Role of Supply Chain Management on Business Operation †Samples

Question: Discuss about the Role of Supply Chain Management. Answer: Introduction Supply Chain Management is considered being the supervision of materials, information as well as finances as they are moving in a process from supplier to manufacturer to wholesaler to retailer to customer. It is having the involvement of doing the coordination as well as integration of these flows both within as well as among the organizations. It can be stated that the final objective of any efficient system of supply chain management is doing the reduction of inventory (Lu 2014) Role of supply chain management on business operation It is well-known that supply chain management plays a significant role in majority of businesses and is necessary for organizational success as well as satisfaction of the customer. The retailers are depending on supply chains for making a quick delivery of costly products for avoiding the holding of expensive inventories in stores any longer than it is required (Pagell 2017). Manufacturers are depending on supply chains for delivering in a reliable manner the materials to the assembly plants for avoiding the shortages of materials that will be shutting down the production. Retailers are depending upon supply chain managers for designing the networks that will be meeting the goals relating to customer service at the least total cost (Pagell 2017). Effective supply chains will be enabling an organization for being more competitive within the market place. Walmart did the embarking on strategic sourcing for finding products at the best price from suppliers who are in a position for ensuring that they will be meeting the demand. The organization then does the establishment of strategic partnerships with majority of their vendors, providing them the potential for purchases that are considered being long-term as well as high volume in return for the lowest probable prices (Vachon 2016). Moreover, Walmart did the streamlining of supply chain management through the construction of communication as well as relationship networks with the suppliers for improving the flow of material with lesser inventories. Cross docking is considered being a logistics practice, which is the focus regarding the strategy of Walmart for replenishing inventory in an efficient manner (Flint 2014). Cross docking assists in keeping down the costs relating to inventory as well as transportation, reducing the time taken for transportation as well as eliminating the ineffectiveness. Through cross dockings utilization, routing of the products are done from suppliers to the organizations warehouses, from where the shipping is done to the stores devoid of staying for longer periods within inventory (Flint 2014). This strategic aspect did the reduction of costs relating to Walmart in a significant manner and they did the passing of those savings on to their customers with the pricing that was considered being highly competitive. Technology is playing a major role regarding the supply chain of Walmart, which serves as the basis regarding their supply chain. Walmart is having the largest infrastructure relating to information technology in comparison to any private organization globally (Kulkarni 2015). The organizations latest technology as well as network design is allowing Walmart in forecasting the demand in an accurate manner, tracking as well as predicting the levels of inventory, creating routes of transportation that are considered being highly effective as well as managing the relationships with the customers as well as service response logistics (Jacoby 2014). For instance, Walmart did the implementation of the first companywide utilization of Universal Product Code bar codes, where there occurred the immediate collection as well as analysis of the store level information, and then there was the devising of the Retail Link by the organization, a massive Bentonville database (Coyle 2016). With the hel p of a global system of satellite, there exists the connection of Retail Link with the analysts who does the forecasting of the demands of the suppliers to the network of suppliers that does the displaying of the real-time data regarding sales from the cash registers and to the distribution centers of Walmart. Suppliers as well as manufacturers within the supply chain do the synchronizing of their projections relating to demand under a collaborating planning, forecasting as well as replenishment plan, and every link in the chain is having a connection via technology that is including a central database, store-level point-of-sale methods, as well as a satellite network (Fredendall 2016). Moreover, Walmart networked its suppliers as well via computers, it made collaboration with PG to do the maintenance of inventory within its stores and did the building of an automated process of re-ordering that did the linking of every computer between PG factory via a system of satellite communication (Gilling 2016). PG then did the delivery of the item either to the centre of distribution at Walmart or in a direct way to the concerned stores. The operations part of a supply chain does the focusing on demand planning, forecasting as well as inventory management. Forecasts do the estimation of a customer demand in respect of a product depending upon historical data, external drivers like sales and promotional aspects as well as changes relating to trends or competitive aspects (Fawcett 2013). There occurs the use of demand planning for the creation of accurate forecasts, a decisive step in respect of efficient inventory management. There occurs the comparison of forecasts to the levels of inventory for ensuring that the warehouses are having sufficient inventory for meeting the demand (Dubey 2017). The integration of supply chain does the connecting of work flow as well as information within every link in the supply chain for maximizing the effectiveness (Christopher 2016). In respect of Walmart, its processes relating to supply chain management does the yielding of lower product as well as inventory costs, better control o ver selection within the stores of Walmart. Conclusion Therefore, it can be concluded by stating that the supply chain management strategic aspect of Walmart has provided the organization with various competitive advantages that are regarded to be sustainable, which includes lower cost of products, lesser carrying costs regarding inventory, better in-store variety as well as selection, and pricing that is considered being highly competitive in respect of the customers. 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