EFFECTIVE SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

If your company makes a product from parts purchased from suppliers, and those products are sold to customers, then you have a supply chain. Some supply chains are simple, while others are rather complicated. The complexity of the supply chain will vary with the size of the business and the intricacy and numbers of items that are manufactured. SCM is the acronym for the term “Supply Chain Management”.

Supply Chain Management is the management of a network of interconnected businesses involved in the ultimate provision of product and service packages required by end customers (Harland, 1996). Supply Chain Management spans all movement and storage of raw materials, work-in-process inventory, and finished goods from point of origin to point of consumption (supply chain).

What is Supply Chain Management ?

      

Supply chain management (SCM) is a process used by companies to ensure that their supply chain is efficient and cost-effective. A supply chain is the collection of steps that a company takes to transform raw components into the final product. The following are five basic components of SCM.

1. Plan
2. Develop (Source)
3. Make
4. Deliver
5. Return.

Plan

The first stage in supply chain management is known as plan. A plan or strategy must be developed to address how a given good or service will meet the needs of the customers. A significant portion of the strategy should focus on planning a profitable supply chain.

This is the strategic portion of SCM. Companies need a strategy for managing all the resources that go toward meeting customer demand for their product or service. A big piece of SCM planning is developing a set of metrics to monitor the supply chain so that it is efficient, costs less and delivers high quality and value to customers.

Develop (Source)

Develop is the next stage in supply chain management .It involves building a strong relationship with suppliers of the raw materials needed in making the product the company delivers. This phase involves not only identifying reliable suppliers but also planning methods for shipping, delivery, and payment.

Companies must choose suppliers to deliver the goods and services they need to create their product. Therefore, supply chain managers must develop a set of pricing, delivery and payment processes with suppliers and create metrics for monitoring and improving the relationships. And then, SCM managers can put together processes for managing their goods and services inventory, including receiving and verifying shipments, transferring them to the manufacturing facilities and authorizing supplier payments.

Make

At the third stage, make, the product is manufactured, tested, packaged, and scheduled for delivery. This is the manufacturing step. Supply chain managers schedule the activities necessary for production, testing, packaging and preparation for delivery. This is the most metric-intensive portion of the supply chain - one where companies are able to measure quality levels, production output and worker productivity.

Deliver

Then, at the logistics phase, customer orders are received and delivery of the goods is planned. This fourth stage of supply chain management stage is aptly named deliver.

This is the part that many SCM insiders refer to as logistics, where companies coordinate the receipt of orders from customers, develop a network of warehouses, pick carriers to get products to customers and set up an invoicing system to receive payments.

Return

The final stage of supply chain management is called return. As the name suggests, during this stage, customers may return defective products. The company will also address customer questions in this stage.

This can be a problematic part of the supply chain for many companies. Supply chain planners have to create a responsive and flexible network for receiving defective and excess products back from their customers and supporting customers who have problems with delivered products.