SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

Supply Chain Management

Supply Chain Management

Introduction

The successful development of new products requires product features that offer superiority and uniqueness from the customer's point of view. To achieve this, manufacturers need to be market-oriented in their approach to product development and have a better understanding of how product features satisfy customer needs and expectations.

There are two challenges facing companies engaged in new product development, how to:

(1) develop a superior and unique product; and

(2) ensure a strong market orientation in relation to new product features.

The process of new product development is often unsuccessful, fragmented and poorly executed and the ability to address the issues of superiority and market focus often determines the success of new products. Companies often find it difficult to focus on customers and do not generally devote enough time and resource to this aspect (Cooper 1994, 60-76).

According to Biemans and Harmsen (1995, pp.7-25), there are various means of becoming more market and customer-oriented in product development. In particular market research can be used to understand customers' needs and preferences, the firm's own competitors, the immediate customer's competitors, needs and preferences of the customers along the supply chain and other external factors including government regulations. This requires the generation of market information for immediate customers and also for those further along the supply chain, dissemination of market data within the organisation and a response to the information acquired.

New Product Development

New product development for those who provide raw materials at the start of a supply chain presents special challenges. Raw materials sold within a supply chain are processed many times before becoming part of the final consumer product and a desirable feature offered by a raw material may or may not have an impact on a consumer's level of satisfaction.

Raw material suppliers developing new products for a supply chain need to be market-oriented and focus on the multiple downstream customers. Discovering how raw material product features meet the needs of the consumer can be difficult because the interactions along the supply chain are focused on the different raw material product attributes that are not necessarily understood by the consumer. Additionally, the original raw material features may not be obviously apparent by the time they reach the consumer.

Technological Advancement

Advancement in technology, development of innovative information systems and their successful implementation on different business enterprises has made the task of supply chain management more effective and easier to mange. However, it is important to note that these newly developed information systems just functions as the facilitators in managing the supply chain management activities and it is still the responsibility of the management of any given organisations to plan and manage the overall supply chain and inventory management activities. (Cooper 1994, 60-76) The impact of the challenge posed by supply chain management issues can be huge on the firms, especially for the retailing organisations. For retailers as well as the manufacturers, supply chain management can serve as one of the most significant areas of differentiation. It can help the organisation to gain an edge ...