IBM 2012 Capstone Project Dr. Eduardo M. V. Jasson
Summer 2023
IBM2012 Capstone Project 1 / 4 Page | 1
IBM2012 – Capstone___________________ ______
Project 1 – Sourcing & Procurement – STUDENT
Preamble to the Capstone Projects:
This is the first of four assignments that together involve students in the creation of a comprehensive and
realistic supply chain for the product, imported from their designated country, into the Canadian market. Each
student team will consider themselves as managers of a Canadian company importing a product that they will
in turn sell to customers/consumers in the Canadian wholesale/retail channel associated with that product.
Acting as a retail management team, students will therefore be responsible for the business decisions involved
in developing and maintaining an effective and efficient supply chain to meet their customer’s requirements
which includes having the required quantity and quality of product on the shelves or available in their stores
for timely sale to consumers.
NOTE: The head office and distribution warehouse shall be within the Province of Ontario.
The importing entity will act as a wholesaler or distributor within the supply chain either to retailers
or as a supplier to their own retail outlets. For this project, they will not sell on the internet.
The student management team must consider the annual volume indicated in the “Capstone Import Register”
as the optimal order quantity for a year based upon the retailer’s experience of their consumer’s buying
behavior. It will be a management decision as to whether this volume be sourced, procured and imported at
one time or in several shipments over the course of a year. It should be noted that by the end of year 1, all the
stated annual volume must be imported.
The supply chain ‘decision making process’ is presumed to commence in September 2021. Shipments of
product are to start no later than January 2, 2023 and be completed by July, 2023.
The management team should draw on the knowledge and skills that they learned and practiced in all of their
previous Supply Chain Management courses. Students are therefore responsible for reviewing the previously
studied course work, textbooks, and material as required to address all the Capstone assignment
specifications.
Sourcing & Procurement – Project 1 Specifications:
To create and execute an effective and efficient supply chain, the management team is required to undertake
the following tasks in a detailed report:
1. State the company’s mission statement, define its customers, its target market and the market segment
into which the company intends to sell the product in Canada.
(5 marks)
2. Define the product that company management is responsible for importing into Canada. Provide, a brief
explanation of its features and characteristics along with any aspects that differentiate the product from
that of your competitors. Explain the company’s competitive advantage by purchasing this item.
(10 marks)
IBM 2012 Capstone Project Dr. Eduardo M. V. Jasson
Summer 2023
IBM2012 Capstone Project 1 / 4 Page | 2
3. Next, identify, clarify and explain your customer’s specific needs and wants. The management team
should draw upon their knowledge of marketing to consider the relationship between the company’s
efforts to satisfy customer’s requirements via the features, benefits, and characteristics of the product.
(5 marks)
IBM2012 – CAPSTONE
4. Identify a minimum of two (preferably three) possible suppliers in the target geographic market where
you expect to make your purchase. Indicate, their location and additional information that may be
available to prepare a brief profile of each supplier. The supplier profile should include information such
as the size of the company, number of employees, variety of products sold, etc. This information is often
readily available on company web sites. NOTE: The management team must provide the names and
locations of actual, specific suppliers in their target geographic market. Research through the college
library data bases should be helpful. (30 marks)
5. Prepare a list of KPI’s that will be used to measure supplier performance. These MUST be related to the
product you will import. They MUST NOT be ‘generic’ in nature. Then, using the KPIs as a reference,
prepare a Request for Quotation (RFQ) for the annual order quantity to be obtained from one (1) of the
listed suppliers. The RFQ must be prepared for one of the potential suppliers covering all the important
details related to the product to be obtained from that outside supplier.
NOTE: The RFQ must provide detailed specifications for the supplier to meet. Detailed specifications
translate into precise requirements and result in higher marks (and in the real world, a better chance of
“getting it right” for the customer. Specifications could include, for example, dimensions, contents,
formulations, quality of performance, or anything that would define the item of supply.
Reference to the above noted features and characteristics will assist in preparing the RFQ’s (35 marks)
6. Based upon what you have learned about your suppliers in item 4 above, conduct further research to
determine the likely cost of the product if purchased from the named suppliers.
If the cost of the product cannot be found in the market, the management team must research and
identify a retail or wholesale price that the product currently sells for in the Canadian market. You would
then work backwards, deducting the initial estimated costs associated with bringing the product into the
market as well as the normal profit margins that would have been added on by importers, wholesalers
and/or retailers. This will give you a product cost somewhat realistic to what you could presume to have
paid if you purchased direct. An import costing template has been provided as a guide to cost estimation.
NOTE: These costs can be revised in subsequent assignments as more information regarding the
importation of the product is obtained. (10 marks)
The price the management team will pay for the product in the target geographic market will require some
negotiation. The management team must explain the strategy they would use to negotiate their purchase
price. Consideration should be given and explained regarding all of the issues that may require negotiation.
Be sure these points are specific to your product and industry and NOT just ‘generic’ in nature.
In addition, the team must explain in detail the method they will use to be assured they have received the

