Crocs Value Chain Essay -- Business, Manufacturing, Footwear

Crocs Value ChainCrocs entered the shoe market with a upstart style of brightly colored footwear. Crocs designed and make footwear for all age groups. Utilizing an innovative value ambit supported the phenomenal growth of the company. This paper will discuss the companys leadership, pliant supply chain and product diversification and how these aspects contribute to the overall value chain of the company. The BeginningCrocs began in 2002 by introducing a revolutionary boat shoe. The space became successful very quickly and the company founders decided to work with an old friend, Ronald Snyder, who had experience in manufacturing, purchasing companies, and merging the purchased companies (Crocs Revolutionizing, 2007). One of Snyders initial decisions was to buyout the Canadian shoe manufacturer, Finproject NA. Completing this purchase allowed Crocs to control the proprietary material for the shoes. By owning the raw material to manufacture the shoes, Crocs controlled the i nitial step of the value chain. Once Crocs take a leak the formula for the shoe resin, the company used this to select contract manufacturers for making the shoes. Crocs were now manufacturing shoes in the original Canada plant as well as a Chinese manufacturing facility. Once the facility in China was established Crocs entered the foreign market. After entering the markets in Asia and China Crocs extended capacity with new contract manufacturers in Florida, Mexico, and Italy (Crocs Revolutionizing, 2007). The addition of these sites provided a global supply chain which lowered costs and ensured value to consumers (Marks, 2008). A new supply visionThe original supply chain used by Crocs meant the manufacturers of the footwear had to... ...ears, the Crocs model has not proven as effective. Crocs has changed the strategy to accommodation the lower product volumes (Gonzales, 2009). Crocs should evaluate their organizational processes. Some of the processes once utilized b y Crocs are no longer as effective. Management must work towards better demand forecasting, collaborating with value chain members, and how to best evaluate performance (Robbins and Coulter, 2009). By integrating all three of these items Crocs will adjust the value chain to support continued success. Finally, Crocs must have enough forward thought to sustain market changes and utilize feedforward control to prevent future problems. The leadership, flexible supply chain and diversification discussed here after part still be employed for long term success as long as Crocs is willing to continuously evaluate the current value chain.