SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

Supply Chain Management

Supply Chain Management

Common Symptoms/Problems Associated with Supply Chain Management.

According to the scenario, Stone Horse Supply Company was working as small company and providing quality feed for horse to the local horse owner and horse riders. With the passage of time their business starts to prosper. However, in early 2006, the company contracted with largest chain of that region. The contract showed the positive sign. Both brothers, John and Michael Phillips, were trying their best to fulfill their demand. The major problem starts with the increasing demand in later time. The feed they were selling in the market was totally manually made.

They were also facing the issue of transportation as the company is totally based on single company truck. Moreover, the company's order forecasting is totally based on the manual count rather than the systematic processes. The company also faces the major issue of inventory management that could be more worst if company plan to move nationally. Finally, the company's supply chain management is totally useless as the whole chain is mange by these two brothers. If these same procedures continue then it would be more difficult to manage the demand and soon results in difficulties regarding the customer retentions.

Possible Causes of Those Symptoms/Problems and Countermeasures

Among the above discussed issues, the major concern the company facing are the issues of supply chain management in order to avoid any problem regarding the issues related to the demand and supply. The second major problem the company is facing and could face in the future if the company immediately does not focus on its inventory management. (Fawcett, 2001)

In order to avoid these issue there are many measure that could help the company in solving these issues. If the company will improve its supply chain and computerized Inventory management rather than manual, then it would help on managing the demand efficiently within the deadline. (Ferdows, 2000)

Various Advantages Exist Of Supply Chain That Makes It an Important Aspect of Any Business

1. Value added concept - SCM has been successfully able to add value to the production process by minimizing the production time in order to incorporate creativity and innovation to produce better products in the long run.

2. Increased profitability - Efficient use of SCM polices results in lowered costs and rising profits. Big costs in terms of supplies are time and the price of raw materials. In order to save on finance, the company would have long term business relationships with its most valuable suppliers that would supply high-quality bulk raw materials on time to the company so that the company can produce different products. This results in saving of time and costs by not hiring different suppliers on the daily basis (Davies, 2005).

3. Adjustment in trends - Companies involved in the fashion industry like cosmetics, perfumes, textile, garments etc are subject to high fluctuations in seasonal demands of products. As seasons change so do people's preference of cosmetics and fabric changes. As a result, supply chain has to effectively ...