Operations Management: A case study on Flipkart's Inventory and Supply Chain Management

1. Case Study
Analysis of
Flipkart
Regarding: Inventory & Supply Chain
Management

2. Inventory Management
Supply Chain Management
o Inventory management is a science primarily about specifying
the shape and percentage of stocked goods. It is required at
different locations within a facility or within many locations of a
supply network to precede the regular and planned course of
production and stock of materials.
 Supply chain management (SCM) is the oversight of materials,
information, and finances as they move in a process from supplier
to manufacturer to wholesaler to retailer to consumer. Supply
chain management involves coordinating and integrating these
flows both within and among companies.

3. Cases we have analyzed
Nike
Flipkart
Ikea
BioAg
Amazon

4. Amul
Dalmia Cement Ltd.
Global Green Company
Kurl On

5. Why this case?
 As Flipkart is the leading e-commerce
retail store, we wanted to study how it is
managing its operations when it comes to
dealing with huge inventories and catering
to million consumers

6. Flipkart Introduction
Flipkart is an e-commerce company
founded in 2007
by Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal.
It is a company
which operates in India,
Having it’s headquarters in
Bangalore, Karnataka.

7. Briefing The Case
 Flipkart is an electronic commerce company and India’s
online retail store
 Deals in diversified products
 Flipkart had almost 300 warehouses spread across the
Nation
 It used to maintain high stocks in its inventories so that
shortfall doesn't occur
 To provide a memorable shopping experience to its
customers is the company’s moto so that the
customers loyalty is achieved

8. Problems faced by Flipkart
 Excess storage
 Wearing out of perishable goods
 Change in fashion and obsolete of technology
 Non timely Delivery
 Competition

9. Solutions
 Just in Time and FIFO Method
 Durable goods- long shelf life
 Tie ups with more than 15 courier companies
 Sales data used to predict levels of inventory

10. Warehouse Management:
 Flipkart has major warehouses spread across the
Metros like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai and
in the cities of Pune, Bangalore and Noida
 Flipkart’s warehouse management has 3 major
steps:
 Inward Processing
 Storage Management
 Outward Processing

11. 3 Steps of Flipkart’s
warehouse management
system

12. Order Fulfillment Plan

14. S
 India’s largest e-commerce retailer
 Experienced Founders
 Exclusive and long range of products
 Limited Distribution channel reach
 Cost of acquisition
 Expansion of business
 Outsourcing
 Competition
 Government regulations
W
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