Introduction
Supply chain management is the control of material supplies to a company and finally to the end customer of manufactured products. It takes the form of forwarding logistics, reverses logistics, inward logistics, and outwards logistics. The main goal of supply chain management is to develop a good relationship across the supply chain and adopt a highly competitive enterprise environment. The end results are satisfied customers and efficiency in an organization. This paper has two parts where the first one addresses the formation of Supply Chain Management and explains how the phenomenon of time-based competition has affected this field; the second part explains Leagile Supply Chain and its advantages.
Formation f supply chain management field
The formation of a supply chain management field is a multi-objective decision that involves more than one player. The decision can be a top-down approach or a bottom-up approach. In a top-bottom approach, there is a central organization that is responsible for managing and controlling the flow of goods whereas in a bottom put approach the market dictates the flow of materials and finished products.
When formulating a supply chain management field, the following are the steps and areas that must be considered;
Integrated purchasing strategy
This is an internal stage where an organization analyzes its demand for materials. Different seasons demand different quantities of materials and thus the trend should be well understood for an effective process. This stage is also used to interpolate the deficit created by the current system.
Value determination
This is the stage that the company defines the value that it requires from its suppliers. Mechanisms to determine the value of deliveries should be devised. The quality of materials used in production determines the quality of the end product which in turn affects the level of customer satisfaction.
Supplier’s integration analysis
This is the stage where the available suppliers are profiled; the most reliable supplier is the one who provides goods of the right quality at the right time at an appropriate cost. This data can be derived from past experiences or data collected from reliable sources. Special aspects of the suppliers like credit policy are interpolated to ensure that the business chooses the best combination.
Supplier base management and Procurement department/team
After the available suppliers have been profiled and the best of them recognized, it is always not wise to depend exclusively on one supplier. The quantities to be ordered from different suppliers are determined. The procurement department if has not been existing is established to procure from different suppliers established. Integrity should be maintained in the company to ensure that goods are procured from the best supplier (Fernie & Leigh, 2009).
How the phenomenon of time-based competition has affected supplies
Time-based competition is a competitive strategy whereby the interest is on how fast an organization can change to align itself with the prevailing market condition at a certain period. The organization that benefits are the one that has a quick response to change in the market situation. It is a creation of organizations that can “move”.
In the field of supplies when a change in technology or market forces changes an effective supply chain management should be responsive to such a change. For example the traditional on paper ordering process which was lengthy has been overtaken by the modern use of computers to procure goods and services.
Supplies on the other hand must be responsive to the prevailing market conditions. For example as fashion and season change, supplies to/from a company should follow suit. The change should be fast and swift if the company will remain competitive. This calls for superb market intelligence.
League Supply Chain
The approach is a hybrid of lean and agile supply chain management. It aims to bring together the strong aspects of either method to come up with a method that offers better results. The approach aims at limiting the negative effects of lean and agile approaches. When using a lean supply system the most important aspect of the business is to control its process to ensure that there is minimal wastage from the process. The approach is called Muda in Japanese. Agile on the other had an emphasis on high efficiency which ensures there is high output on the least input.
League supply chain combines the two approaches to have an organization which uses quality goods to minimize wastage and adopt efficient material utilization to ensure that minimal materials have been used in production (Fernie & Leigh, 2009).
Advantages
- It results in a business with minimal wastage from its processes
- Leads to high efficiency in an organization and ensures that goods are supplied to a company at the right time at an appropriate cost.
- Efficiently produced goods, from quality products leads to quality cheap goods to customers which in turn increases customer satisfaction.
- Leads to efficient utilization of resources.
- As companies sort for better ways of producing creativity and innovation are derived. This gives a company a competitive advantage.
Conclusion
The success of an organization is influenced by the quality of goods it manufactures. Maintaining an effective supply chain management ensures that goods are supplied to a company at the appropriate time, in the preferred quality and quantity at the best cost. It involves formulating reliable relationships between a business, suppliers, and customers. League supply chain management is a hybrid of lean and agile supply chain management. It aims at bring together the strong of either method to come up with a method that offer better results.
References
Fernie, J. & Leigh, S. (2009). Logistics and Retail Management: Emerging Issues and New Challenges in the Retail Supply Chain. London: Kogan Page, Ltd.