Concept Of Supply Chain Management

TASK 1

Demonstrate how the concept of supply chain concepts, principles and processes that are applied through out the stages of the supply chain management

The supply chain is the process with the help of which the company ensures the availability of the right amount of goods to the production department. This will help Assignment help them to provide the final goods to the customers by manufacturing it efficiently (Almeida Marodin and Saurin,  2015). In the process of the supply chain the various elements are included such as people, informations, activities, resources etc. For developing an understanding of supply chain various concepts need to be considered by Kellogg's which are given below:

• Logistic management: Logistic management is a crucial part of the supply chain management which helps them in efficient planning so that they can fulfil the demand of the customers. It facilitate the organisation in planning, implementing and controlling the flow of goods, services and information and their storage. It includes their management of the resources between the point of origin to the point of consumption with the aim to meet up with the requirement of the customers. The logistic services can either be performed by the organisation itself it can be outsourced to the service providers. The  Kellogg's have their own logistic management system which help them to effectively supply all of their material. 
• Distributional channel: The distribution channel of the Kellogg's supports the movement of the goods and services to the final user. Their can be various channel of distribution which depends upon the organisation such as the channel can be direct that is the company directly provides foods to the consumers. Also the traditional method of various intermediaries can be followed by them which includes various wholesalers, retailers etc. With the innovation, the processes of distribution channels of Kellogg's are improved as the wholesalers example of assignment and the retailers uses flexible omnichannel capabilities which will help them to satisfy their customers from their stores, production locations etc. 
• Value chain: The value chain is the concept which facilitate the organisation to undertake the competitive analysis and to formulate various strategies. This model includes various primary and supportive activities with the help of which the Kellogg's analyse their processes and identify the requirement of the changes in their processes. Such analysis helps them to improves their profit margin as all the flaws in the process are identified and resolved. With the help of value chain, the activities and the flow are integrated which enables the Kellogg's to achieve the efficiency in the flow of goods and services.

            For making the supply chain effective the process of supply chain need to be followed by Kellogg's that has various steps such as:

• Plan: In planning step of supply chain process, various plans are formulated by the organisation for the products and services so offered by them. In this step the Kellogg's identifies various attributes such as the location, size, plant etc. This step of the process helps in resourcing stage of the supply chain as they identify all the resources while formulating plan. Apart from this, the cost associated with the business such as transportation cost, cost of modelling  etc. are identified. Also they identifies various efficiency model which can be used by them fir managing the inventory etc.  
• Source: In this step of the supply chain process, various suppliers are identified and out of them the most reliable one is  determined who can supply the right quantity and better quality of the material. It will make the distribution channel of the Kellogg's strong as they will identify all the reliable suppliers who can supply even in the case when the supply gets disturbed.    
• Execute: In this step of supply chain process, the manufacturing process is undertaken byKellogg's which helps them to satisfy the customers as the products are developed as per their needs and wants. Kellogg's schedule all their activities which leads to completion of the activities on time. Along with this the designing of the products and services are done on this step.
• Deliver: This step is associated with the delivery of the final product to the end user which can be done through an effective distribution channel (Dubey, Gunasekaran and Papadopoulos,  2017). Kellogg's has an effective distribution and logistic channels which ensures the availability of the products and  services to the end users.   
• Return: This is the final stage of the supply chain process in which the defective goods are returned backed to the manufacturer by way of distributors and retailers.

The supply chain facilitates procurement of the material on the right time for the organisation. Various principles of supply chain need to be followed by the organisation that helps them to manage it effectively. The seven principle that are to be followed by the Kellogg's are:

• Adapt supply chain to customer's need: As per this principle the market is divided into various segments which will help them to understand the target market and on the basis of which they can formulate the plans. This will make Kellogg's to distribute the finished goods effectively as they understand the need to of the customers well.
• Customise logistics network: As per this principle the network of the logistic need to be customised by the companies which will maker their services customer centric. This improves the decision-making f the company as it will directly have impact on the profitability of the company. 
• Align demand planning across supply chain: With the help of this principle the company plans for the quantity of the goods and services as per their demand in the market. This will ensure availability of the right product in the right quality in the stores of the Kellogg's. 
• Differentiate products close to customers: The product which are offered by the organisations need to be differentiated with that of the other products  (Fredendall, and Hill, 2016). This can be done by making them unique in terms of designs, and development. 
• Outsources strategically: This principle is applicable on the distribution and the logistics which can be outsourced with the aim of improving their process as it will lead to reduction in the cost for the company.
• Develop IT that support multi-level decision-making: This principle suggest the use of IT enabled process such as use of common software at the stores, with the distributors , manufactures and the retailers. This will help them to manage the inventory of the company effectively. 
• Adapt both services and financial metrics: In this principle, the activity based costing can be applied by the Kellogg's which will help them to analyse their processes, the profitability of the customers etc.  

All these process, principles and concepts of supply chain will help Kellogg's to plan for various stages such as resourcing, logistic and distribution, product designs and development etc. All of these provides various techniques and steps which are to be followed such as just-in-time, total quality management, six sigma and many more. They ensure timely delivery of the product and services of the company and also reduces the cost of operations.    

Evaluate how integration of supply chain concepts, principles and processes improves efficiency of the organisation

With the use of various supply chain concepts the organisation effectively determine the activities which they have to undertake to improve the process and to achieve their objectives. Along with these concepts various principle are applied by the Kellogg's, this ensures timely delivery of the products at the reduced cost(Kirchhofer,  VCE Co  Chen and Blome, 2017). It also facilitate effective management of the two way flow of the good and services. All of them are integrated with each other such as the concept of logistics management facilitate the Kellogg's is managing the delivery of the products on time   by customising the logistic network as per the needs of the customers.      

