TBS908 – Supply Chain Management
Assignment 1: Report
The role of Information Technology and Globalisation in Supply Chain Management
BY
AKHIL DOMINIC
4468119
Submitted to
Dr. Albert Munoz
Faculty of Business
University of Wollongong – Sydney Business School
MARCH 2015
Contents
Introduction 3
Objectives of Supply Chain Management: 3
Impact of Globalization in SCM: 4
Driving Forces of Globalisation: 4
a) Global Market Forces 5
c) Global Cost Forces 5
d) Political and Macroeconomic Forces 6
Impact of Information Technology in SCM: 6
Types of IT use in SCM: 6
Drivers for IT use in SCM: 7
Conclusion: 7
References: 7
Introduction
Supply Chain Management (SCM) is one of the vital parts of management that can be defined as the movement and storage of unprocessed objects, work-in-process inventory, and completed goods from starting point to point of ultimate consumption.
‘Supply chain management is 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 being served’
(Hugos, 2010, p. 3) Figure: Evolution of SCM
Objectives of Supply Chain Management:
There are some objectives that emphasize supply chain more effectively. The objective of supply chain management is to capitalize on the overall value produced. The significance of a supply chain create the difference between the ultimate product is worth to the customer and the
Supply-chain management consists of developing a strategy to organize, control, and motivate the resources involved in the flow of services and materials within the supply chain. A supply chain strategy, an essential aspect of supply chain management, seeks to design a firm’s supply chain to meet the competitive priorities of the firm’s operations strategy.
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.
Supply chain management involves the management of information flows between and among stages in a supply chain to maximize total supply chain effectiveness and profitability. The dozens of steps are required to achieve and carry out each of the above components. SCM software can enable an organization to generate efficiencies within these steps by automating and improving the information flows throughout and among the different supply chain components. If one member of the supply chain makes a reckless decision it can impact the entire supply chain. This is what
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.
Supply Chain Management (SCM) has been defined by Supply Chain Management Institute to be “the management of relationships in the network of organizations, from end customers through original suppliers, using key cross-functional business processes to create value for customers and other stakeholders”(SCM-Institute, 2016).
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.
The average company spends nearly half of every dollar it earns on production needs—goods and services it needs from external suppliers to keep producing. A supply chain consists of all parties involved, directly or indirectly, in the procurement of a product or raw material. Supply chain management (SCM) involves the management of information flows between and among stages in a supply chain to maximize total supply chain effectiveness and profitability.
Supply chain management involves the management of information flows between and among stages in a supply chain to maximize total supply chain effectiveness and profitability. The dozens of steps are required to achieve and carry out each of the above components. SCM software can enable an organization to generate efficiencies within these steps by automating and improving the information flows throughout and among the different supply chain components.
The Supply-Chain Council defines supply chain management as “[m]anaging supply and demand, sourcing raw materials and parts, manufacturing and assembly, warehousing and inventory tracking, order entry and order management, distribution across all channels, and delivery to the customer” (Wisner, Leong & Tan 2005).
It is concluded that SCM is not yet a discipline and it is moving in the right direction. We can consider that SCM is an emerging discipline. If we look more closely at what is supply chain management and how is it being framed in research, there is much more common issues than there are differences. There is a common core of subjects taught in most supply chain management programs. There is a set of fairly well accepted standards by which a company’s supply chains are judged. There is widespread agreement that supply chain management is a philosophy or orientation of the way that organizations conduct business and that it is multidisciplinary in
Supply chain management plays a very crucial role in the success of any organization and how it can cater to a customer’s need and provide the maximum satisfaction. Supply chain management is essentially managing the flow of goods/services of an organization. It involves raw materials storage, transportation, inventory management, distribution and procurement.
Supply chain management (SCM) is the supervision of materials, information, and finances as they move in a process from supplier to manufacturer to retailer to the cessation consumer. There are three crucial flows of the supply chain: The product flow, the information flow and the finances flow. SCM involves coordinating and integrating these flows both inside and between
The supply chain management basically involves processes and activities which are involved in the planning, organising, controlling and implementing the cost effective flow of goods from the point of origin to the point of consumption. The whole process will have different players like the supplier, manufacturer, distributor, retailers and the customers themselves as the end point of consumption. The supply chain has changed drastically over the years. This days they are very global in nature. Involving various complex interactions and flow of goods, data and funds between companies which are situated in different countries and continents. Even though the companies are spread across the world the manufacturing plants generally follow a similar structure which normally comprises of the suppliers, manufacturing plants, distributors, retailers, inbound and outbound logistics providers. There were a lot of challenges which arose because of the competition which made the companies to rethink their strategies in order to get the product to the right place at the right time at the lowest cost possible. The companies should always look at improving the whole supply chain and every player in the chain should coordinate with one another if they want to increase the efficiency. The organisation should realise the strategic importance of supply chain as it is a key to building a sustainable competitive edge. (Li, Ragu-Nathan, Ragu-Nathan, & Rao, 2006).
2. The supply-chain function’s role is to help identify the products and services that can best be obtained externally; develop, evaluate, and determine the best supplier, price, and delivery for them.