供应链管理学习笔记

供应链管理学习笔记（一）供应链管理的重要元素ImportantelementsofsupplychainmanagementAnumberofimportantelementswiththetopicofsupplychainmanagementareintroducedhere.PurchasingelementsTraditionalbuyer-supplierrelationshipsemphasizemultiplesourcing,competitivebidding,anduseofshort-termcontracts;theseoften-adversarialrelationshipspitthebuyeragainstthesupplierandfocusprimarilyonthepurchasepriceoftheproductinsteadofthecapabilitiesofthesuppliersandhowtheycancontributetothelongtermcompetitivenessofthebuyingorganization.【1】Recently,therehasbeenashifttowarddevelopingmorelong-termsupplierrelationshipsforthecompetitivebenefitsdescribedearlier.Purchasingisanextremelyimportantelementinsupplychainmanagement,sinceincomingmaterialquality,deliverytiming,andpurchasepricearedependentonthebuyer-supplierrelationshipandthecapabilitiesofthesupplier.Problemswithsupplierswillultimatelycauseend-productcustomerstogetlessandpaymore.Oneofthemostcrucialissuesinpurchasingissuppliermanagement.Simplyput,thismeansgettingyourfirm’ssupplierstodowhatyouwant,andthereareanumberofwaystodothis.Thisinvolvesassessingyoursuppliers’currentcapabilitiesandthenfiguringouthowtoimprovethem.Thus,oneofthekeyactivitiesinsuppliermanagementissupplierevaluation,ordeterminingthecapabilitiesofsuppliers.Thisoccursbothwhenpotentialsuppliersarebeingevaluatedforafuturepurchaseandwhenexistingsuppliersareperiodicallyevaluatedforperformancepurposes.Acloselyrelatedactivityissuppliercertification.Certificationprogramscaneitherbecompany-designedandadministered,ortheycanbeinternationallyrecognizedandstandardizedprogramsliketheISO9000seriesofcertifications.【2】Suppliercertificationallowsbuyerstoassumethesupplierwillmeetproductqualityandservicerequirements,thusreducingduplicatetestingandinspectionsandtheneedforextensivesupplierevaluations.OperationselementsControllingormanaginginventoryisoneofthemostimportantaspectsofoperationsandcertainlyvaluabletothefirm.Firmscanandtypicallydohavesomesortofmaterialrequirementsplanning(MRP)softwaresystemformanagingtheirinventory.【3】Thesesystemscanbelinkedthroughouttheorganizationanditssupplierchainpartnersusingenterpriseresourceplanning(ERP)systems,providingreal-timesalesdata,inventory,andproductioninformationtosupplychainparticipants.Anothercommonformofinventorymanagementisthroughuseofajust-in-time(JIT)productionsystem.Alsocalledapull-typeproductionsystem,asapposedtoMRP?spush-typeproductionsystem,theobjectivesarecreateafast,flexiblesystemcapableofdelayingfinalassemblyuntiladownstream(customer)orderoccur【4】AnimportantaspectofJITisthequalityoftheincomingpurchaseditemsandthequalityofthevariousassembliesastheymovethroughthevariousproductionprocesses.ThisisduetothecharacteristicallylowinventorylevelsofpurchasedgoodsandworkinprocessinJITorientedfacilities.Thus,firmsandsupplychainemployingJITusuallyhaveatotalqualitymanagement(TQM)strategyinplacetoensurecontinuedqualitycomplianceamongsuppliersandwithinternalproductionfacilities.Thetypeofinventorycontrolsystemused(MRPversusJIT)isespeciallyimportantwhenconsideringthedesignofthesupplychain(forinstance,wheretoconstructdistributioncenters,whattransportationservicestouse,andhowbigtomakethevariousproductionfacilitiesandwarehouses】DistributionelementsWhenproductsarecompleted,theyaredeliveredtocustomersthroughanumberofdifferentmodesoftransportation.Deliveringproductstocustomersattherighttime,quality,andvolumerequiresahighlevelofplanningandcooperationbetweenthefirm,itscustomers,andthevariousdistributionelementsorservicesemployed(suchastransportation,warehousing,andbreak-bulkorrepackagingservices).