Maximizing Efficiency in Supply Chain Management: Planning, Design, Control, Execution - Essay Sample

Introduction

Supply chain management (SCM) involves the flow of goods and services in the economy. It can also be explained as the transportation raw materials from there are of production to the industries where they are processed into finished goods for consumption. This process involves interconnected or interlinked networks node businesses and channels for goods to move from the area of production to the final consumer. Supply chain management is defined as planning, designing, control, execution, and monitoring of activities in the supply chain. According to Peter Baker the John Lewis Partnership is one of the largest retail businesses in the UK with over 70,000 employees. Some of the major problems that this company faces include receiving of goods, storage, order picking, dispatch and warehouse management. Some techniques used managing risks in the John Lewis partnership are efficiency and innovation in contracting supply chain managers, putting high standard levels of quality for products produced in the supply chain, and ensuring the stability of finances in the supply chain. Some critical variables in the supply chain include goods and services, technology, infrastructure, transportation, and shipment size. (Mentzer et al. 2001).

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Consider Cases at the End of Each Question and Relevant Variables

Although the John Lewis partnership has been successful across the UK for a long time, it has experienced many challenges. Firstly, the quality of customer service delivered to the customers. Supply chain management is based on the customer's needs hence a need for production of quality products for the right amount of money (Buurman, 2000). For all this to go smoothly, it requires perfect settings and timely. Risk management is another major problem in supply chain management. Due to the unstable variables in the market, such as global sourcing, consumer demands, and political agendas that keep on changing in the market. John Lewis operate under specific goals and objectives that they thrive to achieve. According to Peter Baker, John Lewis store aims a providing quality under the saying ‘never knowingly undersold’. Firstly, to ensure efficiency in the operations performed by participants in the supply chain of goods and services. Furthermore, supply chain management aim at optimizing logistics and transportation of products and services. Thirdly, supply chain managers to produce high-quality good using the available modern technology and resources. Producers in the market aim at providing goods that satisfy the customer’s needs adequately. This ensures stiff competition in the market-leading to the development of industries producing high-quality goods. `

Goals and Constrains in Supply Chain Management

Supply chain managers aim to deliver the best for their customers, but they face several constraints. The John Lewis partnership has been highly ranked because of its constraints limitation programs. The most faced challenge is the improper implementation of time human resources and financial investments. If the application is not made correctly, it will result in missed deadlines, weak service tendencies, and wasted labor. The second constrain is the inadequate training of employees in the parties involved in the supply chain. To avoid this mistake, money has to be spent on detailed planning of training for employees (Mentze et al. 2001). Most players in the supply chain are short-sighted in their decisions and have no plans for the future development of their industries. Companies can make profits and save money but do not provide growth opportunities for their productions. To avoid this, clients need to conduct a status analysis of their businesses continually. By reducing the client's expenses, this method is designed to improve efficiency in the supply chain.

Potential Solutions

Researchers John Lewis partnership have come up with some solutions to some problems in this process. Firstly, companies need to invest in new technology to produce quality products for the consumer. Customers need to be provided with a wide variety of products to choose from in the market. Secondly, it is controlling the cost of products in the market by constant monitoring and checks in the supply chain (Lambert et al. 2000). This is done by government bodies in charge of price regulation of products. Indeed, companies in the supply chain need to have risk management plans if any disruptions occur. According to Mangan, “financial services is also the sector where many classical approaches to risk management have been developed. Most companies use logistics software developers to manage risky situations. Indeed, there is a need for a strong relationship between suppliers and producers in the market. Any form of bias needs to be eliminated to ensure perfect communication for efficient working.

Final Comments

For supply chain management, there is a need for efficient coordination between all players in the supply chain from the most significant to the least. Each player in the supply chain has an important role that only they can perform to stabilize the market. According to Peter Baker, “operation has been designed to be appropriate mix of manual and automated operations”. Through this complicated process, consumers receive final goods that have gone through many stages of perfection and quality checks. Producers in the market, most farmers, should use the present modern technology to produce agricultural products (Lambert et al. 2000). Retailers and suppliers should have efficient processing facilities to produce final quality products. To reduce congestion in pick up stations, John Lewis partnership should pursue personal home deliveries. Due to the changes in the dynamic world of business, John Lewis need to keep up with the upcoming technology.

References

Buurman, J. (2002). Supply chain logistics management. McGraw-Hill

Lambert, D. M., & Cooper, M. C. (2000). Issues in supply chain management. Industrial marketing management, 29(1), 65-83.

Mentzer, J. T., DeWitt, W., Keebler, J. S., Min, S., Nix, N. W., Smith, C. D., & Zacharia, Z. G. (2001). Defining supply chain management. Journal of Business logistics, 22(2), 1-25.