The Supply Chain Continuum
The supply chain begins with the procurement of goods or material required to satisfy the end product. Businesses must choose vendors, freight carriers, and warehouse solutions to ensure quality and efficiency. Inventory storage and handling of goods-in-progress are a part of supply chain management as well. Marketing and distributing the product to the customer is the end stage of the process.
The best way to understand supply chain management is to undertake a supply chain management online certification, but this might help too:-
The 4 Stages of Supply Chain Management
- Supply Management
The initial stage, built around an internal MRP system is referred to as lead-time driven. It includes tier-one suppliers only. Most planned vendor interactions are performed through documentation and seldom comprises of status reporting. Communication in this stage is transactional and includes activities like quoting, creating purchase orders & releases.
- Supply Chain Management
The second stage is characterized by an increased scope that encompasses the tier two suppliers and above. There is also an increased interest in status reporting, some data sharing among participants, and generally include more complex interrelationships. Communication in the second stage is also transactional but with the addition of data flow.
- Supply Chain Integration
Comprises programs that benefit all members of the chain. This stage helps elevates supply to collaborative involvement among members, including strategic planning and risk-sharing. Communications at this stage go well beyond transactions and data as well as include information of all types.
- Demand-Supply Network Collaboration
Cooperative interaction and proactive behavior based on critical information that flows freely and simultaneously throughout the supply network is what makes up the last stage of supply chain management. It is sometimes also referred to as the glass pipe.
Takeaway
Notice how every stage gets deeper and deeper into operations and requires more communication and information? All these can be well-versed by pursuing a supply chain management online certification. One such course is XLRI supply chain course, from one of the most reputable B-schools in the country, offered on the Talentedge platform. This XLRI supply chain course aims to equip you with the required depth and balance of technical and managerial competencies to succeed in this domain. It is designed to enable aspiring supply chain managers with the knowledge of functions, management, and operations of supply chain systems.
The Future of Supply Chain Digital Transformation
It is no secret supply chain is getting more complex with the advancing technology but how organizations approach this complexity will determine success. Option one is to veer away from the complexity, water down your processes, and partnership is to make it easier to manage. However, this option often comes with higher costs to serve or leads to missed sales opportunities due to lack of reach and execution. This means you need to discover smarter and faster ways not only to track the variables but also to determine the order success of systems based on real-time data. And, new methodologies are now being taught in supply chain management online certification. So, in order to become successful in this domain, you need to gain knowledge and skills.
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