|
|
|
Supply chain management 101
Answering the question of what Supply Chain Management is, is as
simple as breaking down the phrase into its component parts.
Supplies are those inputs that a company relies upon to produce
the product that will ultimately reach its customers. The chain
is the group of suppliers that bring those inputs to a company
and the process whereby those inputs are integrated into the
company. And finally, management is the coordination and
organization of all these inputs and their implementation. So
put it all together, and Supply Chain Management is the science
and art of improving the processes that bring suppliers of raw
materials together and move those materials through the company
until they reach the endpoint, the customer.
What SCM Involves If defining the term takes a full paragraph to
cover even in its most basic sense, you can imagine how complex
the industry surrounding Supply Chain Management truly is. It
involves managers who map out the entire process and look for
inefficiencies and others who develop and maintain relationships
with suppliers to ensure a steady supply of inputs. It involves
the actual process of manufacturing or value add in which those
inputs become the products that will be sold as well as
"logistics" or the process of getting those value added products
to customers. And finally it involves dealing with and
compensating for supply chain returns, such as defective
products. Supply Chain Management covers every aspect of the
business from input to output and as such requires an extensive
array of tools and strategies to help managers to coordinate and
organize a company.
The Dilemma of SCM Software One of the most innovative and
revolutionary tools in use by managers involved in the supply
chain is Supply Chain Management Software. While I have outlined
five general sections that make up Supply Chain Management, each
of these sections is unique to a particular business. As such,
no single product has been developed to handle the software
needs of a company from start to finish. As a result,
when
industry insiders talk about Supply Chain Software, they are
really talking about a combination of many different programs
that, when applied together, help manage the supply chain. While
literally thousands of different products are on the market
today, they all fall into one of two broad categories, Supply
Chain Planning (SCP) or Supply Chain Execution (SCE) software.
Supply Chain Planning software covers those programs which use
advanced mathematical algorithms to map out the flow of products
through a company and to identify any inefficiencies. The
ultimate goal of this type of software is to help reduce faulty
products, to speed up the time to market, and to reduce
inventory. Supply Chain Execution software is designed to
automate different components of the supply chain. For example,
Supply Chain Execution Software might update inventory listings
in a central directory as soon as inputs are brought in from a
supplier or are sold off to the customer. In this way, SCE
software eliminates the costly and time consuming task of
tabulating the total current supply so as to know when to place
the next order.
The Goals of Supply Chain Management Ultimately the goal of
Supply Chain Management is to bring greater efficiency to a
company by reducing errors, maintaining steady inputs, and
reducing excess inventories. With the growth of the internet,
however, it is transitioning into a means of collaboration
between companies. By concentrating their efforts on better
communication with suppliers and customers, inefficiencies are
ironed out not only within the company but in those surrounding
it as well. The internet has made the communication between
firms necessary for this to take place possible. Consequently,
the hope for Supply Chain Management in the future is not only
to create a more efficient and profitable business, but to
contribute to a more efficient and profitable global marketplace
as well.
About the author:
Dan Johnson enjoys writing about supply chain management.
|
|
|
|
|
About Management - business management - people management - and more |
THE starting place for exploring MANAGEMENT; helping new managers get started and experienced managers get better. |
management.about.com |
  |
Management - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
The phrase "management is what managers do" occurs widely, suggesting the difficulty of ... The management of a large organisation may have three levels: ... |
en.wikipedia.org |
  |
Free Management Library |
Quality Management · Research Methods · Risk Management · Sales · Social Entrepreneurship · Staffing · Starting an Organization · Strategic Planning ... |
www.managementhelp.org |
  |
Welcome to the American Management Association |
Helping business professionals learn practical management skills and the best practices of world class organization. |
www.amanet.org |
  |
Project Management Institute (PMI) - The largest project ... |
The organization of choice for project management professionalism. PMI establishes Project Management standards, provides seminars, educational programs and ... |
www.pmi.org |
  |
IT Project Management and IT Service Management Ideas and Analysis ... |
Datamation provides ideas and analysis for IT managers, featuring case studies and trend spotting reports on IT project and service management issues. |
itmanagement.earthweb.com |
  |
Management |
International review on management research. Peer-reviewed, occasional. Ejournal, with tables of content, abstracts and full articles available on-line. |
www.dmsp.dauphine.fr |
  |
Society for Human Resource Management |
Advances the human resource profession to ensure that HR is recognized as an essential partner in developing and executing organizational strategy. |
www.shrm.org |
  |
FEMA | Federal Emergency Management Agency |
Agency of the US government tasked with Disaster Mitigation, Preparedness, Response & Recovery planning. |
www.fema.gov |
  |
FT.com / Business Life |
Account Manager. Recruiter: Financial Times. Part Qualified Management Accountant. Recruiter: Robert Half Finance & Accounting ... |
www.ft.com |
  |
Small Business Management: Advice and Guides |
Online guide to small business management. Find articles, advice and how-to guides. |
www.entrepreneur.com |
  |
Academy of Management Online |
Academy of Management: This is the official web site of the Academy of Management, with information on membership, journals, list servers, web sites, ... |
www.aomonline.org |
  |
Business Management, Leadership and Decision Making Strategies and ... |
Provides business management articles, webcasts, online learning, and books as well as conferences focused on leadership and decision making. |
www.bettermanagement.com |
  |
Object Management Group |
Distributed object computing industry standards group founded in 1989. Defined standards include CORBA and IIOP. |
www.omg.org |
  |
Management Reading | Global Executive | Business | Economist.com |
The one management thinker every educated person should read Nov 17th 2005 ... The story of Emerson's successful management process is fascinating. ... |
www.economist.com |
  |
Emerald: Home |
Publisher of journals in management and library and information services, engineering, applied science and technology. |
www.emeraldinsight.com |
  |
Yale School of Management |
The mission of the Yale School of Management is to educate global leaders for business and society. We pride ourselves in providing a hard-edged business ... |
mba.yale.edu |
  |
US Office of Personnel Management |
Official Federal Government site listing positions nationwide for special agent, federal police officers and related jobs. |
www.usajobs.opm.gov |
  |
Waste Management |
Waste Management is the #1 Residential and Commercial Trash Service Provider. |
www.wm.com |
  |
US Office of Personnel Management |
Includes federal jobs listings, upcoming events, numerous humans resources reports, news releases and additional official information. |
www.opm.gov |
  |
|