Improve Quality of Life. Job Creation – Supply chain professionals design and operate all of the supply chains in a society and manage transportation, warehousing, inventory management, packaging and logistics information. As a result, there are many jobs in the supply chain field. For example, in the U.S., logistics activities represent 9.9%. What is ICT Supply Chain Risk Management?. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) products are assembled, built, and transported by geographically extensive supply chains of multiple suppliers. Acquirer does not always know how that happens, even with the primary supplier.
SCM encompasses the integrated planning and execution of processes required to optimize the flow of materials, information and financial capital in the areas that broadly include, sourcing, production, and storage, transportation - or - and return for excess or defective products. Both business strategy and specialized software are used in these endeavors to create a competitive advantage.Supply chain management is an expansive, complex undertaking that relies on each partner - from suppliers to manufacturers and beyond - to run well. Because of this, effective supply chain management also requires change management, collaboration and to create alignment and communication between all the entities.In addition, - which covers environmental, social and legal issues, in addition to - and the closely related concept of corporate social responsibility - which evaluates a company's effect on the environment and social well-being - are areas of major concern for today's companies. Logistics vs. Supply chain managementThe terms supply chain management and logistics are often confused or used synonymously.
However, logistics is a component of supply chain management. It focuses on moving a product or material in the most efficient way so it arrives at the right place at the right time. It manages activities such as packaging, transportation, distribution, warehousing and delivery.In contrast, SCM involves a more expansive range of activities, such as of raw materials, procuring the best prices on goods and materials, and coordinating supply chain visibility efforts across the supply chain network of partners, to name just a few.
![Ict Ict](/uploads/1/2/4/2/124203664/314490441.png)
Benefits of supply chain managementSupply chain management produces benefits such as new efficiencies, higher profits, lower costs and increased collaboration. SCM enables companies to better manage demand, carry the right amount of inventory, deal with disruptions, keep costs to a minimum and meet customer demand in the most effective way possible.
These SCM benefits are achieved through the appropriate strategies and software to help manage the growing complexity of today's supply chains. Importance of supply chain managementThe impact of benefits, such as those discussed above, are what make SCM important to both the enterprise and consumer.SCM activities can improve customer service. Effective supply chain management has the ability to ensure customer satisfaction by making certain the necessary products are available at the correct location at the right time. SCM can also increase customer satisfaction by delivering products to consumers on time and providing fast service and support whenever needed.
By increasing customer satisfaction levels, enterprises are able to build and improve customer loyalty, making the boost in customer service important for both the customer and business.SCM also provides a major advantage for companies by decreasing the overall. SCM activities can reduce purchasing cost, production cost and total supply chain cost. By lessening operating costs, SCM is also able improve a company's financial position. The reduced supply chain costs can greatly increase a business's profits and cash flow. Furthermore, SCM can diminish the use of large fixed assets - such as warehouses and transportation vehicles - by allowing supply chain experts to redesign their network in order to properly serve and operate with five warehouses instead of eight, reducing the cost of owning an additional three facilities.The lesser known importance of SCM can be found in its critical role in society. SCM can help ensure human survival by improving healthcare, protecting humans from climate extremes and sustaining human life. Humans rely on supply chains to deliver necessities like food and water as well as medicines and healthcare.
The supply chain is also vital to the delivery of electricity to homes and businesses, providing the energy needed for light, heat, air conditioning and refrigeration.SCM can also improve the overall quality of life by fostering job creation, providing a foundation for economic growth and improving standards of living. A multitude of job opportunities are opened up since supply chain professionals design and control all of the supply chains in a society as well as manage inventory control, warehousing, packaging and logistics.
Furthermore, one commonality between most poor nations is their lack of a developed supply chain. Societies with strong, developed supply chain infrastructures - such as large railroad networks, interstate highway systems and an array of airports and modern ports - can efficiently exchange goods a lower costs, allowing consumers to buy more products, thus providing economic growth and increasing the standard of living in the respective society. Supply chain complexityThe most basic version of a supply chain includes a company, its suppliers and the customers of that company. The chain could look like this: raw material producer, manufacturer, distributor, retailer and retail customer.A more complex, or extended, supply chain will likely include a number of suppliers and suppliers' suppliers, a number of customers and customers' customers - or final customers - and all the organizations that offer the services required to effectively get products to customers, including providers, financial organizations, supply chain software vendors and marketing research providers.
These entities also use services from other providers.The totality of these organizations, which evokes the metaphor of an interrelated web rather than a linear chain, gives insight into why supply chain management is so complex. That complexity also hints at the types of issues that can arise, from demand management issues, such as a release of a new that chokes demand for old iPhone cases; to natural supply chain disruptions, such as the halt of transportation in the U.S. In 2015 due to extreme winter weather, or California's drought and its effect on crops; to political upheaval, such as the strikes in India that throttled movement at its largest container port.
The role of supply chain management softwareTechnology is critical in managing today's supply chains, and vendors offer modules that focus on relevant areas. There are also business software vendors that focus specifically on SCM. A few important areas to note include.