Sustainable Supply Chain Management XN Project

Description: Living Zesty up-cycles the remnants and scraps of artificial turf installations that would otherwise go straight to the landfill and converts them into doormats and other products. The turf is currently provided for free from a single distributor in exchange for us placing a descriptive tag thanking their company on the mats. Otherwise, the turf would be too expensive to purchase from a manufacturer. Although they are currently a small operation, they are interested in ideas on how to potentially scale up while still maintaining the sustainability focus as a priority.

Problems to be Solved: How could we scale up operations while still relying on installation scraps/remnants as the primary source? Based on the current trend of lawn-to-turf conversions in CA, is there a limit that we might hit? What are some other companies within a 50 mile radius of Mission Viejo/Los Angeles, CA that we could contact to supply us with turf? Are there other sources of artificial turf aside from lawn instillations?

Deliverable: A 2-3 page report focused on the supply chain feasibility of scaling up our operations based on the current trends of artificial lawn installations. The report should include a list of turf installers in the Mission Viejo/Los Angeles, CA area and any known information about their operations.

Goal: We want to divert waste from landfills and are open to evaluations of our operations. Essentially, how does Living Zesty get more inventory and how best to scale operations?

Areas for Focus: (1) a flow of cost-effective raw material, (2) inventory and distribution challenges, and (3) managing transportation costs.