Supply Chain Strategy

The supply chain management is considered as a management concept from past two decades as the customers are concerned about timely and safe delivery. The competitiveness has been increasing among the companies to deliver the products as quickly as possible to the customers all around the world. This has made the supply chain management as a vital tool for the management. This is also measured as a competitive parameter for the companies.

A supply chain is a series of integrated processes within and across a company that produce a product or service to meet the demands of a consumer (Krajewski, et. al., 2013). Every company has a specific supply chain design and this design is implemented to meet the company’s competitive priorities. Supply chain management refers to the coordination of the company’s processes with those of customers and suppliers to match the flow of services, materials, and information with customer demand. In today’s global market companies are choosing to outsource many of their processes in order to save time and money. While outsourcing and decentralizing many supply processes may seem to be more cost effective,

Supply chain is one of the critical aspects that can make or break any company. The research will also concentrate on aspects of supply chain.

Managing a supply chain implies the integrated management of a network of entities, that begins with the suppliers' suppliers and ends with the customers' customers, for the production of products and services to the end consumers. Supply chain case studies analyze how companies seek to achieve cost reductions or profit improvements and make the supply chain more competitive as whole.

“The best supply chains aren’t just fast and cost-effective. They are also agile and adaptable, and they ensure that all their companies’ interests stay aligned.” (Lee, 2004)

What is supply chain? Cottrill (2010) notes that “People often think it is only about moving boxes, something to do with transport and logistics; it almost gets narrowed down to the warehousing and delivery piece”. In reality, supply chain does not only focus on moving products from one place to another places. It involves every stages from the beginning that customers want to buy products until they pay and become satisfied with goods. Manufacturer and suppliers, customers, retailers, warehouses and transporters are all parts of the supply chain (Chopra et al., 2004). Due to globalization and market uncertainties, there is a changing competitive environment in doing business. I believe that a supply chain can keep on improving in such condition by implementing ‘The Triple-A Supply Chain’ strategy which is agile, adaptable and aligned. The term agile refers to an ability to quickly respond to unexpected changes for instance natural disasters and epidemics. Adaptable can be defined as an ability to adjust oneself to deal with problems such as political changes and demographic trends in order to

that takes place within and between different stages .  There are 2 different ways to view the processes performed in a supply chain

A supply chain strategy is a plan with goals and objectives. It is about using all of the elements involved in the sourcing and procurement of goods and services to produce better results for the company. Typically, strategy is aimed at achieving objectives such as pushing a new product development faster, improving the use of current technologies, bringing products and services to market faster, minimizing resource investment, and reducing specific costs and response/cycle times. Supply chain strategy is often confused with supply chain management, even though it is a lot broader, which explains why many people traditionally call it “supply strategy”, “operations strategy”, and “logistics strategy”. It defines what processes within the

Supply chain management is a valuable practice whose purpose is to offer businesses a competitive advantage in the market place. According to Jacoby, D. (2010), some companies like Walmart and Dell have applied this system to gain a competitive advantage in the market while others have failed to apply it owing to its complexity. Companies require adequate and accurate information about all the players in the chain management in order for them to meet their consumers, demands while maintaining health relationships with their suppliers. Technology plays a pivotal role in availing such information, and as such, it is an effective tool for chain management. If done in the right way, then organizations will be ahead of the rest of the competitors in the market place. It is for this reason that organizations should invest in proper supply chain management in order for them to enhance their revenues while cutting on the costs.

The globalisation of markets has increased customer demand and product differentiation. Higher quality products and shorter delivery times are essential for maintaining customer satisfaction in highly competitive markets like the consumer electronics industry. Consequently, supply chain management is an important process in all businesses, and if managed effectively, can give companies a competitive edge. However, it often

A supply chain may be defined as an integrated process wherein a number of various business entities (i.e., suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, and retailers) work together in an effort to: (1) acquire raw materials, (2) convert these raw materials into specified final products, and (3) deliver these final products to retailers. This chain is traditionally characterized by a forward flow of materials and a backward flow of information. For years, researchers and practitioners have primarily investigated the various processes of the supply chain individually. Recently, however, there has been increasing attention placed on the performance, design, and analysis of the supply chain as a whole. From a practical standpoint, the supply chain

Supply chain is long and penetrates almost all business processes. The chain can extend from raw materials to final sales or deliveries to end users. It connects an organization with multiple levels of customers as well as suppliers, and acts as a channel on which to exchange information and transfer orders in terms of product flow (CIPS, 2013). The role of supply chain plays in a business determines the necessity of supply chain management (SCM) improvement. According to APICS Dictionary (2016), SCM involves “design, planning, execution, control, and monitoring of supply chain activities”. It affects

Every stage is not supposed to be present in a supply chain. The appropriate design and strategy of the supply chain will depend on both the customer’s needs and the roles of the stages involved.(1)

Managing the Supply Chain ( SCM) is a set of approaches used to efficiently integrate suppliers, manufacturers , warehouses and stores so that merchandise is produced and distributed in the right quantities , at the right place at the right time in order to minimize system cost while the wide requirement of satisfactory levels of service . It can also be defined as the coordination of production , inventory , location, and transportation among the participants in a supply chain to achieve the best mix of responsiveness and efficiency for the market served .

Supply chain management is the coordination of the processes and functions within a business, adopted by most companies in the UK in the late 1990’s. It deals with the internal and external factors that, when dealt with correctly and systematically, can determine a businesses success or failure. A supply chain is the network of activities that delivers a finished product service to the customer. By definition, supply chain management (SCM) is “the management of the flows of materials from suppliers to customers in order to reduce overall cost and increase responsiveness to the customers” (Reid & Sanders). SCM entails the co-ordination of the movement of good through the