SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

Supply Chain Management

Supply Chain Management

Introduction

In this paper, we will present a discussion on the supply chain management of a company and the ways through which it can achieve the goals of high quality supply chain. The company has hired us as a consultant to work on their supply chain policies and standards. Being in the team, I have to work on the logistics and supply chain principles that should be considered in the company, the supply chain management techniques that should be applied to the system and processes, and the management and supply chain performance monitors that can be introduced.

Supply Chain Management is an idea, a way of organisation, management of individual business processes in the enterprise. Supply chain management encompasses the complex logistics operations and logistics subsystems throughout the product life cycle, from raw material purchasing, production and distribution of goods to its service. Some researchers identify five areas of concentration of supply chain management which are the planning, purchasing, production, sales, and return. Others are little different which determine the composition of the concept and offer six main areas on which supply chain management is focused such as the production, delivery, location, inventory, transportation and information.

In terms of the process approach, supply chain management is a series of stages of the planning, execution and monitoring in place to reduce the cost of traffic flow of raw materials, work in process, finished goods, services, information from the application point of origin to the point of consumption, i.e., to the full satisfaction of the customers. The management of supply chains means the business strategy to ensure effective management of material, financial and information flows in order to ensure their synchronisation in distributed organisational structures.

Discussion

The Supply Chain Management (SCM) consists of the value creation, the planning and management of all tasks in supplier selection, procurement, conversion and all tasks of the logistics. In general, it includes the coordination and cooperation between the participating partners such as distributors, suppliers, customers, and logistics service providers. Supply Chain Management is an integrated management within the boundaries of an enterprise and across enterprise boundaries. The process of supply chain does not involve only individual companies, but it creates an integration and coordination of a group of companies (Kumar, et al., 2011, pp. 6407-6426).

The primary goal of Supply Chain Management is to maximize the level of service to the end customer, while at the same time optimizing the operating costs and capital employed. It is of substantial importance to stress that, in the projects of supply chain management, collaboration plays a primary role. It is through this collaboration that we get to improve some functions, such as the demand forecasting, which is necessary in order to understand more fully the needs of consumers; demand planning which involves the action plans to achieve more reliable and accurate logistics. It also involves the processing of orders, planning capacity to the optimal use of facilities, planning the use of materials, and the integration between demand and ...