The Xbox Story
The Xbox Supply Chain
 Just bought an Xbox or about to buy one?
 Have you ever wondered who is involved and
how the Xbox gets to you?
 Quite simply it moves through what is called a
“supply chain”
There are lots of interesting jobs in the
supply chain
Road
Sea
Services to Freight
They are all part of Transport and Logistics Industry
They are all part of Transport and Logistics industry !
Rail
Air
What happens to get the Xbox to
you?
A lot of different things have to be done:
 By a lot of different people
 Doing different jobs
 With all the different parts of the Xbox being made
and put together and checked to make sure nothing
has been left out
 And the Xbox has to be packed
- so it doesn’t get broken when it is moved by
trucks, trains, ships or aeroplanes
Moving Your Xbox
What is a supply chain?
 The ‘supply chain’ is the name we use for all the
things that get done by lots of people make the Xbox
and
 Get it to the shops and to you.
 So all you have to do when you get the Xbox home is
to unpack it, plug it in and play games to the ‘Max”
How do metal and
plastic become an
Xbox? ?
What Does the Xbox Supply Chain
Look Like
The Key Xbox Supply Chain Steps
 Step 1: Raw Materials: Getting raw materials
processed and turning them into something that can
be used by factories to make into parts for the Xbox
 Step 2: Making the parts in factories needed to go
into an Xbox
 Step 3: At the Xbox factory putting the parts
together to make the Xbox
The Key Xbox Supply Chain Steps
 Step 4: Packing, labelling and sending the Xbox to
Australia
 Step 5: Receiving, storing, sorting and sending the
Xbox to shops or your home
 All of the 5 steps involve transport to move the raw
materials to the factories and from there to Australia
and to the shop or your home
What are Raw Materials and how are
they processed and used?
Step 1
 Raw materials are natural resources such as oil, iron
ore, wood.
 We get the raw materials and make them into things
that we can send to factories where they are made
into parts or finished goods that we can use straight
away.
 For example a raw material like iron ore is mined and
made or processed into steel wire.
 The wire then gets sent to a factory where it can be
made into screws that are needed to make the Xbox
What Raw Materials are Made Into
 Who knows the name of a product that is made into
something from a raw material but needs more done
to it before it becomes a part for an Xbox?
 What about copper coils, gold bars, or logs?
 These have to be moved to the parts factories
Using Gold – Raw Material to Xbox
Parts
Gold plated contacts and connectors are an essential
part of modern electronics in everything from
computers to television
(Credit: World Gold Council)
Making The X Box Parts
Step 2
 The Xbox needs lots of different parts and these are
made in a lot of different factories
 Processed raw materials are used to make the parts
 About 250 factories (suppliers) make the parts
needed to make the Xbox
 The Xbox 360 contains around 1,700 different parts
 Once the parts are made they need to be moved to
the Xbox factory
Moving the Parts to the Xbox Factory
 After the parts are made they need to be packed and
labelled and made ready for pick up by a truck
 The truck picks up the parts and takes it to the Xbox
factory
 Where the factory is a long way away other types of
transport might also be used: like ships, trains or
planes
At the Xbox Factory
Step 3
 Parts needed to make the Xbox are delivered to the
factory by truck, unloaded, checked and kept in a
place ready for use
 As the parts are needed they are moved to the place
where the Xbox is put together – usually called the
‘assembly line’
At the Xbox Factory
 As the Xbox comes off the assembly line it is labelled,
checked and then packed into its box
 The boxes are put on a pallet that is moved by forklift
to the warehouse and stored in a pallet rack
Sending The Xbox to Australia
Step 4
 The Xbox is kept in the warehouse until it is ready to
be picked up and sent to Australia
 Each Xbox has to be barcoded, labelled and the
address of where it is going to put on the Xbox
Getting the Xbox to Australia
 The Xbox is packed into a shipping container at the
factory and sent to the container terminal by road
and/or rail in time to be loaded on to the plane or ship
 The Xbox warehouse tells the transport company
o when it needs to pick up the Xbox
o where it needs to go to
o when it has to arrive
From Factory To Ship
What Happens When it arrives in
Australia? Step 5
 As the Xbox comes by ship from China it has a long
way to travel to Australia
 Before it can leave the port or airport in Australia the
Xbox has to be checked by Customs and Health
(Quarantine) to make sure it is what it says it is and
nothing bad is hidden in it and it isn’t bringing in
anything that might hurt people, animals and plants
What Happens When it arrives in
Australia?
 When it is unloaded from the ship in Australia it goes
by truck to a warehouse before being sent on to the
shop or your home. This warehouse is often called a
distribution centre
At the Australian Warehouse
Distribution Centre
 When you go into a shop to buy an Xbox it is usually
there so that you can pay for it and take it straight
home
 As it can take sometime for an Xbox to get from China
to Australia the company that makes the Xbox sends
enough of them so that stores don’t run out of them
 These Xboxes are kept in a warehouse distribution
centre and supplied to shops as they need them
Getting the Xbox to the Store
 Some of the big stores have their own warehouses
and distribution centres
 They get the Xbox delivered to them and then send
them out to their shops all around Australia
 They can also send the Xbox direct to your home
 Nearly all Xboxes delivered this way are sent by road
 Let’s look at the Xbox Supply Chain again
Supply chain overview
Raw materials
Customers
Supplier
Retailer
Manufacturer
Packaging
manufacturer
Distributor
Transport
What Sort of Places Do People in the
Xbox Supply Chain Work?
Can you name them Some of Them?
Places People Work in the Xbox
Supply Chain
 Places people work include
 mines, processing plants, factories, warehouses and transport
depots
 on aircraft, loading and unloading planes and at airports
 on ships, loading and unloading ships, and at ports
 on trucks and trains and in their depots, loading and unloading
trucks and trains
 on computers and in offices
 at Customs and Quarantine offices and at ports and airports
inspecting cargo
 in games shops and other stores
Jobs in Freight
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There are lots of different jobs in freight transport
Truck Driver or Train Driver
Forklift Driver
Warehouse worker
More Jobs
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Supply Chain Managers
Computer Operator
Aircraft Pilot
Air cargo worker
Ships Captain
Sailor
Crane Driver
Waterfront worker
What Other Jobs Do you Think There
Are in The Supply Chain
Like to know more?
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variety Transport & Logistics (T&L) information and
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 Road, Rail, Sea and Air
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 Visit: www.the-linc.com.au