summary-key elements of SUPPLY CHAIN
Answered Essay: summary-key elements of SUPPLY CHAIN
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Supply Chain Management refers to the process of end to end flow of material resources from the supplier’s supplier through an organizations production process to the customer’s customer and end to end flow of monetory resources from customer’s customer through finance and accounts process of the organisation to the supplier’s supplier . The four key elements which ensures that this process goes on seamlessly are :
1. Correct Calculation of Demand : This demand refers to the demand of the customer’s customer based upon which production planning and material requirement planning from the supplier’s supplier is done .The demand has to be accurately calculated as other wise if less demand is calculated than what is required it will lead to the production loss and if more demand is calculated than required then it will lead to excess inventories.
2. Effective Communication : This is the most important element in Supply Chain . Every body in the supply chain should have the same correct information to avoid surprises . This is possible only through effective communication to one and all in the supply chain .
3. Integration among organisation , its suppliers and customers : An highly integrated supply chain always leads to minimum inventories at all stages iin the supply chain as information is shared from one end of the supply chain to the other i.e from Customer’s customers to the Supplier’s supplier through the organisation.
4. Collaborations among supply chains for production process and material procurement : This leads to better and cheaper material resources for supply chains as collectively when the requirement is more discounts can be negotiated. This also helps to utilize all available efficient production capacities as the Supply Chains when collaborated can ask the inefficient ones to not to operate if they are not required. Products and material knowledge can be shared and companies can go in for joint value engineering projects to reduce material costs.
