Q1. Define supply chain of Nokalb?

The seed production cycle was about 16 months. In march regional manager give the sales projections
for the following year to are mangers and comparisons was made. There were many decisions to be
taken:
Availability of parent inbreeds
Seed field yield histories
Current seed suppliers
Market competition
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
TIME PROCESS DESCRIPTION
March-may planning for seeds what cotton seed hybrids to be produced

June-nov field production contracts to farms under nokalb supervision

Dec-may post harvest production shipping, packing, storing hybrids

Dec-April winter production growing in hemisphere as supplement to normal field production

March-June distribution & shipping distribution, transportation and inventory management


Q2: what are the issues in that company supply chain management?
There were many factors in supply chain management
Infestation the year before
Financial condition of farmers due to crops last year
Expected crop prices this year
Performance of sales team
Efforts of franchises
Timing of rainfall
Farmer prefer nokalb product but not necessary to buy
Product scheduling done separately from production people
Stock out issue
Less experience of purchasing section
Supply on due date
Lack of technical awareness resulting in quality issue
Over responsibilities

Q3: analysis of issues?
Marketing mix concept:
A 3-4 day meeting is attended in order to analyses the performance of different products as well as
competition was made for previous years. Then overall marketing strategy was chalked out
Prices were cut down to improve the competitiveness of nokalb product.
Working capital initiative was started by nokalb
Work in progress inventories and cost of inventory was 14-15% and the shelf life of seeds after
production was less than 2 years
SOPs meetings to discuss problems and come with solutions
In order to resolve the polythene bags quality issues, partnership with vendor and work in collaboration
to resolve the problem
Quality control systems at vendors
Suppliers evaluation regularity to improve the system
Suppliers are also taken care off
Establish procurement procedure for the sake of accountability and transparency
Logo and packaging
Q4: conflicting objective and ten guiding factors
The sales forecast lead time is very important from planning to final supply to distributors and
franchises. For this, feedback from several extensive surveys of farmers including perception surveys
was used to estimate growth in agriculture production. Competitive prices were also considered.
Field production of seed was made in block to avoid the pollination so in order to maintain quality the
following measures are necessary.
Forecasting was revised in December so frozen forecast for post-production season.
In winters forecast was revised
Forecast was given six months before the actual sales and unnecessary changes were made to design
the product
If logo or design of the product changes, customer think it of old product due to change products return
and difficult to sell
Farmer may prefer the product but necessary to buy due to cost issue so prices need to be reduced
Brown bags were considered serious threat so only particular franchise can distribute the product
Working capital initiative was started by nokalb and cost of inventory was 14-15%
Quality trainings were given to vendors in order to control the quality problems

Q5: Business model of case study?
Nokalb basically follows the pull strategy
The basic plan and aim of nokalb is to educate the farmers who are working with them and brand
building image in customers mind
Nokalb has a sales force of more than 100 people which go from village to village and demonstrate the
farmers that how and when to plant the crops for maximum yield
The survey also showed that the brown bags basically a thread for the nokalb seeds so the management
took decision to cancel all dealership and sell only through our franchises

Q6: how forecasting information flow?
The seed production cycle was about 16 months
In march, the regional manager started giving their seed sales projections for the following year to the
area manager.
Based on the information available such as how well a given hybrid had been performing in the fields
and comparisons with the other nokalb and competitors hybrids a projection of seed need for the next
year was made.
3 months were taken for planning for cotton seed sales i-e march to may
In June November field production was done
March June, distribution and shipping was made
Feedback was taken including perception surveys in order to estimate the growth in agriculture
Competitors prices were also taken into account to adjust forecasts.
Q7: what is the product characteristics flow in this supply chain?
Nokalb is dealing with the customers through nokalbs seed shops
Nokalb has a strict policy of fixed prices and no credit however franchises gave credit to farmer on their
own. Nokalb categorized nokalb seeds shops based on sales. 96 were category A, 128 category B, 215
categories C and 4 were category D.
Nokalb seeds shops kept a minimum of 2-3 days of inventory. There was no maximum limit on how
much inventory a nokalb seeds outlet could keep.
Nokalbs seeds new shop could invite up to 250 farmers for inauguration
The hybrid seeds of nokalb were a cross product between two or more unrelated family of same plant
and it took several growing generation to develop a new marketable hybrid seed. They have ability to
withstand cool growing climates and resistance to insect and disease infestation and herbicides.

Q5: how are the key stake holders of SCM?
Asad Bukhari, the general manger of nokalb figured out that farmers prefer our product but not
necessary to buy it.
Brand manger of nokalb:
According to him, product managers were ignored in pricing and forecasting
In order to resolve this, market mix concept meeting was organized in order to analyze the performance
of different products
According to marketing manager, Hashim mirza, working capital initiatives were taken. Work in process
inventories to be reduced and sales on credit can be initiated.
Tariq ishfaq, production manager suggested that the establish procurement procedure for the sake of
accountability and transparency. Procurement department negotiates with supplier after production
department approves the product.
Ahmed raza, quality control manager pointed out that in purchasing department, there are less
experience men and lack of awareness.