Value Chain

Value Chain

“A value chain is a chain of activities for a firm operating in a specific industry. Products pass through all activities of the chain in order, and at each activity the product gains some value. The chain of activities gives the products more added value than the sum of the independent activity's value. It is important not to mix the concept of the value chain with the costs occurring throughout the activities”[1]

Inbound logistics

This is where the used cd’s are received from students to be stored until it is send it to the production/assembly line. In order to start the business, you need to gather your supplies and raw materials and then sell the finished products. It is very important to have a storing place where you can store your raw materials. e.g. A restaurant needs to have a store room in order to keep the stock to run the business. Since, we are only selling the used CDs, the CDs we bought from the students are stored here.

Operations

Since we are using used CDs, in order to give the customer a good quality case or cover we need to manufacture it here in the operations department. It is where the packing of our goods will take place also.

Customer service

Customer service is a important part in every business. When customers order goods from online, without seeing the product they will have questions and concerns before ordering the product. Customer service is the place where the customers calls if the shipment is late to arrive or when the customer is not satisfied with the quality of the product.

Marketing and sales

Since I am buying and selling used CDs from students, college will be the best place to market my goods. I will make flyers with all the detailed information and pictures of my goods and post it in cafeterias, student lounge, library and dormitory. Another important way of marketing my CDs are through social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Orkut, etc. People will be able to find these social networking logos on our website.

Outbound logistics

Our finished goods/CDs will go through distribution channels such as UPS, USPS, FedEx and DHL. We have standard delivery which is usually 3-5 business days and we also have expedited delivery services which is 1-2 business days. We have free shipping also depending on the quantity of the order.

Finished product storage

This is where all the finished cd’s will be stored and ready to be delivered. For this we will have a small ware house.

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_chain