What is supply chain management?
Supply chain management is an integrated methodological
approach that heavily uses management approaches such as operations management and
logistics management. It is inclusive of all activities of materials in
the production of goods and services ranging from the storage of raw materials,
processing them for production and supplying them to the customers.
Supply chain management is overseeing the flow of
information, materials and finances within and across companies from the point
of origin to the point of consumption.
Supply
chain management is a cross-functional approach which organizes the entire
business process through a chain of multiple companies who specializes in their
concerned roles. These companies are business partners that focus on only a few
key strategic activities.
The active management of supply chain activities
maximizes the customer value and enables sustaining a competitive advantage
over other companies.
How
does supply chain
management work?
It
increases the number of organizations involved in the process of manufacturing
goods and information providing.
It operates
through interlinked
channels and networks of business nodes which it uses to reduce the ownership
of materials by distributing activities across various companies.
Companies
outsource to other organizations the activities or processes they specializes
in so they can be performed more efficiently and cost effectively.
What
are the three types of flow in supply chain management?
Supply
chain management is constituted
of activities such as product development, sourcing, production, logistics and
information system required to coordinate these activities. The organizations involved in supply
chain are connected together through three kinds of flows which include flow of
materials, information and finances.
Flow of materials and finances are physical flows which involve the transformation,
movement, and storage of goods and materials and transaction of capitals. They
are the most visible part of the supply chain.
Flow of information allows the various supply chain partners
to coordinate their plans and control the flow of goods and material up and
down the supply chain.
According to the Council of Supply Chain Management
Professionals (CSCMP), “Supply Chain Management encompasses the planning and
management of all activities involved in sourcing, procurement, conversion and
logistics management. It also includes the crucial components of coordination
and collaboration with channel partners, which can be suppliers,
intermediaries, third party service providers, and customers.”
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