Examine and Define the Concept of Supply Chain Integration Using Previous Literature.

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

integration strategy is where the organization owns all or some of its supply chain (Lawless,

A business can also integrate with other businesses vertically. In this term, the business operates at a different stage of production. One company make the supply and another company delivering the supply. They can both integrate into the vertical stage. This term is known as vertical integration. For example, a chain supply distribution has outlets in all over the Europe, and another supply producers have large scale assortment of supply. Both companies can be in vertical integration on business. The plus of vertical integration is that both companies have a greater focus on their own objectives (Davis,

Supply chains represent the procurement, production and distribution activities of an organisation. Within a supply chain, these activities are viewed as linked and reliant on one another to produce the final outcome. It is believed that if one component of the chain fails, the whole chain is broken and product/service delivery goals will not be achieved.

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)

As director of Supply Chain Systems, Teri Takai recommends implementing virtual integration strategies from companies like Dell to portions of Ford’s supply chain strategy. Although there are several key differences between the companies, the restructuring plans of Ford 2000 have set a viable foundation to implement Dell’s virtual integration strategy in inventory management, customer service and support and suppliers’ management. The redesign of the process must include design not only of the supply chain but also of fulfillment, forecasting, purchasing, and a variety of other functions that historically been considered independently within the Ford hierarchy. Teri

More and more scholars realize that the integration of TPL become important (Fynes et al., 2005). Levary (2000) was defined the integration of supply chain as the aims and methods to improve the cooperation between company and sources, staff, and information, also saving the costs (Levary, 2000). The integration of TPL as a part of supply chain integration, which is a focus on the relationship, location and operations management in each supply chain process (Zhao et al., 2006). However, regarding the integration of TPL as a new research problem in supply chain industry, the scholars have some different opinions in this area (Jayaram and Tan, 2010). For example, Jayaram and Tan (2010) compare the different TPL provider that they find the integration of TPL strategy will improve the company performance. Other research shows that the different influence from the integration of TPL will based on different company situation, business objectives, development strategy and level of TPL integration decision (Zhao et al., 2006 and Carr,

Enterprise systems can be helpful to solve diverse business problems and optimize numerous processes in commercial organizations. Though the CIO is interested in different types of these systems being used, particular emphasis is placed on Supply Chain Management (SCM), which can be defined as “the management of information flows between and among activities in a supply chain to maximize total supply chain effectiveness and corporate profitability” (Baltzan, 2014). In order to profoundly evaluate the impact that these systems can have on different types of organizations, the paper will analyze two case studies, whose objective was to “promote further understanding of this process of adoption and integration of supply chain management

Abstract Integration of supply chain activities and the technologies to accomplish it have become competitive necessities in most industries. Accordingly, the trend toward greater use of supply chain

Referring to Flynn, Huo and Zhao (2008) research, they suggested supply chain integration is the process of organizations strategically collaborates with their supply chain partners and managing inter and intra organization?s processes. In addition, Prabir K. Bagchi and others (2005), claimed that ?supply chain integration is the comprehensive collaboration among supply chain network members in strategic, tactical and operational decision-making?. (Prabir L. Bagchi et al.) By reviewing these definitions, supply chain integration can be known as the collaboration of the organization and their supply chain partners by using strategic, tactical and operational management. The main purpose of applying supply chain integration is to have an efficient and effective production process of products in different, aspects, such as cost, information, and decision-making (Bowersox et al., 1999; Frohlich and Westbrook, 2001; Naylor et al., 1999 as cited in Flynn, Huo and Zhao, 2008) and aim to improve service capabilities at lower supply chain cost. (Ragatz et al, 1997, as cited in Fylnn, Huo and Zhao, 2008) Based on their papers, it suggested that firms with highly supply chain integration can be more reactive to unstable demand by higher information visibility and knowledge between organisations. Also, it also pointed out that the net costs can also be reduced through interlocking the supply chain.

Supply Chain is a system of organizations, people, activities, information and resources related to the transfer of products or services from suppliers (supply chains) to customers. Supply chain operations involve converting natural resources, raw materials and components into a finished product to be delivered to the end customer. In complex supply chain systems, the products used can re-enter the supply chain at any point where the residual value can be recycled. Supply chain links the value chain. Supply chain management includes all planning and management related to supply, procurement, conversion, and logistics management activities. Equally important is that it also involves coordination with partner channels such as vendors, intermediaries, third-party service providers, and customers. Essentially, supply chain management integrates supply and demand management within and outside the company. Supply chain management is an integrated function with the primary responsibility for connecting the core business functions and business processes within companies into a high-performance and engagement business model. It covers all of the logistics management activities outlined above, as well as manufacturing activities, and it promotes collaborative processes and activities with marketing, sales,

            The term supply chain management (SCM) was initially used in wholesaling and retailing to denote the integration of logistics and physical distribution functions with the goal of reducing delivery lead times. Manufacturers and service providers have used the same term to describe integration and partnership efforts with first- and second- tier suppliers to reduce cost and improve quality and delivery timing. Terms such as integrated purchasing strategy, integrated logistics, supplier integration, value chain management, supply base management, strategic supplier alliances, lean production, Just-In-Time (JIT) logistics, and supply chain synchronization have been used in the literature to

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

Supply chain business process integration involves collaborative work between buyers and suppliers, joint product development, common systems and shared information. According to Lambert and Cooper (2000), operating an integrated supply chain requires a continuous information flow. However, in many companies, management has reached the conclusion that optimizing the product flows cannot be accomplished without implementing a process approach to the business.

Integration is required for effective strategy. The leader needs to cross the functional and operational boundaries to deal with strategic issues and agree on other managers who have different interests and priorities.