Abstract: Business logistics hasbecome a very important part of many companies. In some cases, the costs oflogistics account for more than 30% of the sales dollar. Therefore, a good planfor the organisation and the control of the supply chain and distributionstructure is vital to minimise the amount of time and personnel required, whichin turn, lower the cost. Meanwhile, the company must maintain or even improvethe quality of their product in order to keep their customers in interest. Acase study on Burberry Limited is used as an example in this report todemonstrate how a supply chain and a distribution structure operate in thecompany. Firstly, the paper introduces the background knowledge from theperspectives of Burberry’s history and it’s business structure; secondly, thestructure of Burberry’s supply chain are thoroughly described; after that, howBurberry operating its communication are discussed; next, Burberry’sdistribution system are presented, following by the demonstration of Burberry’sscheduling and routing, finally, recommendations are given for the purpose ofenhancing Burberry’s competitiveness.

Key Words:Logistic System, Supply Chain, Burberry 

1. Introduction

Businesslogistics has become a very important part of many companies in the 21stcentury. In some cases, the costs of logistics account for more than 30% of thesales dollar. Therefore, a good plan for the organisation,the control of the supply chain and the distribution structure is vital forminimisingthe amount of time andpersonnel required, which in turn, lower the cost. While lowering the cost, thecompany must maintain or even improve the quality of their product in order tokeep their customers in interest.

2. Historyand the Business Structure

Burberry wasfounded in 1856, by twenty-one year-old Thomas Burberry, who opened anoutfitters shop in Basingstoke, Hampshire.Over the 150 years of business, it has thrived and become a well known fashionbrand by its trademark all over the world. Burberry acts as both a retailer andwholesaler. Their merchandises include apparels for women, men and children,accessories such as handbags, scarves, and fragrance are also amongst theirproduct. 

Products ofBurberry are sold mainly in Europe, North America and Asiathrough their own direct operated stores and wholesale customers.In Australia,Burberry only acts as wholesaler, it isresponsible forordering products for all the consumers in all the states of Australia, and the nearby countries such as Fiji, and New Zealand. 

3 Supply Chain Structure

In Australia, theproducts mainly come from two places, the UK Manufacturer and the HK Manufacturer. The third party logisticcompany used for the Australian market is Halford Youngs, who isresponsible for the deliveryand storage ofproducts from the manufacturers to customers. The lead time required for thecustomers to receive their ordered stocks is approximately three months.Halford Youngs is responsible to allocate the stocks and then send them totheir appropriate destinations for different customers. The map of supplychains below clearly shows the stage when customers order stocks from Burberry.