Introduction 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. In the following sections I will propose a supply chain strategy which will align company goals and initiatives increasing efficiency and driving down cost thereby creating a sustainable competitive advantage through the implementation of a synergistic supply chain strategy. …show more content…
In this section I will identify three metrics to implement in the manufacturing process. Lead Time: Lead time is the amount of time it takes to produce a product and have it available for end user consumption (Vermorel 2011). This metric will be very telling as it measures the capability of the supply chain to meet the demand from the consumer. By keeping a reasonable lead time the company will avoid outs and have an accurate measurement about their total supply chain capabilities. Lead time involves the manufacturing, timing, supply of raw materials, distribution and sales. Lead time gives an accurate depiction of the overall strength of the supply chain and is an excellent metric in determining the effectiveness of planning and execution of supply chain goals and initiatives. The average lead time of a corporation is 15 weeks from production to consumption. Benchmark firms have a lead time of 8 weeks which is the goal for the supply chain (Heizer & Render 2010). The 8 week number will be achieved by analyzing opportunities to streamline the process thereby creating efficiencies and driving down the amount of time it takes to produce and ship products. Setting a goal for an 8 week lead time will give the firm an opportunity to assess their forecasting and production capabilities presenting a way to identify and address inefficiencies. Number of shortages per year: Number of shortages per year is the number
It is becoming apparent that the ever changing environment in the global marketplace requires a swifter response time from businesses and their supply chains. The era when production was moved overseas, so businesses can take advantage of low-cost labor is coming to an end, because businesses are not only competing on price but also on time. The owner of Zara, a Spanish clothing store knows this first hand, and has turned supply chain management on its ear, making his company the “envy of the industry” (Ferdows, Lewis, & Machuca, 2004).
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.
This submission analyzes the results of the supply-chain simulation completed. This analysis will comprise several noted points encountered in the simulation. Each discussion point will include a discussion of the correlation of the author’s actions with the simulation results, comparative success results, and alternate actions to produce better results. Further analysis will be applied to the author’s actions with relation to just-in-time
As a result of this and the age of the production equipment turn around for orders can be three to four weeks. If the process takes too long a competitor can take away business. Especially if the competitor has a factory that is more up to date with their technology and processes.
Delivery is a competitive priority because customers are interested in satisfying their needs and wants in the right quantity at the right time. It should be on time with high development speed. Lead time is a time issue where it reflects the accompanying ideas: the quantity of parts of an association's operations; how rapidly an item or administration is conveyed to a client; how dependably the items or administrations are produced and conveyed to the business sector; and the rate at which changes in items and procedures are
The Supply chain is another responsibility that requires skills and techniques to maintain. During the creation process, organizations are creative when it comes to gaining the attention of their customers. At the same time, organizations have to be just as creative to maintain those customers’ interests. Big Mac, gasoline, automobile repair, and even a textbook require supply chain management.
Supply chain management is a complex undertaking that must involve more than one organization’s efforts to succeed. A tremendous amount of skill, time, and money must be present to build and develop relationships, discover and implement a strategy, and use the capabilities of the chain to build quality at an efficient financial rate. Allowing for these requirements, it leaves one to wonder whether supply chain management is a viable option. The answer is yes, because an organization needs a strong supply chain to compete and be profitable in the marketplace. The key points for supply chain management should be to meet customer demand, produce excellent customer value, enhance responsiveness to change, build a network that can resist risk, and develop financial success.
The impact of globalization is increasing every day and companies are becoming more associated both in and out with other organizations. The turnaround time in any business for any event should be as minimum as possible. Enterprise systems add value to the organization by increasing both the operational efficiency and the throughput of the company. Today, supply chain management (SCM) is eventually becoming a core competency wherein the enterprise resource planning (ERP) system is supposedly an integral part of supply chain management (SCM).
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.
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
Concepts that we will use to manage our supply chain can be just in time, available to promise and total quality management. Just in time is use to make sure we have the right amount of inventory to fill orders without a large amount of inventory. Available to promise takes the current inventory that we have and allows our customers to see how much they can order and the shipping dates. This eliminates any backorders or late shipping due to our fault as a company. Total quality management allows for all the employees in the production process to improve the products. Be having this sort of participation (David Johnson, 2011) from the whole team will allow our company to exceeded customer expectations.
The concept of Supply Chain Management is based on two core ideas. The first is that practically every product that reaches an end user represents the cumulative effort of multiple organizations. These organizations are referred to collectively as the supply chain. Supply chain management, then, is the active management of supply chain activities to maximize customer value and achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. It represents a conscious effort by the supply chain firms to develop and run supply chains in the most effective & efficient ways possible. Supply chain activities cover everything from product development, sourcing, production, and logistics, as well as the information systems needed to coordinate these activities.
National and International businesses are becoming ever more dependent on logistics and supply chain management in order to keep pace with the demands of an increasingly global economy. This is why business leaders acknowledge that the supply chain can be a value creator and a source of competitive advantage.
This article aims at looking in depth at the importance of an elaborate supply chain strategy in the meeting of the organisational objectives. First, the
The leading companies around the world utilize a new method of business coordination that gives them a competitive edge in the market. Supply chain management gives companies the power of that competitive edge. Supply chain management (SCM) is defined as including all the activities that must take place to the right product into the right consumer’s hands in the right quantity and at the right time. This can vary from raw material extraction to consumer purchase. SCM is able to process and coordinate information from the supply chain, creating a smooth network. It