• Have you ever wondered how companies are able to deploy a significant number of products?

• What are the different processes that undergo while transforming goods from raw materials to finished end products?

• Which protocols govern the product journey in corporations?

If you face the questions mentioned above, you’re not alone since many new and upcoming professionals find themselves confused regarding different facets of the product journey.

Supply Chain Management: Why do Businesses focus on Creating These Chains?

A complete branch of business deals with the entire processing of goods, items, and products offered in the market and closely follows their progression. You’ll be amazed to know that selective strategies, finer aspects, and workflows deal with the flow of goods within large companies.

Since it’s humanly impossible to manage, monitor and oversee how an organisation is deploying scalable products, it’s always advisable to break down the entire process into several different sub-parts for better management and inspection.

Also Read: How to become a Supply Chain Manager?

The world of supply chain management is the branch of management that follows the pathways, processes, schemas that transform a host of raw materials into more refined and finished goods.

Supply chain management involves different phases that deal with actively streamlining any given business’s supply-side practices to maximise customer value and provide their services with a competitive advantage in the marketplace.

The dynamics of supply chain management can be understood as a continuous and eternal set of procedures that are interlinked by chains for deploying efficient and cost effective movement of goods within organisations.

Today, supply chains must cover everything from production to product development to the information systems needed to direct these undertakings. These chains need to be interlinked to allow all deliveries to reach their end-users/clients and fellow companies on time.

The ideal job of any supply chain management space is to centrally control or link different processes that undertake production, shipment, procurement of raw materials, storing, packaging and distribution of goods.

The main and most sought after goal of supply chain management is to create a seamless flow of network that distributes goods, services and products manufactured by an organisation as per their expected levels.

Therefore, the personnel involved with SCM often determine how well an organisation adapts to changes and plays a titular role in facilitating the success of the firm. By managing supply chains in a practically modelled manner, companies can save significant amounts of money and deliver goods faster to their consumers.

Also Read: Common Supply Chain Management issues and How to Resolve Them?

The same can be done by keeping a tight lid of internal inventories, tabs over internal productions, checking sales of goods and items, and roping in different vendors to manage raw materials and stocks.

The workings of supply chain management are based on the fact that each and every product that comes via market is a by product of several processes and phases that are involved in chains of organisations.

Although the concept of supply chains is an age old one, it has only been recently when they have been sought of as a value-driven metric for bringing revenues and better prospects for companies.

Different Parts of a Supply Chain Management Environment

The world of supply chain management revolves around the basic ideology of:-

Happy customer = happy business = higher performance

As per the parameters deployed by supply chain managers, there’s a close interconnection between satisfied customers, leading to a happier business. The amalgamation of these two practices creates a comprehensive network of higher performances for the organisation.

Also Read: 5 Functions of Supply Chain Management

The equation above showcases how customers play a pivotal role in the products deployed by corporations since the goods and services offered by businesses are inclined towards increasing sales, leading to more purchases by their target audience.

An SCM online course provided by a well-established and reliable institute can help any newcomer to understand the core principles that influence any strategic business decision and their outcomes in developing successful marketing practices.

The supply chains directly impact how different organisational departments perform, be it sales or marketing, promotion of goods and services, development of digital and offline advertising processes, and even campaigning.

All these facets are intertwined through intelligent supply chains that are well supported and end-to-end connected to avoid any loopholes or flaws.

The supply chain management courses provide live sessions that clear any doubts that students might have while pursuing a career path along these lines; it’s always advisable to have a thorough knowledge of its various elements for a better and smoother flow of goods and services across these chains.

Here’s a list of rudimentary aspects that form the crux of supply chain management:-

Demand Management

As the name suggests, the demand management is part of SCM that deals with the demand of goods and items that consumers, end-users, and clients require. The demand management juggernaut consists of three sub-parts, namely- demand planning, merchandise planning, and trade promotion planning.

Going for an executive MBA in supply chain management will render learners with the functionality of managing the demand of goods with the market changes.

