SUPPLY CHAIN

Supply Chain Management Report of United Parcel Service

Supply Chain Management Report of United Parcel Service

Introduction

The main ambition of a business is to earn a profit and in a lucrative way. In order to fulfil this ambition organizations and businesses prefer to adopt processes and methods that would aid them in fulfilling this objective. Some businesses adopt the specialized process of production some rely on marketing function and then there are those that specializes the process of supply chain management. Supply chain management is a function that is often ignored by the organization. If it is devised and implement carefully, it can even lend a hand for an organization to gain competitive advantage. This paper also talks about the phenomenon of supply chain management. In this paper, supply chain management of an organization is discussed that is considered as the leader from the aspect of supply chain. This organization is United Parcel Service.

United Parcel Service as a Leader in Supply Chain

United Parcel Service is considered as the leader of supply chain management process. The idea of embracing the latest technology has kept them differentiated and a leader over the years. Consumers and businesses both trust UPS because of their management of supply chain process.

Supply Chain Management

Supply chain management or simply known as supply chain is an important & very crucial department of business. It can be called the bloodline of any firm or organization especially the ones involved in manufacturing of products like textile, mobile phones, fast food or anything that has to do with manufacturing. In plain business terms, it is management of successfully converting raw material also known as the input of any business into finished goods also known as the output. The management utilizes a complete set of various processes and procedures to ensure efficient utilization of business's resources in turning the raw materials into finished products. There are 3 layers in Supply chain namely:

Upper layer - comprises of suppliers of various raw materials for a business

Internal stream layer - the actual production process of the manufacturing firm involved in converting raw materials to finished goods

Bottom or Downstream layer - the placement "P" of the marketing strategy responsible for the delivery of finished goods to clients via distribution centres, shops, wholesalers and retailers etc.

As a management philosophy, SCM is a systems approach that involves assembling a team of upstream (suppliers) and downstream (distributors and end users) partners with a common goal of satisfying a customer value or set of values. This outlook recognizes the interdependency of team members and attempts to foster a cooperative effort that will ultimately give the team a competitive advantage in the market place (Johnson & Anderson, 2000). SCM differs from earlier management philosophies in that it necessarily involves establishing sufficiently trustful relationships with the members of the chain to warrant involving them in strategic decisions. Companies may be involved in multiple supply chains and function in different roles, (e.g. partner, supplier, or customer) at any given ...