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12. Croma is an Indian retail chain for consumer electronics. The company curren

ID: 412080 • Letter: 1

Question

12. Croma is an Indian retail chain for consumer electronics. The company currently has 25 stores located in major metropoli tan areas. Weekly demand for smartphones at each store is normally distributed, with a mean of 300 and a standard devi- ation of 300. The supplier currently takes four weeks to fulfill a replenishment order, which is placed separately by each store. Croma is targeting a CSL of 95 percent and monitors its inventory continuously. How much safety inventory of smartphones should Croma carry at each retail store? Croma is considering moving smartphones to the online channel, where they would be stocked in a single national warehouse. Assume that Croma can move smartphones to the online channel without losing demand (the online demand is a sum of demand at each retail store). How much saving in safety inventory can Croma expect from going online if demand across stores is independent? How much saving in safety inventory can Croma expect from going online if demand across stores has a correlation coefficient of 0.5?

Explanation / Answer

Scenario 1: 25 retail stores

We are given that,

Average weekly demand, = 300

Std deviation of weekly demand, = 300

Lead time, L = 4 weeks

z value for 95 % CSL = 1.65

Safety inventory to be carried at each retail store = zL

= 1.65*300*4

= 990

Total safety inventory carried across 25 retail stores = 25*990 = 24750

Scenario 2: online channel (independent demand across stores)

Average weekly demand, = 300*25 = 7500

Std deviation of weekly demand, = 30025 =  1500

Lead time, L = 4 weeks

z value for 95 % CSL = 1.65

Safety inventory to be carried at each retail store = zL

= 1.65*1500*4

= 4950

Saving in safety inventory = 24750 - 4950 = 19,800