Also Read: Logistics And Supply Chain Management Certification Course form XLRI

The demand planning refers to the process of forecasting the demand trends and influences of products. It is performed so that end goods can be delivered in a reliable manner.

The process of effective demand planning and foresight can significantly improve the accuracy of revenue projections, align inventory levels with market peaks and troughs in demand planes, and enhance profitability for a particular channel or product.

Next up is merchandise planning that offers a systematic approach for not only planning but also for buying and selling merchandise to maximise the opportunities for the return on investments (ROIs) while at the same time ensuring that inventory is available to exact places, times, prices, and quantities as per the market demands.

The third sub-part, trade promotion planning, takes care of certain aspects that increase demand for specific goods, services and products. It involves loads of marketing techniques and requires businesses to develop their A-game while catering to the needs of their end-users.

There are several strategies such as conducting sales, offering discounts, setting up giveaways, display fixtures, demonstrations, value-added bonuses, no-obligation gifts, and other promotions that are inclined towards making more purchases from the customer’s end.

Trade promotions are successful in driving short-term customer demands for goods that are usually sold in retail environments.

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Demand management has gathered steam in past years due to its optimal results and effectiveness in achieving demands made in the marketplace. It can be thought of as a closely linked process within an organisation that extensively deals with meeting market variations and management variations by leveraging practical strategies.

Since it is a data-backed marketing stream, the results are 100% factual, and hence the insights offered are almost foolproof. Industries can save a lot when surveying this data since it finds a commonplace in merchandising, logistics and budgeting processes.

Moreover, it leads to successful anticipation and planning demand since it can provide a competitive advantage over its competitors. An improvement in demand forecasting is critical for establishing future supply chain operations that can help organisations reap their benefits.

Studies have shown that demand management can generate higher revenues by behaving proactively and driving the markets.

Supply Management

The dynamics of supply management runs in a contrast with demand management. Supply management comprises five areas: supply planning, production planning, inventory planning, capacity planning, and distribution planning.

Supply management is used for determining how to fulfil the requirements created using a demand plan. The main objective of this management type is to balance supply and demand in a manner that achieves financial and service goals established by organisations.

The first part i.e. production planning, addresses the production and manufacturing modules prevalent within a company. It considers the resources such as task allocation of employees, looking after materials offered, and the production capacities possessed by firms.

Also Read: How to Successfully Manage Supply Chains?

Production planning further consists of supplier management and collaboration, and production scheduling for goods and services.

The inventory planning is concerned with determining the optimal quantity of and timing that undergoes that align sales and production needs.

Capacity planning helps in figuring out the production staff and equipment needed to meet the expected demand for products.

Distribution planning and network planning work in conjunction to oversee and monitor the flow of goods, services and products from a supplier or manufacturer to the point of sale.

There are several functions of supply chain management that conform the entire process of raw materials procurement to warehousing, supply and final delivery of end goods.

The key processes involved in supply management are based on suppliers who need to identify, acquire, and manage resources vital to an organisation’s operations.

The supply management is also referred to as procurement that is ideated towards the purchase of physical goods, data based information, rendered services and any other inventory that helps in the growth of companies.

Also Read: How can Supply Chain Management Streamline Organisational Processes?

Supply management on the surface level looks like procurement and rounding up of resources that help firms increase their economic returns. Still, on deeper surveillance, it seems after pre-production logistics, inventory management, setting up budgets for stocks and other practices.

The primary objectives of supply chain management are the deployment of cost controlling methods for performing critical tasks such as risk management and its mitigation, along with effective rounding up of information that can be used in making strategic business decisions.

Supply chain managers need to give paramount importance to oversight and management of suppliers and what they bring to the table.

The supply management department acts as a vital cog between themselves and suppliers and needs to develop healthy work relationships.

Therefore, supply management creates strategies that lead to optimal results for businesses.

It also considers the theories of maintaining a balance between supply and demand concepts that help companies lay a future procurement plan.

