Case Study : Supply Chain Management

The main elements of a supply chain include purchasing, operations, distribution, and integration. The supply chain begins with purchasing. Purchasing managers or buyers are typically responsible for determining which products their company will sell, sourcing product suppliers and vendors, and procuring products from vendors at prices and terms that meets profitability goals.

Recognized as one of the leading computer manufacturers, Dell uses an astonishing supply chain through pull-to-order procurement and just-in-time inventory management. Their strategy is highly efficient and drives costs to a minimum while allowing for minimal lead times and production times of under 4 hours for each order as their suppliers maintain levels of inventory based on forecasts within Dell warehouses near Dell assembly

List and explain all aspects of supply chain management. pg 416; week5 lecture, pg 4;

Supply chain management is a practice that involves the planning, supervision, and implementation of strategies and controls to direct the movement of goods and services provided to customers. The intent of this essay is to incorporate a synopsis of existing literature and to provide the reader with a general understanding of how supply chain management correlates with the organizational design and structure of modern firms. The essay comprehensively reviews the components of supply chain management and their integration with functional areas within an organization. The information presented in this essay

Supply chain is starting point before transforming product to customer. Supply Chain Management (SCM) as defined by Tom McGuffog is "Maximizing added value and reducing total cost across the entire trading process through focusing on speed and certainty of response to the market." Supply Chain Management has allowed company to rethink their entire operation and restructure it so that they can focus on its core competencies and outsource processes that are not within the core competencies of the company.

To start, Schroeder, R., Goldstein, S., and Rungtusanatham define supply chain as “the set of entities and relationships that cumulatively define materials and information flows both downstream toward the customer and upstream toward the very first supplier.” Schroeder, R., Goldstein, S., and Rungtusanatham goes on to identify supply chain management as “the design and management of seamless, value-added processes across organizational boundaries to meet the real needs of the end customer.” Organizations have to prepare themselves to the best of their ability in order to provide or their customers. Customers expect to receive the upmost service, regardless of the type of organization they make contact with.

It begins with the suppliers of raw materials and ends through direct retailers of finished products sold to consumers. Companies rely on effective Supply Chain Management to ensure that throughout the life stages of procurement, development, production and retail, all stages are handled optimally and that the best outcomes are achieved. to improve on Alpha's current supply chain management system they should focus on three key area's:

Many companies produce products from parts of raw materials that are purchased from suppliers, till these products are reach the markets and presented for the customers, then you have the supply chain starting from the purchase of raw material from different areas , through the manufacturing steps and stages till is being sold by the consumer. Some of supply chains are well defined and easy to determined, while there are other supply chains complex to analyze. However, supply chains vary with the size of the facility such as; complexities, performance, abilities, flexibility, quality, speed, dependability and cost of preparing goods for manufacturing and the chain length distribution. So the supply chain is a network of wholesalers, retailers, distributors, workers in the transport, storage facilities, suppliers, and manufacturers who participate in the production, delivery and sale of the product to the last consumer. A supply chain is a group of facilities that coordinate activities among it and to avoid the competitors. Moreover, to ensure the supply chain management is operating efficiently and generating the highest level of customer

To start, it is vital to clarify the concept of a supply chain. It consists basically of all the process that the materials suffer as they flow from the source to the final customer. There are many concepts linked to this term, purchasing, warehousing, manufacturing, etc. Or more precisely: “a supply chain is a system of business enterprises that link together to satisfy consumer demand. The elements of a supply chain can be contained in the same business or be part of different companies” (Riddalls et Al., 2000)

Q: What is Supply Chain Management? Also explain the role in operations of the business.

Supply chain management is a main process in all kinds of companies. That’s because an optimized supply chain results in lower costs and a faster production cycle.

Supply Chain Management according to Tom Mc Guffog is "Maximising added value and reducing total cost across the entire trading process through focusing on speed and certainty of response to the market." Supply chain management is one of the important area which requiring strategic planning in a business enterprise. Planning and decision making are required right from the production of goods till the goods reach the ultimate consumers in the most cost effective and timely manner. If a firm is able to manage its supply chain efficiently, it can increase its customer satisfaction because SCM ensure the deliverance of fast and quality products to customers. Supply chain includes all the activities from the conversion of raw materials, one end

Supply Chain Management is a process of streamlining the supply-side activities in order to order to take control over production, shipment and distribution (Cooper et al, 1997). An impeccable supply chain management process should enhance the quality of the production environment and help the organization to gain the competitive advantage. The supply chain management, in a nut shell, looks after the flow of goods within the organization. The flow normally refers to the movement of raw materials from storage area to work-in-progress area to inventory of the finished goods to distribution to the inter-linked networks that reach the end customers. The effective supply chain management would help the organization to reduce the ownership of the raw materials and distribution channels and to enhance the trust and collaboration with the supply chain partners. The globalization, information technology and outsourcing practices have been helping the organizations to successfully operate supply chain networks with the help of the technology

The main objective of our project is to study System U North West 's supply chain management. This analysis could be made because of an interview with the Product Manager, Mr. Ledu. Also, it is intended to use the concepts and knowledge learned in Operations Management and apply them into real life. It is significant to note that we

According to one author Supply Chain Management is a set of approaches that helps to effectively integrate suppliers, manufacturers, distributors and retailers. SCM ensures availability of the right product at the right time in the right place at minimum cost and taking into account the service requirements of customers (Mandavi, Iraj; Page 26).