Supply chain management - Are you taking the right Decissions?

Supply chain management It is defined by Christopher as:

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The management of upstream and downstream relationships with suppliers and customers with a clear motive to deliver superior customer value at less cost to the supply chain as a whole.

A proper flow at all the levels of supply chain, helps to have proper delivery and management of goods at all the levels without any interruptions. One needs to understand that it’s necessary to add value at each process so that the final outcome is good.

Efficiency in Value chain helps to have an effective supply chain. Value chain consists of primary activities and supportive activities:

Primary activities consist of the following:

·         Inbound logistics

·         Operations

·         Outbound logistics

·         Marketing and sales

·         Service

Supportive activities consist of the following:

·         Infrastructure

·         Human resource development

·         Technology

·         Procurement

Out of these activities the best thing is to outsource activities related to logistic to an experienced service provider. This will help in proper management of all the activities and the product would reach the final destination on time.

Normally Companies outsource supply chain function for many reasons. Out of which few Reasons are as follows,

·         reduce costs,

·         shorten cycle time,

·         improve shareholder value,

·         decrease inventory,

·         focus on core competencies,

·         gain information technology,

·          Increase expertise and more.

There are four major decision areas in supply chain management :

1) Location

 2) Production

3) Inventory

4) Transportation (distribution), and there are both strategic and operational elements in each of these decision areas.

A good supply chain management firm helps in proper execution, and final delivery of the product.

The logistic firm will arrange for the required transport facilities and they also help in clearance of goods at the port by providing all the required documents and invoices on time.

The logistic firm takes care of the required warehouse management for the goods and has the trained staff to manage the goods effectively in process of packaging and overall handling of the goods.

Thus, supply chain management can be managed effectively if they outsource few services to the specialist in that particular work.

Article Tags: Supply Chain

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