Instituto Tecnológico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey

IN2008B.201

Improvement of an Adaptive Value Chain (Gpo 570)

Teacher:

Betty Murrieta

Thomas Stringer

Juan Carlos Espinoza

5.B Agile, digital and sustainable supply chain design

Lucca Sandoval Cardani A01702727

Mauricio Iturbe Pérez A01706997

Sebastián Planas López A01702733

Andrea Montserrat Carmona Solórzano A01067827

June 8th, 2023

Agile Supply Chain:

An agile supply chain refers to a flexible and responsive approach to managing the flow of goods,
services, and information from suppliers to customers. It is designed to adapt quickly to changes in
customer demand, market conditions, and business requirements, allowing it to operate without fixed
configurations and static structures. The goal of an agile supply chain is to enhance customer
satisfaction, reduce lead times, improve efficiency, and ultimately gain a competitive advantage in the
marketplace.

To build on these new trends and cope with the changed requirements, supply chains need to become
much faster, more granular because today it is a fact that customers prefers personalized attention
giving a strong push towards microsegmentation, and mass customization, nowadays customers are
managed in much more granular clusters waiting for suitable products.

Digital Supply Chain:

A digital supply chain refers to the integration of digital technologies, data, and communication
systems into the processes involved in the supply chain management of goods or services. It involves
the use of digital platforms, tools, and networks to improve efficiency, visibility, and coordination
throughout the supply chain.

It can provide significantly more visibility into the workings of the chain. It can add real time
visibility of supplier performance and customer needs, with this allowing the supply chain owners to
develop more complex relationships with more suppliers.

Digital supply chains are more customer-centric and aim to meet today’s three pillars of excellence in
demand fulfillment: speed, personalization and choice.

A digital supply chain integrates internal systems and data with external information, both structured
and unstructured. New technologies can collect, monitor and analyze data to make predictions and
recommend actions in real time to apply to the supply chain.

-Think of a futuristic and innovative product that you would like to see in the market in the next
20 years. Describe the product and its functionality (0.5 pages)

The product chosen is cars that work with magnetic levitation technology. We think that this
technology is going to be a great innovation in the future due to the fact that the cities are becoming
more and more crowded. Having a magnetic levitation system is going to allow cars to go through
ceilings and through streets, making the road systems twice as efficient. The technology that is going
to be presented is very similar to that in a magnetic levitation train as the ones found in Japan. The
way the car works is by generating a force field using electromagnets that is going to help impulse the
cars through the tracks as a result of the difference in magnetic poles, positive and negative, this will
generate a force that is going to thrust the vehicles on the road.

-Map the product's supply chain with both reverse logistics processes and while indicating the
information flows between the nodes.

1. Raw materials: It involves the supply of all the ferrous, electric and textile materials that we
need in order to manufacture a levitating car, we can extract these materials from mines and
the nature for itself that suppliers use to do the fist components

The material flows ahead to the suppliers, with an information flow of the requirements and
material quality.

a. Recycling:
i. Magnetic components
ii. Melting metals
iii. Plastic compounding
iv. Shearing and baling steel and iron.
 2. Suppliers:

In this phase we already have some materials that would help in the manufacturing process,
for example screws, magnetic and electrical components that flow directly to the industrial
plants, the information flows bidirectional to have quality raw materials and to the
manufacturing process to achieve the specifications of the car.

3. Manufacturing:

Here we get some components and our outputs are assembled parts for the car that flows
directly to the distribution centers and agencies. The information needed in this phase is about
the capacity process and demand of the car.

a. Assemble of electric and metallic compounds: In here sub ensembles are created in
order to be assembled in further steps.
b. Assemble the vehicles: Here the sub ensembles are assembled into the final product
c. Remanufacturing: This process is part of a reverse logistics problem, in here scrap
and nonconforming product is submitted as part of a treatment in order to make it a
part of the chain again.

4. Distribution:

It is important for the efficient flow of goods and services from manufacturers to end
customers. It involves the physical movement, storage, and transportation of products from
the point of origin to the point of consumption.

a. Customer Satisfaction / Service

b. Cost efficiency
c. Inventory management
d. Competitive advantage

5. Consumer

In this phase we directly deal with customers and their needs, also we could have some feedback,
claims and it's important to highlight how in this stage of the inverse logistic of supply chain we
directly interact with returned and failure products that the firm needs to handle.

