| dc.description.abstract | This report is based on my three-month long internship at Apex Footwear Limited (AFL), Unit 2 from December 7, 2025 to March 6, 2026. Upon receiving the internship offer, I
was assigned to Inbound Supply Chain (ISC) division and my internship supervisor was
Mr. Nafiz Imtiaz, Deputy Manager, ISC. Founded in 1990, AFL is now acknowledged as
the largest footwear manufacturer in South Asia. From its two manufacturing plants, approximately 11,000 people are engaged in serving customers in more than 250
owned retail outlets, 275 franchise stores and 150 wholesale distributors across all of
the 64 districts of Bangladesh. The ISC division covers the entire process of bringing raw materials from suppliers to
factory in 5 steps. Supplier Communication: The first phase where Purchase
Requisitions are translated into a Purchase Order and the relevant shipments are
followed in IFS. The next is Bank and Insurance If payment needs to be made by
submitting instruments (for example, a Letter of Credit or Telegraphic Transfer) and that
transit insurance will also be acquired (specific terms for the trade rules). The third is
Bond Management, where the company's government-issued bond license is kept up to
date, annual Prappota documents are aimed at raw materials used and accurate
records of the Bond Register maintained for regulatory purposes. The fourth is Custom
& Delivery, which takes place when shipping documents are released through the bank
into a Clearing and Forwarding agent while customs clearance is actively followed up. Stage five is Safe Factory Delivery, which involves transferred cleared goods being
transported to the factory and inspected by IQC team before system IFS receiving into
materials store. During the internship, my work and responsibilities included keeping a daily shipment
tracking log in Microsoft Excel, assisting with the preparation of document checklist for
Letter of Credit applications for two shipments, helped the Bond officer cross-verify the
entries made by production on raw material usage against the excel sheet-generated
from the Bond Register (which is core job responsibility of Bond officer for which he
used MS Access to re-confirm this entry), compiling daily customs clearance status summaries, organizing shipment documentation so as to shred down time taken and
attend weekly cross-functional coordination meetings. Findings show that AFL's ISC is well-coordinated and backed by an efficient ERP. Strengths: The company has excellent ability to manage multiple payment methods, maintain its own in-house bond compliance function, and manufacture outsoles. AFL
can improve in key areas of their business operations such as the reliance on raw
materials imported from China where natural disasters can disrupt global supply chains
and cause delays (like that which occurred during the onset of COVID-19), needing to
rely on one source for most perishable supplies because there isn’t time between
seasons to acquire more than one, or international payments processes whereby some
documents may not match and hold up incoming shipment clearance. The report ends with recommendations for diversifying sources of import and
implementing supplier development even earlier in the product season, enhancing
alignment on pre-shipment documents with suppliers, as well as investing in local
supplier relationships. A rapid growth in Bangladesh’s footwear industry makes it vital
for AFL to effectively manage its inbound supply chain, which will determine its ability to
seize that opportunity. | en_US |
