Supply Management of General Motors

Table of Contents

Introduction3

Supply Chain Management Decisions3

Designing Decisions3

Operational Decisions3

Approach of General Motors (GM)4

Introduction of Modern Day E-Procurement4

Adoption of Modern Procurement System (E-Procurement) by General Motors4

Implementation Strategy of GM6

Challenges faced by General Motors in the Past6

The Toyota Supply Chain Evolution8

Considerations for Auto Industry in 21st Century (E-procurement)8

Indirect Procurement9

Direct Procurement9

Combination of Direct and Indirect Procurement into a Single Entity9

Architecture of E-Procurement10

Buy Side Considerations10

Sell Side Scenario Considerations10

Electronic Catalogs (E-Catalogs)10

Technology Considerations11

Conclusion11

References12

Supply Management of General Motors

Introduction

Supply Chain Management (SCM) is a set of approaches for the efficient combination of suppliers, manufacturers, distributors and retailers. Supply chain management takes into account the service requirements of the customers that ensure the right product at the right time in the right place at minimum cost.SCM is the process of organizing the planning, execution and control flow of raw materials, work in process, finished goods, as well as efficient and fast service by obtaining intelligence on the movement of goods. SCM solve the problems of coordination, planning and management processes of supply, production, storage and distribution of goods and services (Janvier, 2012). Supply Chain represents the set of related information, money and goods flow. It starts with the purchase of raw materials from suppliers and ends at the sale of finished goods and services to the client.

Supply Chain Management Decisions

Successful supply chain management involves numerous decisions with varying time frames. We can broadly categorize them as design decision and supply chain operations decisions.

Designing Decisions

Supply chain design (network design) or strategic decisions involve the following critical issues: What activities should be carried out by the nodal firm and what should be outsourced?

How to select entities/partners to perform outsourced activities and what should be the nature of the relationship with those entities? Should the relationship he transactional in nature or should it be a long-term partnership?

Decisions pertaining to the capacity and location of the various facilities.

The decisions pertaining to location and capacity are for those facilities that are owned by the nodal firm. In addition to manufacturing locations and capacities, the firm has also to worry about locations and capacities for warehouses (depots). Supply chain design decisions are made for the long term (usually a couple of years) and are very expensive to alter at short notice (Foster et al 2011).

Operational Decisions

Once supply chain design decisions are in place, the firm has to take decisions regarding the management of supply chain operations for shorter horizons. This involves tactical decisions, which have a horizon of about three months to a year; and operations decisions, which usually have a horizon ranging front a day to a month. Both tactical and operations decisions involve the following areas:

Demand forecasting

Procurement planning and control

Production planning and control

Distribution planning and control

Inventory management

Transportation management

Customer order processing

Relationship management with partners in the chain

Approach of General Motors (GM)

General Motors (GM) is one of the largest car makers in the world, manufacturing more than 9 million cars annually in 33 ...