Supply Chain Management

Summary:

This note provides a simplified overview of Supply Chain Management (SCM), covering five key areas: the SCM process, distribution management, transportation management, warehousing, and inventory management. The SCM process involves the coordination of all activities involved in the production and delivery of goods and services, from sourcing raw materials to delivering the final product to customers. Distribution management refers to the management of the movement of goods from the manufacturer to the consumer, while transportation management focuses specifically on managing the transportation of goods. Warehousing involves the storage and management of goods in a warehouse, including managing inventory levels and logistics. Finally, inventory management involves tracking and managing inventory levels throughout the supply chain to ensure that the right products are available in the right quantities at the right time. By understanding and effectively managing these key areas, companies can optimize their supply chain, improve efficiency, and reduce costs.

Excerpt:

Supply Chain Management Process

The supply Chain Management process plays a huge significance in running key operations for almost every organization. Without a successful supply chain, processes could halt at the floor level and ultimately bring down the results. For so many decades, supply chains have gone through a journey of their own from being so simple to recently developed algorithm-based ones. With ever-evolving supply chain concepts, the supply chain management process has become a dedicated function. Supply chain managers are given the responsibility to ensure that the supply chain, be it external or internal, is efficient and cost-effective. But another question that comes up is how they do it. The mechanism to be followed for an effective supply chain management process involves five basic stages explained here.

• PLAN – Planning is the strategic part of the supply chain management process to find out the best possible blueprint of how to fulfil the end requirement. SCM managers should identify a list of key components like plant location & size, warehouse design, delivery models, IT solutions’ selection, etc. Not only this, the supply chain management process would be incomplete if key matrices like transportation cost modelling, warehouse efficiency models, etc., were not developed.
• SOURCE – At this stage of supply chain management, the emphasis is on ascertaining the most reliable suppliers for raw materials so that the production process would never jeopardize.