Also Read: Supply Chain Management in the New Era Post Covid

Supply managers are also entrusted with roles and responsibilities of identifying, sourcing, negotiating, and procuring a service or goods that are essential to a company’s ongoing operations, developed in lieu of the wishes of the organisation’s leaders and supervisors.

Sales and Operation Planning

The third elemental aspect of supply chain management is sales and operation planning.

It is a timely integrated business management process that acts as an empowering leadership tool for focusing on key supply chain drivers like sales, marketing, demand management, production of end products, inventory management, and new goods and items.

The sales and operation planning keeps a close eye over the financial and business impact on different procedures that are involved in corporate junctures. Sales and operation planning aims to enable executives to make better-informed and data-backed decisions for canvassing new operational plans and strategies.

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The repetition of tasks takes place on a monthly or half-yearly basis. The sales and operation planning takes care of developing effective supply chain management interlinking and sheds light over resources required by organisations that deliver goods as per customer’s needs and interests.

The sales and operation planning can be understood as an integrated process that connects demand, supply and financial planning arenas together for coming up with practical methodologies to cater to different SCM phases.

It is a diverse paradigm that encompasses global, aggregate demand and takes it as a starting point for comparing it with the expected needs of a business.

Several particulars can be figured out by leveraging sales and operation planning practices, such as getting in more human resources, utilising more machinery, and acquiring other material capacities.

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The level of analysis and the trade-offs involved prepare organisations to tackle different decision criteria and arrive at a consensus that helps organisations move forward.

The sales and operation planning finds home in both strategic and tactical planning that is vital for developing insights for taking corrective actions. Integrated business planning has been developed as a result of sales and operations planning procedures that connect these two facets of supply chain management.

Several companies utilise developing enterprise resource planning (ERP) software to enhance their material and logistics arenas by surveying it via supply chain management software beforehand.

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These software can be tweaked and configured for extensive planning, managing their specific SM challenges, and successfully developing pathways for negotiating them.

The new and emerging sales and operation planning trends will completely transform how businesses carry out their logistics, inventory, and stock replenishment practices.

The rise of Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things are leading the majority of changes taking place in these domains.

There are talks for converging planning and execution data to support more frequent plan updates and improve a form’s ability to react to supply chain disruptions and manage risks in the company’s environments.

Lastly, the next five years can witness a growth of support systems that are flexible in nature and perform rapid segment analysis of diverse supply chain plans.

Product Portfolio Management

Given how diversified and contrasting these different facets of supply chain management are, there needs to be a process that offers unique and creative solutions for dealing with topsy-turvy paths.

Today several critical issues in supply chain management are outside its scope. However, they can be overcome by sticking to basics and keeping things simple.

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Product portfolio management is a process that is solely inclined to create an idea from products that can help it introduce to markets.

Any company that deals with deploying goods, services, and products needs to have an exit strategy for its marketed goods once it reaches the end of its good life.

The product portfolio management includes various components such as new product information, end-of-line planning, cannibalisation planning, commercialisation and ramp planning, the contribution of margin analysis and comprises them as a portfolio for its management.

There are well-formulated executive mba in supply chain management courses from IIM in India allow managers coming through to get a grip over rudimentary concepts that define different facets of this domain.

The science behind product portfolio management, as the name suggests, takes care of all processes that determine a product’s success in international markets.

The role of product portfolio management is based on allocating resources for optimal ROI, identifying different areas of improvement and amendments that need to be done, and ensuring that goods are aligned with an organisation’s border strategy.

Also Read: What are the Stages of Supply Chain Management?

Today, modern businesses hire product portfolio managers to expand their shipment lines to create more room for incurring profits and return revenues. As a corporation business grows and they aim to look at the bigger picture, firms require talented individuals who can take a broader, strategic view.

The product portfolio manager needs to focus on tasks that rely on entirely maintaining the market viability of specific products. They need to be aware of different goods and their life cycles and therefore utilise them intelligently for seeking out marketing opportunities.

Product managers work closely with portfolio managers to improve the quality of goods they overlook to maximise profits made through those items.

