Examining and Rectifying the Factors causing a possible Supply Chain Management Failure

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION1

Area of the Study1

Background of the Research1

Problem Identification2

Project Objectives3

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW4

Supply Chain Management4

Critical Concepts in SCM4

Inventory7

Production7

Location8

Transportation8

Information8

Supply Chain Practices9

Strategic Supplier Partnership9

Customer Relationship10

Internal Lean Practices10

Postponement10

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY11

Project Method11

Data Collection Method11

Secondary Method11

Primary Method11

Project Instrument12

Project Population12

Data Analysis Tool12

Limitations of the Study13

Ethical Considerations13

REFERENCES14

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Area of the Study

Supply Chain Management is associated with the products and information flow between the members working in supply chain management and people linked with the process. Supply Chain Management is the management of set of interconnected activities performed within a particular business, involved in providing a service or producing a product based on the requirements of the end-user in the supply chain (Lynch, 2009). Supply chain involves process starting from collection and storage of raw material to the production of finished goods, from the point of origin to the point of consumption (Mentzer, DeWitt, Keebler, & Smith, 2001). There are a number of innovations in technology helping the organisations in coordinating the activities for the appropriate management of supply chain processes.

Background of the Research

The disruptions, and failure in supply chain processes, both actual and potential, are considered as enemy for the organization. Disruptions in terms of supply chain are defined as unanticipated and unplanned happenings that create problems in the normal flow of materials and goods within the supply chain process (Craighead et al. 2007). If explained and discussed more specifically, the failures generally occur during any kind of radical transformation of supply chain system. Besides disruptions, several organizations have been facing number of challenges in effectively implementing and carrying out their supply chain management processes. Supply Chain Disruptions, manufacturing delays, product returns, consumer quality and safety issues, and government regulations are some of the growing concerns for the members of supply chain management process. With unsynchronized information and data, there is a threat to the firm's management, managing the supply chain activities in today's' globalized world of business (Craighead et al. 2007). The success of the business is dependent on the relationship between the firm and its partners and the quality and efficiency of the business processes throughout the extended supply chain management activities.

The supply chain management procedure requires the coordination and integration of strategic alignment and business processes throughout the supply chain in order to satisfy the final or end-user of the products developed from supply chain (Saeed & Grover, 2005, 368; Ho et al., 2002, 4429). The business procedures that should be coordinated and integrated include manufacturing, logistics, marketing information systems, and purchasing. Strategically expressed imperatives that need to be aligned include quality, responsiveness, efficiency, customer focus (Foerstl & Hartman, 2010, 119) and most recently merging environmental sustainability of these processes.

Problem Identification

In today's competitive world, most of the companies have been facing inefficiencies in their supply chain as a direct consequence of increased level of risk. Delays in transportation, Stock-outs, bloated inventories, obsolete inventories, and disruptions in manufacturing, are just some of the negative consequences (Vollmann, Berry, & Whybark, ...