Question

Many organizations are faced with changes in the environment in which they operate. Customers are more geographically dispersed and this has had an impact on the strategy followed by organizations. Your organization has decided to look at its organization strategies and has requested your input in developing and implementing a supply chain and logistics strategy. Prepare a report detailing the levels of strategy in an organization and the process of developing and implementing a supply chain and logistics strategy. Use a diagram to illustrate your answer.

Answer 1

The supply chain management is the management of the raw materials being produced and sent by the supplier to the company (the inbound process) and then effectively the finished goods to the customers (outbound process). It constantly changes and adapts itself  and will affect any logistics organization. To adapt to the flexibility of the supply chain, companies should develop and implement a formal logistics strategy. This will allow a company to identify the impact of imminent changes and make organizational or functional changes to ensure service levels are not reduced.

There are different component areas for each company that every supply chain management process includes: :

• Transportation: Does the current transportation strategies help service levels?
• Outsourcing: What outsourcing is used in the logistics function? Would a partnership with a third party logistics company improve service levels?
• Logistics Systems: Do the current logistics systems provide the level of data that is required to successfully implement a logistics strategy or are new systems required?
• Competitors: Review what the competitors offer. Can changes to the company’s customer service improve service levels?
• Information: Is the information that drives the logistics organization real-time and accurate? If the data is inaccurate then the decisions that are made will be in error.
• Strategy Review: Are the objectives of the logistics organization in line with company objectives and strategies?

A successfully implemented logistics strategy is important for companies who are dedicated to keeping service levels at the highest levels possible despite changes that occur in the supply chain. It helps the company to gain the competitive advantage and thus creates sustainability in the organisation.

The Process of Supply chain management is given below:

MATERIAL FLOW ->

Vendor -> Sourcing -> Inbound storage/Transportation -> Operations -> Outbound Storage/Transportation -> Consumer Distribution -> Customer Satisfaction and Reviews

<- INFORMATION FLOW & MONEY FLOW

1. Vendor: Vendor is the supplier from which the business is getting its raw materials and good supplied. The provide the raw materials to the the business for further operations.

2. Sourcing: Various sources are being developed the type of vendors, raw materials and what materials are to be bought from which vendors and how they would be provided to the business.

3. Inbound: The inbound transportation is the process of actual movement of goods from the supplier to the business firms.

4. Operations: Those raw materials would then be processed and operated to turn them into the finished goods for the consumers to use.

5. Outbound: The outbound transportation is the process of the actual movement of goods from the business enterprise to the final consumers to consume.

6. Customer Distribution: Various methods and techniques like shipment, cargo, retail, warehousing etc are being applied to make the goods be available to the customers.

7. Customer Feedback: At last, customers reviews ans feedback is checked about the quality of the product and if in case the product is not liked by the customer a reverse supply chain management would be followed.
Material flows from supplier to customers.

Money and information regarding the product flows from customer to the supplier.