The IIM Lucknow supply chain management programs have been designed to expose learners with relatively newer concepts and principles that govern these domains.

These managers are a critical part of organisations since they regularly look at broader market practices at all times and influence decisions based on those.

Also Read: The Future of Supply Chain Management

The product portfolio managers are required to continuously evaluate all goods launched by an organisation to set up relative performance based on the prioritisation of end products.

They need to plug in gaps and look out for loopholes in product strategies that can be challenging to deal with at later stages of good pipeline practices. Managers need to create inter-relationships between products and the end-users.

Supply Chain Management: Rounding up the Key Internal Links

The supply chain management can be understood as a pyramid of myriad managerial types built together to give a structural view to this domain.

An intelligently sculpted and well-furnished supply chain aims to develop robust strategies that cater to goods, services, and products to consumers that meet their expectations.

However, maintaining and monitoring different facets of supply chains- inventory, stock replenishment levels, warehousing, establishing adequate delivery and distribution procedures, and several other processes- is hard to sustain just by one managerial ecosystem.

Also Read: What are the Tasks Performed by Supply Chain Managers?

Therefore, a credible resource for teaching and learning offered by executive MBAs in supply chains management by IIM and other well-established institutes model novel strategies for successful logistics and inventory procedures.

Therefore, modern industries and businesses break up one management body into several different components for better maintenance. As a result of this practice, the supply chains in current working environments need to go through diverse paths for deploying end products to users.

Supply chains have been tweaked with different arenas of demand, supply management types, along with sales and operational planning. Lastly, the core dynamics of supply chains are further highlighted by developing creative and innovative solutions through product portfolio management systems.

Demand management is entrusted with ensuring the demands of goods are met in small-scale and large-scale businesses. The demand management works through a nuanced system that forecasts and projects the future demand of goods, services and products offered to customers.

The supply chain management online course teaches in detail several key concepts that help describe the crux of demand management to future managers.

Also Read: Steps Of Supply Chain Management Process

SCM moves into supply management with a separate field that deals with the processing required for setting up enough supply for their goods. It’s a challenging and crucial passage of supply chains that can be understood in depth through the best global supply chain courses offered across the country.

The sales and operations planning can rightly be deemed as “brains of supply chain management” that works towards making better decisions in sales, marketing, demand management, production of customer-ideated products, inventory management plans, and launching new goods and items in markets.

Both diplomatic and strategic fronts utilise supply chain management for creating successful practices that lead to conducive results in terms of better connections between different stages of chains and acting as a medium for transferring of messages.

The product portfolio management gives a blueprint of product specifications marketed by companies along with their profitability expiration details, end-of-line planning, cannibalisation planning, commercialisation and ramp planning, the contribution of margin analysis, amongst other components.

Also Read: What are the Different Stages Associated with Supply Chain Management?

The main objectives of product portfolio management revolve around establishing policies that generate optima ROIs, allocating resources, aligning a given organisation’s plans with their end goals.

Despite these titular components that form a place in supply chain management, there are several challenges that managers need to function with on a daliy routine basis.

Learning about practical tools for overcoming them needs to be prioritised since future corporate settings involve the utilisation of fast-paced technologies, and any hindrance can lead to negative implications for firms.

Some Common Supply Chain Management Issues and How to Resolve Them?

The supply chain today acts as the nexus of company growth, creating and increasing business opportunities, bringing in a wealth of good plans and other successful propositions.

Hence, the optimisation of supply chain management is one of the critical objectives that businesses focus on whale canvassing future five year and ten-year plans. The reasons being that it comprises a unified space that deals with product marketing, sales, advertising, exit strategies and expirations of goods.

Evolution is the parameter that defines the credibility and robustness of supply chains in order to meet new demands and changing nature of the delivery of products—taking care of customer expectations and delivering goods that are inclined towards making more sales can often pose challenges.

Also Read: 7 Must-Have Skills to Become a Thriving Supply Chain Manager

Today there are more than a dozen routes for market entries, rising international complexities, regular changes in laws and regulations, fluctuating economies that are making supply chain management practices challenging to manage.

