Description

Description: This course aims to provide in-depth knowledge of things which are critical for the Supply Chain Management of any business. Supply Chain management is effectively coordinating the process of production, managing inventories, location and transportation of goods and services to achieve the best sustainable outcome for the customer.

This course features dynamic and engaging video with audio narration, infographics and short quizzes to test your knowledge.

Background: A supply chain is the network of activities that delivers a finished product or service to the customer. It is the coordination of production, location, inventory management. These include sourcing raw materials and parts, manufacturing and assembling the products, warehousing, order entry and tracking, distribution through the channels, and delivery to the customer.

Supply chain management is strategic in orientation and recognizes that the competitive strength of a firm is not only determined by its products but also by the operations and activities that place the products into customers’ hands and provide supporting services. The responsiveness and efficiency of a company’s supply chain arising from its design and management is integral to the firm’s ability to successfully compete in the global marketplace.

Supply chain management is the vital business function that:

● coordinates the movement of goods through the supply chain, from suppliers to manufacturers to distributors to the final customers
● shares relevant information such as sales forecasts, sales data, and promotional campaigns among members of the chain

Components of a Supply Chain for a Manufacturer

A company’s supply chain structure has three components:
• External Suppliers,
• Internal Functions of The Company, and
• External Distributors.

Here is an example of a simplified supply chain for packaged dairy products:

External suppliers include the dairy farmer, cardboard container manufacturer, label company, plastic container manufacturer, paper mill, chemical processing plant, lumber company, and chemical extraction plant.
Internal functions include the processing of the raw milk into consumer dairy products and packaging and labeling dairy products for distribution to retail grocery outlets.
The external distributors transport finished products from the manufacturer to retail grocers, where the products are sold to the customer.

The supply chain includes every activity from collecting the raw milk, producing the consumer dairy products, packaging the dairy products, distributing the packaged dairy products to retail grocers, to selling the finished dairy products to the customer.