The global flying car market is expected to be valued at $215.54 million in 2025, and is projected to
reach $3,804.18 million by 2035, registering a CAGR of 34.1%. Europe is expected to be the highest
contributor.
It is expected to be Commercial and Professional Commute for piloting or autonomous drive, for the
same market segment of current car customers with relatively high income but as technology
improves the costs will be cheaper.

In conclusion every stage of the supply chain have different important flows, one of them is the
money and usually it goes from customer towards suppliers, in the reverse logistic we could have
some money flow in other directions, for example if the product fails the firm is obligated to return
the customer the money that was invested etc.

Reverse logistics refers to the management of the return, repair, and disposal processes of automotive
products and components after they have been delivered to customers or dealerships. It involves
handling activities such as product recalls, repairs, warranty claims, end-of-life vehicle disposal, and
the management of returned or damaged parts.

In the case of levitating/ fly car we have the next reverse logistic supply chain:

Recycling:

All the raw material such as metal and magnetic components can be recycled by melting,
compounding and baling, these items may include returned products, reusable or salvageable parts,
end-of-life products, or components that have reached the end of their useful life or were return but
they are in Reverse logistics ensures proper sorting and segregation of these items for further
processing.

Remanufacturing

Involves after-sales support for remanufactured products, managing the process of addressing
customer concerns, providing replacement components or repairs if needed, and ensuring customer
satisfaction, also we need to take into account the distribution of remanufactured products back into
the market. This includes coordinating the logistics of transporting the remanufactured goods to
retailers or customers.

Service
Customer claims and client attention to the specific needs of the customer, and make sure the firm
gives a correct follow up until finding the optimal condition and product in order to satisfy the
customer in all the stages of the supply chain including aftersales stage.

Repair

Is required to bring the car back to a sellable condition, this may involve fixing mechanical issues, or
replacing parts as necessary. Skilled technicians restore these components to their original
specifications through cleaning, repair, replacement of worn-out parts, and quality testing.

Refurbishing addressing cosmetic damages or accessories, in these cases, the car may be resold as a
used vehicle through various channels such as dealerships, auctions, or online platforms.
Alternatively, it may be redistributed to other dealerships or rental companies for further use.

Test

This stage covers skilled technicians assessing the condition of the car or components and determining
whether they can be remanufactured. This step helps identify the extent of refurbishment or repairs
required and helps in estimating the cost-effectiveness of the remanufacturing process.

Disassembly

In this phase depending on the condition of the product we can do an asset recovery or the
components go forward to a disposal process.

Disposal

Encompasses the environmentally responsible disposal of end-of-life vehicles. This involves adhering
to regulations for proper recycling or disposal of vehicles, extracting valuable components for reuse or
resale, and ensuring compliance with environmental standards.

-Describe the impacts of the product on each of the three pillars of sustainability. Choose one
sustainability indicator per node that measures a specific aspect of a process. (1.5 pages)

Raw materials → % of the materials that come from socially responsible companies. This way social
sustainability is ensured. This means that the company is going to use material that is not mined by
employees in subpar conditions nor underage or modern slave workers.
Manufacturing → % of scrap that is created in the production. This is an economic indicator. This
helps to track losses in the manufacturing of products, this results in the end in over processing and
reworking fees. The less scrap the better.

Distribution → Emissions of CO2 to the atmosphere. This is an environmental indicator that helps
track the amount of contamination that is sent into the atmosphere.

Consumer → Total yearly sales. This is an economic indicator. Helps track the amount of gross
revenue that the company is earning and this way compare it with the goal.

Recycling → % of materials that can be recycled in a given product. This is an environmental

indicator.

Remanufacturing → % of scrap and non-conforming material that can be remanufactured. This helps
track how much of a mistake can be salvaged in a given product.

Service → % of client retention. How many clients return for their services to official dealerships.
This is a social indicator that tracks client satisfaction.

Repair → % of products that can be repaired. This is an environmental as well as an economic

indicator. This helps to understand how many products can be repaired instead of disposed of. This
means that if fixed, earnings can be higher. If this percentage is higher, environmental cost decreases
as well.

Test → % of products that work at the first time. This is an economic indicator because the higher the
% of products that work at the first time, you have less reworks and less remanufacturing ending in
higher earnings for the company.

Disposal → % of materials that are set to recycle. This is an environmental indicator. This helps track
how many of the cars can be scrapped for parts and be reused and how much ends up in landfills.