What needs to be done is acute management of finer aspects that constitute supply chain management and the factors that must be addressed to overcome those challenges.

Supply chains are prone to issues on a daily basis that requires direct attention and quick mitigation. The challenges and problems can vary in severity and complexity, from developing a seamless network of product procurement to its delivery and ensuring that the desires of customers are met at all levels.

Amongst the nine essential C’s of supply chain management, constituency acts as the driving force behind tackling challenges and creating alternative pathways.

Challenges and Issues Facing Supply Chain Management

Here are some glaring issues that are rocking up supply chain junctures incorporates today:-

Delivering Quality Customer Service

“Customer service is the new marketing; it’s what differentiates one business from another.”

The above quote by Jay Baer aptly fits the nature of supply chains wherein customer service remains the astute benchmark for meeting business requirements. Any supply chain network development focuses on delivering quality customer service to its clients, end-users, and other companies.

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Moreover, the supply chain paradigm is centralised to customers’ needs, wants, desires, passions, and interests that need to be provided under the right timing and settings.

Customer service is the epitome of any successful business and displays how well connected a typical company’s supply chains are for offering the best services to its consumers.

However, customer service can also act as a weak link for companies in terms of catering and satisfying their consumers. Today, growing changes in social media and trends that die within a week can influence market procedures and strategies that need to be changed and amended every now and then.

Keeping in mind the ever changing nature of customer expectations and change of future plans can influence the outcome of results for companies.

Supply chain managers need to design and manage diversified workflows for ensuring different requests (indirect procurement, project/manufacturing, outside customer etc.) are fulfilled well within their stipulated time frames.

Also Read: Robotic Process Automation (RPA) in Supply Chain Management (SCM)

Sometimes, associations and companies can lack adequate tools and techniques that lead to failures while delivering goods. Accumulation of intel about customers and their preferences needs to be done by collecting data on a regular basis and keeping a tab of end user’s preferences.

How to Deliver Quality Service? : A Practical Approach

One of the practical ways for solving this dilemma is to give more options and choices to customers in terms of the services and goods they offer. Giving a multitude of options would help organisations to understand what their customers like and what they don’t, thereby assisting them in developing their future strategies and business plans.

Leveraging the right spend platform will help in analysing different customer requests and approving orders together. This will lead to more shipment of orders within their ideal time frames and correctly adhere to the user’s expectations.

Customer service can improve significantly as a result and gives more visibility over supply chains, and helps in tracking orders via different means of payments – online, invoices and others.

Increased Costs within the Supply Chains

Supply chains incorporate several processes that help increase the functionality of different areas and combine various departments with working together to achieve objectives.

There lies a catch, though, since profit margins are facing immense pressure of keeping up with changing times and creating space for launching new products in the market.

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The supply chain costs need to be taken care of well in advance, and therefore organisations need to have emergency cash ready for purchasing their requirements.

On a global level, the cost of raw materials, energy supplies, labour charges along with warehousing, delivery and transportation have increased.

Therefore, for companies to operate and perform at their current levels, they need to continue production and provide consumers with good quality items at affordable rates.

Now the major challenge here is to look out for pathways in providing products at affordable prices to customers with an increase in raw materials and other overhead costs.

Adjustments and refinements along the supply chains can only get managers thus far, and with economies still taking steam post-pandemic, it’s a significant concern for industries to offer goods without losing their customer base.

Businesses and retail companies need a cost-effective system that can negotiate the rising prices and offer supply chains with workable models for continuing their operations.

Also Read: What is a Business Management Course?

Costs are increasing day by day, and organisations need to understand how they can continue providing their goods to end-users without charging them extra. It’s easier said than done, and businesses need to have a thorough and clear understanding of their interconnections between supply chains and the complexity of processes involved.

Modern corporations are facing more costs than ever due to a variety of reasons. First up, the fuel prices are going up, and with most goods transported either by land, sea or air modes it becomes hard to control these costs.

