Supply Chain Management

Victoria’s Secret Supply Chain (Limited Brands) start from raw materials which is chosen by the designer and gets shipped from China that is cheaper for the company, but their raw material is high quality which satisfies the customer. Victoria’s Secret care about the customer satisfaction, they always look for the best quality in their raw material, to make the best out of it. Then the raw material gets processed at the factories which uses special equipments for Victoria’s Secret products, these equipments are highly qualified for specific uses to process the material. After the raw material gets process it becomes a product, the product is made in batches in different colors, sizes, designs, and cuts depending on the product design. Then the finished product gets retailed at Victoria’s Secret stores.

Their performance is determined depending on delivery, quality, time and cost of their products. Unfortunately, due to certain trademark, labeling, product content and embargo restrictions, Victoria’s Secret currently do not ship all products to all countries. If you have a restricted item in your bag you will receive a message during checkout that lists the restricted item along with specific instructions to remove the item from your shopping bag or change the shipping method or address if applicable. Shipping and handling charges are determined by the merchandise dollar amount of your order before any deductions. Not subject to special offers. Charges are calculated before taxes. All orders are subject to verification. If items are backordered, the total shipping and handling charges will be. Allocated proportionally and charged as the merchandise is shipped. Please note that the total shipping and handling charge will not increase. All backordered items ship out via Standard Delivery. Quality and cost of their products are usually at reasonable prices, they’re fairly descent and their quality is considered to be excellent depending on other retail stores. The Time of the delivery is usually 4-7 business days, which is fair.

The critical processes that make up the Victoria's Secret's supply chain are:1) Product Design and Product Launch; 2) Merchandise Planning, Allocation and Forecasting; 3) Production & Sourcing; 4) Logistics; and 5) Store Operations.

On holidays like Black-Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, when many consumers begin Christmas shopping, the corporate head-office has to deal with huge volumes of hourly phone calls from individual stores for updates on sales figures. Another supply chain challenge from the merchandise planning viewpoint, is that the decision gates in Victoria's Secret's concept-to-market calendar are only planned for dropping styles out of line plan, and do not allow the flexibility of adding new styles closer to the selling season. When a style is dropped from the line plan, volume drops with it. And, at that point, the only alternative for the company is to produce another pre-existing category to fill the gap, if possible.

Victoria’s Secret’s supply chain management is well managed. They could; however, start supplying their stores with clothes which are offered through Internet and catalogues. Since manufactory is in Sri Lanka, it would be good if all stores could place an order and the products would be sent directly to the store from the manufactory. Victoria's Secret should keep using the same manufacturing process which is being used in present.

Project Scheduling

One example of a project is Victoria’s Secret Annual Fashion Show. The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show is a centerpiece for the brand’s intricately designed and elegantly functioning advertising machine. With this event, Victoria’s Secret reaches an audience of over 1 billion people, including news coverage.2 Televised annually, the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show Extravaganza has an exclusive contract with nationwide broadcasting station CBS. A symbiotic relationship exists between the two firms. Victoria’s Secret obtains one hour of nationwide advertising, while CBS holds the exclusive right to one of the most popular programs on TV. For one full hour, beautiful supermodels parade about in Victoria’s new-line of beautiful lingerie with chic special effects and music that heightens the fashion show to the level of a Broadway production. Women are persuaded that Victoria’s Secret lingerie will win the enthusiasm they see plainly in their male colleagues.

Project Tasks: Budget preparationContract negotiation with venues, caterers, event personnelHiring of speakersVideo Still photographyPublicity/media relationsPreparation of promotional materialsInvitationsInternet presenceHandling of RSVPsNon-profit event fund-raisingAll aspects of production from lighting to sound to staging and backstage.

Victoria’s secret new line collections are produced each year, and they’re introduced in these shows through their designer. But these shows are considered projects because of their humongous preparations. When customers see these fashion shows they get an idea of Victoria’s Secret new product collection which benefits the company a lot. Victoria’s Secret customers increase sales after each fashion show.Victoria’s Secret Definitely uses the Gantt chart which is a table with time across the top and a scarce resource, such as machines, people, or machine hours, along the side. After a Gantt chart has been constructed, it should be evaluated with respect to both job and machine performance. One way to evaluate machine performance is on the basis of the time it takes to complete all work, which is called the makespan. Victoria’s Secret uses the batch process to produce their products in the factory; they always need to evaluate their machines performance in order to get the work done in a certain amount of time. Because there’s always a high demand on the products, these products need to be finished, packed, and ready to be retailed and taken to the stores as soon as they’re ready to be marked down.