307KM Global Logistics assignment
Global Grape & Wines SARL Background
Global Grape & Wines SARL is an internet start-up based in Strasbourg specialising in selling speciality wine and champagne utilising the internet as a trading platform. The internet identity is based on the web brand www.winningwines.com. They are basically acting as an intermediary between buyers and sellers of wine. The existing market is Benelux, France, Germany and Italy, but sales are growing rapidly from the UK, USA, Canada and Australia. The management and shareholders of Global Grape and Wines have seriously underestimated the global demand for the wines they are managing to source locally from European wine producers. This has led to them investigating new world suppliers in Chile, Australia, South Africa and the USA to meet rising international demand for their wines. Management control structures are traditional “command and control” hierarchies with budgets and key performance measures in place. The current office is on the outskirts of Strasbourg with an existing 1,500 square metre warehouse approximately three kilometres away on a nearby trading estate. Internet orders are extracted directly from the internet site to the warehouse where picking lists are printed. Employees control the operation using laptops and stand alone PCs. The main applications being used are spreadsheets and some online applications. Transport is mainly road based. International orders are shipped by air through an integrator, (currently Federal Express). Global Grape & Wines do not own any transport or warehouse assets as they feel their specialism is wine. You have been called in as a specialist in global logistics to evaluate their existing logistics infrastructure and operational methods and offer a plan for change to cope with the continued expansion of the business.

Requirements and Deliverables
1. Evaluate existing planning and scheduling systems used successfully by similar global logistics