-Offer 5 recommendations to make your supply chain more agile. Be specific and explain at
which node(s) the recommendations would be applied. (at least 0.5 pages)

In order to make the supply chain more agile, here are some recommendations:

1. The first recommendation will be to have a very robust inventory strategy. By doing this,
there are a lot of safety mechanisms in order to avoid running out of stock. The first most
important of these strategies is going to be having a safety stock. Using this reserve, the
company is going to be able to compensate for an abnormal fluctuation in demand. This in
nodes…
2. Using data analysis in order to try and predict demand in order to be prepared for the possible
changes on it. This allows the company to pivot their current strategy into one that is going to
fit the market fluctuations.
 3. The third recommendation is to make the supply chain as efficient as possible. This means
that it is necessary to identify where most of the problems in manufacture come from.
Problems such as bottlenecks, delays or sudden disruptions in the chain that may happen. This
way demand may be met.
4. Having a great communication system. Being able to have very fast decision making is
something that is a very important characteristic of an agile supply chain. In order to make
quick shifts inside, decisions must be taken very quickly. By having a great communication
system, complete information can reach decision makers from manufacturing plants more
quickly.
5. Finally, the last recommendation for an agile supply chain is to have strong partnerships with
the raw material and component suppliers. This will ensure that they will help your business
as a priority, this way when there is more demand than you can meet, suppliers will send your
material as a priority.

-Offer 5 recommendations to make your supply chain more digitized. Be specific and explain at
which node(s) the recommendations would be applied. (at least 0.5 pages)

In order to make the supply chain more digitized, here are some recommendations:

1. The first is to make the supply chain data driven. Having historical data and using it to make
prediction models, is going to make the supply chain more digitized. This data is going to
help account for the possible demand and help the chain to be more agile.
2. Another way of making a supply chain more digitized is by using cyber physical technology.
This way you can use different methods such as chips, codes and sensors in order to monitor
the status of the chain in a digital manner. This way you can identify parts in the chain and
their process as well as their progress.
3. The third recommendation would be the use of digital twins. During the manufacturing
process, creating a digital twin may help the people monitoring the factory to get ahead of
themselves and predict certain processes that need to be done. These processes can be
maintenance, certain training for employees and planned stops. This way there is a higher
control of the process this way and it is a great way to get ahead of contingencies.
4. Usage of the internet of things. Related to recommendation 4, using the internet of things will
provide useful data for the supply chain. This is because the elements of the chain are sending
constant information through it.
5. The last recommendation is to develop machine learning and AI algorithms that will help
make some decisions based on models based on the Big data of the company. With this
models, decision makers can base their choices on models and hard data.
Potential weaknesses of the supply chain of your product

As a new and technological product we are identifying a lot of potential weaknesses in our supply
chain, firstable we need to consider infrastructure limitations. A levitating car supply chain would
require a dedicated infrastructure for levitation, such as magnetic or electromagnetic systems.
Building and maintaining this infrastructure across the entire supply chain could be a significant
challenge and may require substantial investment. Any disruptions or damage to the levitation
infrastructure could halt the supply chain operations.
Another important fact is that we are facing technological complexity. Levitating cars would require
advanced technology for both the vehicles and the levitation infrastructure. Developing and
implementing these complex technologies can be expensive and time-consuming. Ensuring
compatibility and standardization across different levitating vehicle models and infrastructure systems
will be hard work to get done but it's an obligated thing to succeed as SC.

About the adoption of levitating cars, we could say that probably will be limited, resulting in a
fragmented supply chain. We will be facing a lack of widespread adoption that could lead to
interoperability issues between levitating vehicle models and levitation infrastructure systems,
creating compatibility challenges and hindering the smooth flow of goods also we have the problem
of the costs and affordability, initially, the high costs may limit the accessibility of levitating cars,
impacting the demand and supply dynamics within the supply chain, we need to ensure that our
supply Chain has a responsive strategy to understand and be able to adapt to the changes that
technology will bring to us in the future.
Last but not least we need to talk about the sustainability and environmental impact that levitating
vehicles would have, probably they will need a substantial amount of energy to maintain levitation,
and depending on the energy sources used, the environmental impact of a levitating car supply chain
could be a concern. Ensuring energy efficiency and transitioning to renewable energy sources would
be crucial to mitigate environmental impact.

References

https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVMAC6IU0=/