Next up, the commodity prices are shooting up with each passing day, and profit margins are declining as a result.

The logistics and inventory procedures have become more complex since they require space for storage, transfer and efficient management of goods and services.

All these changes add up to the misery of supply chain managers, and they need to discuss and brainstorm ideas that can lead to lesser prices.

How to Solve the Cost Mystery?

Amongst the several tried and tested methods for controlling outstanding costs would be by creating plans and executing them appropriately for their longevity and sustainability.

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Managers need to intervene and survey cost parameters through close monitoring and inspection of practices that can increase costs and seek out ways to reduce them.

Another strategy for developing cost effective mechanisms could be through rendering warehouse efficiency and other aspects of supply chains for reduction of costs.

The Impact of Supply Chain Volatility in Organisations

The supply chain networks are prone to volatility and often deal with complexity in terms of their inherent workflows and schemas. They have a magnifying impact on the outcome of business strategies, generating cash flows and revenues for organisations.

Supply chain managers need to be on their feet to avoid things going south and dealing with volatility at earlier stages. The prime suspects that lead to supply chain volatility in competitive environments are existing political circumstances and protectionism that introduce tariffs across trade routes.

The influx of trade practices along with the tariffs leads to an increase of additional fees, relay times, lags and other bottlenecks that can have dire consequences on businesses.

Slower international shipping and the ability of competitors to take advantage of lower tariffs can have extreme effects on how a company adheres to changes and launches new services, goods and products.

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The rise of internationally sourced goods is leading to an increase in port congestion and traffic. This creates additional pressure for oncoming ships, boats, and docks on different shores as they need to wait for unloading, loading, and transferring goods.

The chain reaction can be felt through delays in product deliveries and customers filling complaints regarding the same. Moreover, port authorities and patrol officers charge firms for storing products at these ports.

Another reason as to why supply chain volatility is increasing as the days go by is that there is an existing chronic shortage of long haul drivers who transport goods along the roads between different states.

There’s increased pressure on truck drivers for the movement of goods across warehouses and consumers, making it a less attractive and rewarding profession.

Logistics managers and inventory providers are finding it hard to recruit the right set of people who can get the job done within assigned time frames and without causing delays.

Along with supplying and distribution challenges, there are now endemic problems associated with supply chains making it almost impossible to solve at a local or an international level.

Ways for Rectifying Volatility in Supply Chains

Students enrolling for a short term course in supply chain management can study and learn about these challenges in detail and also get to know about practical measures that can help in their absolvement.

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One of the sure-shot ways to approach the problems described above could be done by looking at the basics and going to the root of issues managers are facing in their firms. Regular reporting of tasks and developing management plans by consulting with seniors can help them solve problems.

Also, managers need to be susceptible to their working environments and need to predict and analyse problems before they actually happen. They need to look out for any anomalies and contradicting issues that are happening in their corporations and need to solve them at the earliest.

Building robust contracts with fellow company managers, suppliers and other personnel and relying on collaboration for working on issues can help in reducing volatility in supply chains.

Taking help of online SCM courses offered by IIM institutes across the country can help in resolving perennial issues in operational workflows.

Supply Chain Issues Resolvement Plan: Following a Tailored Approach

“Challenges are what make life interesting, and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.”

The above wise words by Joshua J. Marine describes the nature of conquering challenges and overcoming them to achieve one’s goals.

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The same thinking and ideology can be applied in supply chains and their management for solving risks, issues and any existing challenges.

Supply chain managers are entrusted with performing a complex job of developing efficient and well-executed chains to create a competitive advantage for companies.

The best practice for ensuring supply chain success is by factoring in all the risks involved in the networks and ensuring that the company has the best quality supplies at the right place and times.

Reaping the rewards and unlocking the path of growth in supply chain environments requires gathering knowledge from suitable sources and applying practical technicalities while developing strategies, business plans and other managerial tasks.

Managers can come out as champions in their industries by taking the help of well-formulated courses such as executive MBA in supply chain management offered by IIMs that render several benefits for young learners.

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