【6】Forservices,productsareproducedanddeliveredtothecustomersimultaneouslyinmostcases,soservicesareextremelydependentuponservicecapacityandsuccessfulservicedeliverytomeetcustomerrequirements.Transportationmanagementdecisionstypicallyinvolveatrade-offbetweencostanddeliverytimingorcustomerservice.Thedesiredoutcomeofdistributioniscustomerservice.Inordertoprovidethedesiredlevelofcustomerservice,firmsmustidentifycustomerrequirementsandthenprovidetherightcombinationoftransportation,storage,packaging,andinformationservicestosuccessfulsatisfythoserequirements.Throughfrequentcontactwithcustomers,firmsdevelopcustomerrelationshipmanagementstrategiesregardinghowtomeetdeliveryduedates,howtosuccessfullyresolvecustomercomplaints,howtocommunicatewithcustomers,andhowtodeterminethedistributionservicesrequired.?]Designingandbuildingadistributionnetworkisonemethodofensuringsuccessfulproductdelivery.Again,thereistypicallyatrade-offbetweenthecostofthedistributionsystem'sdesignandcustomerservice.Successfulservicedeliverydependsonservicelocation(serviceprovidersmustbeclosetothecustomerstheyaretryingtoserve),servicecapacity(customerswillleaveifthewaitistoolong),andservicecapability(customersmustbeabletotrustwhatserversaretellingthemordoingforthem).Hardgoodsproducersmustalsobeconcernedwiththedeliveryofserviceproductsfortheircustomers,suchasprovidingwarrantyrepairsandinformation,financing,insurance,andequipmenttroubleshootingandoperatinginformation.Thus,allfirmsmustbecognizantoftheimpactofservicelocation,capacity,andcapabilityoncustomersatisfaction.IntegrationelementsUpuntilnow,thebasicelementsofsupplychainmanagementhavebeendiscussed:purchasing,operations,andlogisticsordistributionprocessactivitiesoccurringamongthefirmandits(potentiallyseveral)tiersofcustomersandsuppliers.Thefinalstep-andcertainlythemostdifficultone—istocoordinateandhopefullyseamlesslyintegratethesepracticesamongthesuppychain'sparticipants.d】Activitiesinasupplychainaresaidtobecoordinatedwhenmembersofthesupplychainworktogetherwhenmakingdelivery,inventory,production,andpurchasingdecisionsthatimpacttheprofitsofthesupplychain.【9】Ifoneactivityfailsorisperformedpoorly,thensupplyalongthechainisdisrupted,whichjeopardizestheeffectivenessoftheentiresupplychain.Successfulsupplychainintegrationoccurswhentheparticipantsrealizethatsupplychainmanagementmustbecomepartofallofthefirms'strategicplanningprocesses,inwhichobjectivesandpoliciesarejointlydeterminedbasedonthefinalcustomers'needsandwhatthesupplychainasawholedoeswell.Ultimately,thefirmsacttogethertomaximizetotalsupplychainprofitsbydeterminingoptimalpurchasequantities,productavailabilities,servicelevels,leadtimes,productionsquantities,andtechnicalandproductsupportateachtierwithinthesupplychain.【10】Thisintegrationprocessalsorequiresbetterinternalfunctionalintegrationofactivitieswithineachoftheparticipatingfirms,suchthatthesupplychainactsasonentity.Thisideaofsupplychainintegrationcanruncontrarytothenotionamongmanypotentialsupplychainparticipantsofthirfirm'sindependentprofi-maximizationobjectives,makingsupplychainintegrationaverytoughsellinmanysupplier-buyer-customersituations.【11】Thus,continuedeffortsarerequiredtobreakdownobstacles,changeattitudes,changeadversarialrelationships,reduceconflic