Mkt 421 - Map the Supply Chain Paper

Map the Supply Chain Paper

MKT/421

November 3, 2015

Map the Supply Chain Paper

Introduction

The steps that are involved in getting a product from the producer to the consumer and all of the companies that come into contact with the product make up the product’s supply chain. This paper will map out the supply chain for bottled water. While bottled water is not proven to be significantly healthier or better than tap water, it is the world’s fasted growing beverage with 50 billion water bottles used in the United States alone. The cost of bottled water is up to 1,000 times higher than that of tap water, yet on average a third of all servings of water consumed by Americans is bottled. (Ellsbury, 2015)

Sourcing

        The water used by bottling companies is generally sourced from spring water wells as well as public water supplies. The Food and Drug Administration FDA regulates the terms that the bottled water industry can use to describe the source of the water and prescribes that bottled water is intended for human consumption, neither flavoring nor carbonation is added, and that it is packaged in food-grade, sanitary containers. (Layton, 2006)

Manufacturing

In most instances the water that is pumped or drawn undergoes a treatment process which could include

Distillation,

Filtration,

Reverse Osmosis,

Ozonation,

UV-light treatment.

The next step in the manufacturing process is bottling which involves plastic bottles, plastic caps and the label. Some manufacturers such as Nestle produce the bottles in their plants which reduces the need for transportation of empty bottles. ("Our Operations (Value Chain)," 2015) Packaging of the bottles generally involved cardboard and plastic shrink wrap. The plastic bottles used in most cases are made out Polythylene Terephthalate (PET) which is produced from petroleum hydrocarbons, then polymerized and finally molded using pressurized air and heat.

The manufacturer is also responsible for the advertising of the water, which usually focuses on leading the consumer to believe that it is much purer and better than the water they drink from the tap. Creating a label which capitalizes on this strategy and showing a pretty mountain landscape for instance is also part of the advertising.

The manufacturer of bottle water generally partners with carriers to transport the water to the distributors.

Distributors/Retailers

According to statista the breakdown by distribution channel of bottled water sales in the United States is as follows ("Share of U.S. bottled water sales by distribution channel 2013 | Statistic," 2015)

...