7. The management team must explain why the ‘supplier of choice’ is the preferred source from which they
will purchase the product for import. A brief explanation of why this supplier has been chosen is required.
NOTE: The choice can be independent of the cost, with consideration of other factors such as features,
quality and total cost of ownership. Management must then prepare a Purchase Order document to be
IBM 2012 Capstone Project Dr. Eduardo M. V. Jasson
Summer 2023
IBM2012 Capstone Project 1 / 4 Page | 3
issued to the preferred supplier authorizing them to provide you with the product referenced in your RFQ.
NOTE: the ONLY Incoterms to be selected in this project (your choice) are: EXW, FCA, FAS.
The management team must include all the essential and important information in the Purchase Order to
ensure an effective purchasing decision and a contractual obligation by the supplier to meet the
company’s requirements. (25 marks)
The forgoing information will be submitted to the instructor by the deadline noted on the Course Syllabus and
be structured according to the previously established standards for clear, effective and efficient report writing
and presentation. An additional 30 marks are allocated for this element of the project.
Project 1 Total Marks =160
NOTE – IMPORTANT
⚫ You need to write this part of the project as a report, not as a QUESTION-andANSWER Assignment. You need to use your professional writing skills, using
headings and sub-headings, index, etc. Write the report using paragraph 1.15
size, Arial letter 12 points, and margins of 1.5 cm per side.
⚫ The product you intend to import must be approved by the professor, if not, your
work and grade will be penalized up to 20% of your grade.
⚫ You will need to present the due date in class a hard copy at the beginning of the
class and submit also a digital copy using Microsoft Classroom.
⚫ REMEMBER: you need to present a real quotation or proforma invoice signed or
indicate which is the supplier. Therefore, you need to effectively contact your
alternative suppliers and ask for a quotation. No substitutes are acceptable and if
it cannot be verified you can Lose up to 50 of your grade in this project and asked
to do again.
IBM 2012 Capstone Project Dr. Eduardo M. V. Jasson
Summer 2023
IBM2012 Capstone Project 1 / 4 Page | 4
IBM2012 Capstone Project #1 “Rubric”
STUDENT VERSION Section # _______

IBM 2012 Capstone Project Dr. Eduardo M. V. Jasson
Summer 2023
IBM2012 Capstone Project 1 / 4 Page | 5

IBM2012 Capstone Project 1 Rubric
IBM 2012 Capstone Project Dr. Eduardo M. V. Jasson
Summer 2023
IBM2012 Capstone Project 1 / 4 Page | 6

IBM 2012 Capstone Project Dr. Eduardo M. V. Jasson
Summer 2023
IBM2012 Capstone Project 1 / 4 Page | 7

Total = /160
1 Sources that are not properly cited are considered plagiarized and will result in a grade of zero for the report. Marketing Research and Data Analysis