How A Hypothetical Company Can Improve Their Distribution Systems Based On The Concepts Of Goldratt 's Replenishment Solutions Essay

Success for many organizations depends on the firm’s ability to balance product and process changes while exceeding customer expectations for improved cost delivery and quality. In lieu of these issues firms have started to implement principles of supply chain management. Supply chain management mainly involves managing the flow of incoming materials, manufacturing operations, and downstream distribution has to be in alignment that is responsive to change in customer demands eliminating a surplus of inventory.

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.

Supply chains manage the movement of products from the acquisition of raw materials through production and finally distribution to the end user. A properly designed supply chain can create many opportunities to drive down cost and increase revenue opportunities. In order to create a supply chain that is sustainable and flexible it is necessary to identify and align company goals and initiatives with the manufacturing and distribution of products.

Mellat-Parast and Spillan (2014) defines supply chain management as the method of handling material and information moves from the beginning, through the organization, and to the end-user. This is a very important factor of organizational strategy.

This assignment will be discussing about when I was working as a logistics manager for Morrisons and we will be talking about how Morrisons distribution system works and evaluating the system. Morrisons' market share as of August 2013 was 11.3%, making it the smallest of the "Big Four" supermarkets, behind Tesco (30.1%), Sainsbury's (16.6%) and Asda (16.4%), but ahead of the fifth place Co-operative Group, which had a share of 4.4% - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morrisons. There is currently 569 stores across the UK and this means that the distribution system must be effective and be able to deliver goods to the Morrisons stores in time.

The Supply Chain Management process is at the very center of all the core operational processes of a company. It plays the role of a central nervous system regulating the product flow by managing the associated information flow that runs through a company. It has very strong linkages with major core processes like product development management, purchasing management and customer relationship management.

When offers of reduced pricing are accepted for equipment, meeting delivery expectations becomes an important part of enhancing the customer experience to maintain satisfied loyal customers. An inventory specialist in the current distribution center would be given the additional task of segregating and maintaining inventory levels to meet the needs of the customer loyalty department.

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

In this assignment I am going to evaluate the distribution systems in delivering goods and services for one of the well-known food sector business and that is ASDA. I am going to look at both the positive and the negative aspects of the distribution systems used and make recommendations for improvement with justified reasons

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.

In his book "It 's Not Luck", Goldratt proposed the application of concepts and methods of the theory of constraints (TOC) on a supply chain. The theory put forward is a win-win solution mainly for the conflicts that occur in the inventory management area of a supply chain (Goldratt, Cox et al. 2012).This paper presents the application of Theory of constraints’ replenishment solution on a distribution network to ensure better performance of the supply chain. The TOC necessitates optimum stock allotment for all distributors and retailers within the distribution chain. The limitations are dealt with using the concept known as the automatic replenishment method (Cyplik P., Hadas Lukasz, Domanski R., 2009).

Supply Chain Management (SCM) is the management and administration of a network of interconnected enterprises involved in the fundamental provision of product and service packages required by end customers. This complex discipline is the systematic and strategic coordination of traditional business functions and the tactics across those business functions within a particular company and across businesses within that company’s supply chain. The end effect is improving long term performance of the company, the companies within the supply chain, and the supply chain as a whole for competitive advantage. Keith Oliver, an analyst working for the consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, coined the term “Supply Chain Management” in

An effective supply chain management is critical to success in today’s business environment where competition, risk and uncertainty are challenging. Ahenkora and Peasah (2011, p.278) state that ‘the need to deliver on clear strategic choices in today’s hypercompetitive business and uncertain environment is greater than ever’.

1. Supply-chain management is the management of the activities that procure raw materials, transform them into intermediate goods and final products, and deliver the products to customers through a distribution system.

As per definition supply chain management is the management of different stages of all business activities and processes which is necessary to manage demand and supply on a global scale. The commodity is passing through various stages i.e. from supplier to manufacturer to wholesaler to retailer to consumer to the end customer. With the increasing of globalization of business, uncertainty of supply networks and shortening of product life cycles have forced the organizations to look beyond the collaboration with supply chain partners. It also involves procurement of raw materials, manufacturing and distribution management of finished goods.SCM is the art of proving the right product, At the right time, At the right place, and At the right cost to the customer.