Supply chain management is the management of the transportation of goods and services, and it includes all activities that transform raw materials into finalized goods. It comprises a company’s supply-side operations being actively simplified to boost customer value and gain a competitive advantage in the market.
The supply chain encompasses all actions, people, organizations, information, and resources required to move a product from conception to client. This would most likely involve raw materials, manufacturing, packing, shipping, warehousing, delivery, and retailing in the consumer products industry. The ultimate goal is to meet the needs of the consumer.
Frayer continues:
“By balancing supply and demand throughout all members of the supply chain, organizations and channels work together to move the product.”
The phrase “supply chain” has many different definitions, iterations, and roles. These are some of them:
- The supply chain is a term that encompasses the cycle of moving a finished commodity from procurement through fulfillment.
- The industry encompasses the carriers as well as the rules and regulations that govern the transportation of products.
- The activity of managing operations, logistics, and inventory levels as part of coordinating customers and suppliers is known as the function.
- When done correctly, these processes and services may provide value to any industry, which is why supply chain management should be an integral part of every corporate strategy.
DifferentSteps Involved In Supply Chain Management
Planning
Plan and manage the resources required to meet the demand for a company’s product or service. Then, once the supply chain is in place, determine KPIs to see if it is efficient and effective, delivers value to customers, and meets corporate goals.
Sourcing
Choose vendors that can provide the items and services needed to finish the job. Later, create processes to track and manage supplier relationships. Ordering, receiving, keeping an inventory, and authorizing payments to suppliers are all critical tasks.
Manufacturing
Organize the steps necessary to accept raw materials, create the product, test it for quality, package it for shipping, and schedule delivery.
Logistics and Delivery
Customer orders are coordinated, delivery is scheduled, loads are dispatched, customers are invoiced, and payments are received.
Returning
Create a system or network for returning damaged, excess, or unwanted merchandise.
BASIC ELEMENTS OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Effective supply chain management systems decrease cost, waste, and time during the manufacturing process. The industry norm is a just-in-time supply chain, in which retail sales instantly convey replenishment orders to manufacturers. Following that, store shelves can be restocked almost as quickly as things are sold. One strategy for improving this process is to analyze data from supply chain partners to see where more adjustments can be made.
Recognizing issues:
When a consumer requests more merchandise than the manufacturer can supply, the buyer may be dissatisfied with the service. However, manufacturers may be able to predict scarcity through data analysis before the buyer is disappointed.
Price optimization:
The shelf life of seasonal items is limited. As a result, these items are typically dumped or sold at low costs near the end of the season. In order to fulfill demand, airlines, hotels, and other businesses that sell perishable goods modify their rates on the fly. Using comparable forecasting approaches, analytic tools can assist in improving margins even for hard commodities.
Improving the distribution of inventory that is “available to promise”
Analytical software solutions aid in dynamically allocating resources and work schedules based on sales forecasts, actual orders, and raw material delivery promises. Manufacturers can confirm a product delivery date when an order is submitted, lowering the number of mistakenly filled orders.
Supply Chain Management’s Advantages:
Following are the benefits included in supply chain management when businesses use effective supply chain management.
Costs Minimization
Organizations can reduce operating expenses by responding more dynamically to customer needs by integrating suppliers and leveraging technology. Managing based on demand, for example, prevents firms from overproducing, which saves money on labor raw materials inventory management, and transportation.
Revenue Maximization
It’s more likely that things will remain accessible for purchase when firms employ technology to stay closer to client demand and respond more rapidly (as in the Walmart example of keeping shelves filled). Labor and materials can be allocated to inventing new things to give the client and expanding the product mix when manufacturing is streamlined to create just enough. Outside of the area of products, this could imply providing clients with additional services.
Utilization of Asset
Organizations can utilize most of their capital assets through good supply chain management, such as production or transportation equipment. For example, businesses can create according to demand rather than putting unnecessary wear and tear on production equipment.
CONCLUSION:
Supply chain management enables businesses to deliver items more rapidly, assure product availability, decrease quality issues, and navigate returns with ease, resulting in increased value for both the company and its consumers. The notion of supply chain management is based on the idea that almost every product that enters the market results from the efforts of numerous firms that make up the supply chain. However, even though supply chains have existed for a long time, most organizations have only recently recognized them as an essential part of their operations.
