Thoughts on Supply Chain Management

Supply Chain Management

Supply Chain: The connected chain of all of the business entities both internal and external to the company that perform or support the logistics function.

Benefits of supply chain management

·      Supply Chain oriented companies commonly report:           

o   Lower inventory transportation warehousing an packaging cost

o   Greater supply chain flexibility

o   Improved customer service

o   Higher revenues

o   Increased performance and profitability

Supply chain integration

·      A systems approach were the overall performance of the chain is greater than the sum of its parts

·      Occurs when multiple functional areas coordinate business processes to seamlessly link to one another

Integral Integration

·      Occurs with a management orientation toward demand-supply integration

·      DSI is a philosophy that integrates the supply management and the demand generating functions in an organization

Supply Chain Integration

·      Relationship integration: The ability of two or more companies to develop social connections that serve to guide their interaction when working together

·      Measurement Integration: The performance assessment of the supply chain as a whole that also holds each individual  firm or business unit accountable for meeting its own coals

·      Technology and planning integration: The creation and maintenance of information technology systems that connect manager across and through the firms in the supply chain

·      Material and service supplier integration: Requires firms to link seamlessly to these outsiders that provide goods and services to them so that they can stream line processes and provide quality customer experiences

·      Customer integration: A competency that enables firms to offer long lasting distinctive value added offering to those customers who represent the greatest value to the firm or supply chain

Key Business Processes

·      Customer relationship management

·      Customer service management

·      Demand management

·      Order fulfillment

·      Manufacturing flow management

·      Supplier relationship management

·      Product development

·      Product development and commercialization

·      Returns management