Supply-Chain Management – Introduction to Scm

Supply-Chain management – Introduction to SCM

Operations

• Operations are the planning, scheduling and control of activities employed by a firm that create value by transforming the resources (inputs) into products or services desired by customers. It is one of the oldest business disciplines and was used as far back as ancient Egypt for food inventories.

• For a single firm this could also be called production or manufacturing.
• It involves the management of people, equipment, technology, information and other resources.

Value and supply chain

• Supply chains are networks of multiple firms that transform the raw materials into finished goods or services desired by consumers. They link together the operations of many different organisations and must be carefully managed to survive and prosper.

• Upstream SC – Activities positioned earlier in the supply chain
• Downstream SC – Activities positioned later the in the supply chain
• First-tier suppliers – A supplier that provides products or services directly to a firm
• Second-tier suppliers – A supplier that provides products or services to a first-tier supplier

• Products gain value at each stage of a production cycle, for example new product development gains value once it goes through marketing then operations then distribution and service.

• These functional strategies add value to a product but cannot be formulated in isolation they must be designed to fit and support each other.

Work involved in each type of process

• Planning – Processes needed to operate an existing supply-chain strategically
• Sourcing – Selection of suppliers that will deliver the goods and services needed to make the firms product
• Making – Processes used in producing the major product or service
• Delivering – Carries are picked to move products to warehouses and customers
• Returning – The processes for receiving worn-out defective and excess products back from customers

Professional organisations in SCM

• APICS – Association for operations management
• ISM – Institute for supply management
• CSCMP – The council of supply chain management professionals
• ASQ – The American society for quality