructed. You'll be pleased to know that the price has gone down since your last order! And Uniplex seem to have moved from La Spezia to Pisa. Their new address is: Uniplex srl, Viale Dell'Industria 131 S6100 Pisa Best wishes, Max P.S. Hope you had a good holiday! Discuss: what do you think may have happened? What should you do? 2

3 B. Then you hear a message on your voic . The message was recorded yesterday. "Hello, good morning. This is Lucia Donato from Uniflex in La Spezia. We have just noticed that you haven't placed your usual monthly order with us... Maybe you have forgotten? Anyway, we assume you want the cable, as usual, so we shall start packing for shipment tomorrow. If there are any changes, please call and let me know. Otherwise, if we hear nothing, we'll just go ahead as usual. OK? Thanks! Bye!" C. In addition, an has just arrived from Uniplex srl in Pisa: Thank you very much for your order for 45 x 100-metre reels of 40 millimetre MCL88 cable. We confirm that this is available ex-stock and that we can ship this at the end of the month. We shall begin packing tomorrow. I am confident that you will be impressed with the quality of this product. We are pleased to be doing business with you and look forward to continuing cooperation in the future. Our proforma invoice follows by airmail. Best wishes, Piero Conti, Export Manager, Uniplex Pisa D. You decide to check the information in your supplier database about the two firms, and find the following: 3

4 SUPPLIERS Name of company: Uniflex, SpA Products: Cables Contact: Signora Lucia Donato, Export Director First order placed: 6 August 2008 Comments: Sole suppliers. Excellent discounts and very fast delivery. Lucia Donato is very helpful with special orders. Regular order between reels placed monthly. SUPPLIERS Name of company: Uniplex srl, Pisa, Italy Products: Cables and switchgear Contact: -- First order placed: -- Comments: We normally deal with UNIFLEX SpA for cables (N.B. similar name and product). However, Uniplex srl are an expanding firm whose product range is wider than Uniflex SpA's. Very competitive prices. They have taken a lot of customers from Uniflex SpA but our long-standing relationship with Uniflex means we can always get large special orders at very short notice. E. Decide what you are going to do. Discuss: Will you stick by Max's order, which will probably upset your old supplier, Uniflex SpA? Uniplex's price is 7 ½ % lower than Uniflex's. Will you try to negotiate a lower price from Uniflex? (7 ½ % is a big reduction for this type of product, where the margins are low!) Or is it better to explain to Uniplex what has happened, apologise and cancel the order? Discuss single sourcing, dual sourcing, multi-sourcing. Discuss the importance of good supplier relationships, etc. 4

5 What will do? Will you phone and write to both firms? Will you pay a personal visit to them while you're in Italy next week? Decide what to do. Make notes about your discussion. Be prepared to explain in class what you decided to do, and why. YOUR TASKS: 1.) For the sake of good order, you will have to contact both suppliers by . When you have decided how to handle this situation, write short s to both companies. Keep in mind your style and tone when writing to these suppliers! 2.) Write a short report to me your boss about this incident; explain how you dealt with it, why, what you recommend for the future, etc. Use the standard format for business reports. Use the information given here, and include any other additional information and knowledge you have from your own practical experience or other courses you have studied. Hand in your s and reports to me. THIS IS AN OBLIGATORY ASSIGNMENT, for grades. 5

6 MINI-CASE 2: "Friday afternoon - delivery problems A. Work in pairs. You work in the import department of Nordic International, a manufacturer in Sweden. Last month you placed an order with Ocean View Supplies Inc, of New Jersey, for some special components. The goods were delivered on Monday. Now it's 3 p.m. on Friday Your production manager, Mr Robinson, has left a somewhat irritated message for you on your voic "This is Jim Robinson. It's about those components you ordered from Ocean View Supplies. We just opened the boxes, and there's been a mix-up! We ordered 2000 GJ501's, but instead they've sent us 2000 JG501's! I've checked our order, and their acknowledgement, and both are correct. So I guess their packing department must have made a mistake! It's their fault, so they have to replace all 2000 components as soon as possible. The problem is, we need 500 by Wednesday, otherwise we'll have a production stop! You need to get on this right away and let me know the situation before 5 o'clock today!" B. You remember Ocean View well! There have been problems with delayed deliveries from them before. You look in your files and find the following correspondence, from last year. DATE: 7 June 2016 FROM: Nordic International TO: Fred Duvall, Ocean View Supplies RE: Our order TR 678 Dear Mr. Duvall Last month we ordered from you 120 boxes of your article no You promised delivery on 30 May. So far we have not received this shipment and we have not heard from you. Please inform us when the shipment will arrive here. This is URGENT! Yours sincerely, Pat Brown 6

7 Fax: OCEAN VIEW SUPPLIES INC Atlantic Drive, Asbury Park, NJ Pat Brown Purchasing Manager Nordic International 06/08/2016 Re: Your fax #0097 dated Dear Ms Brown Thank you for your . We are very sorry for this delay in shipping your order. We normally pride ourselves on keeping our delivery dates, but in this case our suppliers shipped to us too late and the components did not arrive here till last Wednesday. I am glad to be able to say that your order is being packed for export now. We will ship the goods on 10 June ex Newark to Rotterdam. The shipment will arrive in Stockholm on 17 June. Again, we are very sorry, but it was beyond our control. We greatly regret any inconvenience that may have been caused. Best regards, Fred Duvall C. Considering that there has been a previous problem with supplies from Ocean View, you now have to decide how to proceed. Remember, it is now 3 p.m. on Friday, Swedish time. These are highly specialised components. You know of no other producers of these components anywhere else, so it will take a quite a long time for you to find another source - certainly more than 3-4 working days! Discuss the following, Can you be sure to get the 500 components you need, by Wednesday? If not, what will happen? Who will bear the costs of a production stop? What legal implications might there be? 7

8 What is the short-term solution? How can you make sure you get your components by Wednesday? Will you take any steps for the future? Will you phone Ocean View, or write the, or both? What will you say and write? Decide what to do. Make notes about your discussion. Be prepared to explain in class what you decided to do, and why. YOUR TASKS: 1) When you have decided what to do, write a fax to Ocean View. Use the correct format/layout for faxes. Consider carefully how to express the seriousness and urgency of this situation, while at the same time keeping a good tone. Hand in your fax to me. 2) Assume that you will be contacting the supplier by phone: Sit in a group room and do a role-play of the phone call to the supplier. One person plays the role of the supplier, one person plays the role of the company/customer, Nordic International. Keep in mind your tone when speaking to the supplier! Make sure to prepare properly before making the call; use the lists of useful phrases handed out to you, if necessary. Make the call as realistic and professional as possible for your own practice! Contact me when you are ready to do your telephone role-play, so that I can come and listen and evaluate. 3) Write a short business report to the Production Manager. He/she needs to be informed about the situation today, in case complications arise next week! Hand in your documents to m. THIS IS AN OBLIGATORY ASSIGNMENT, for grades. 8