TASK 2

Evaluate the importance of SCM from perspective of customers, suppliers, distributors and retailers

The supply chain management has various importance for the organisations as they facilitate them to reduce the cost with the help of various process and principles. Further it will help them to improve the level of satisfaction of the customers as the goods will be delivered to them on time. Effectiveness in the process of the supply chain enhances the flow of the goods, services and the information. The importance of SCM in context of the customers, suppliers, retailers and the distributors are given below:

Effectiveness in the Supply chain management from customers perspective:

With the help of effective supply chain management the delivery geology topics of the products and the services are managed well by the distributors as they make the delivery on time and this will improve their level of satisfaction (Wang and Alexander, 2015). It can be done with the help of better relations with the suppliers and the transportation channel which makes them delivery on time. This leads to effective communication due to which their cost reduces and thus it ensures supply on the right time which is required by the customers. The SCM of Kellogg's is efficient enough with the help of which they ensure adequate amount of inventory in their store and time delivery of the products demanded by the customers. It makes a strong customer base as their customers will be satisfied.

Effectiveness in the Supply chain management from retailers perspective:

With the effective supply chain management the Kellogg's can ensures the adequate amount of inventory at the stores of the retailers. This increase their sales as the customers know that the product will be available at that particular store. Further it reduces the cost of the company as the effectiveness in the process of the supply chain reduces the lead time which reduces the overall cost for them. Kellogg's build healthy relations with the retailers by way of providing them various shelf, hoardings etc. This helps the retailers to attract more of the customers. 

Effectiveness in the Supply chain management from suppliers perspective:

The effectiveness of the supply chain management has various positive impact on the organisation. Due to effectiveness the processes of manufacturing does not delay as the material are made available to the production department on time. With the help of effective supply chain management the companies identifies various suppliers and select the one which is most suitable for them. They maintain healthy and long term relation with the selected suppliers for which they provides various developmental programs for them. This builds the confidence of the suppliers on Kellogg's and it ensure them the business with the company for a longer span of time.  

Effectiveness in the Supply chain management from distributors perspective:  

Effectiveness in the supply chain make the distribution easy and effective as they share an effective communication and understanding with the help of various IT based software. With the help of such software they identify the level of inventory and accordingly they place order with them. On the basis of this the distributor takes the delivery from the manufacturer and this reduces their cost of holding inventory in the warehouses. Also the Kellogg's has entered in the agreement with the logistics company which makes them efficient enough to manages their supplies.

Critically Evaluate the importance of physical, financial and information flow management

Effectiveness in the supply chain leads to effective flow of the physical resources, financial resources and the flow of the information. This is because they have better communication among them. It develops understanding among the suppliers, distributors, etc. Due to this the movement of the invoices, information of the orders, level of inventory can easily be shared with each other and on the basis of this they can analyse the areas where the improvement is required. All such analysis will help the company to manage and monitor the flow of the finance with which the shortage of funds and mismanagement of funds can easily be managed.

TASK 3

Evaluation of cross functional and integrated approach of SCM with other areas of an organisation

The organisations has to integrate their functions which helps them to reduce the cost and to utilise the resources held by them effectively (Yin and et. al., 2016). Various functions of the Kellogg's are integrated with their supply chain management, this improves the process of procuring and managing the material, flow of goods & services, information etc. it will further help them to make their decisions flexible as it will be dependent upon the actions of all the departments. The integration of various department of Kellogg's with their SCM are given below:

• Integration of SCM with Finance department: The finance department gather funds for the company on the basis of estimation done by them for the requirement of the funds. Along with this they undertake various analysis which helps them to manage the cost of the products and services so offered by them. The SCM department of the Kellogg's gather all the information and provides to the finance department. On the basis of such information they formulate budgets and prepare plans.  
• Integration of SCM with Production department: The production department of the organisation manufactures the goods that they offer to their customers. SCM of Kellogg's guides them for the requirement of the products as per the demands in the market. Also they provides them the level of standards for quality which are required by the customers. With the help of such guidance they manufactures the required quantity of the goods by complying with the standards required.   
• Integration of SCM with Distribution department: The distribution department is responsible for making the goods available to the customers at different locations as per their demands. The SCM of Kellogg's helps the distribution department to manage the flow of goods and services effectively with the help of various techniques such as just-in-time approach which helps them to manage inventory. It will enhance the efficiency  in the delivery of the products and their manufacturing. This reduces the overall cost for the company.

Examine the implications of interrelationship between supply chain and other functional areas

The integration and interrelation of the supply chain with that of the other functions of the organisation has various advantage for the company. With the help of the interrelation the cost can be managed and controlled well. The Kellogg's can utilise their resources effectively as the department will work with each other due to which the activities which are same are done at one place in one department. Various techniques can be used effectively by the company such as Just-in-time approach, total quality approach etc. All these will help them to ensure the timely delivery of the products and services to the customers and to the production department. It saves the efforts of the people which they would have applied if the activities would have been undertaken individually. 

Critically evaluate the supply chain concepts, principles and processes and their interrelation with other areas of the organisation

The supply chain management facilitates the organisation to manage the flow of goods and services, along with this the flow of information and the resources are managed well. Various concepts, principles, processes are used by the organisation so that the entire supply chain can be improved (Abner,  Setyawan and Sin, 2018). They provides specific strategies which can helps them to manage the distribution of the products their manufacturing processes and even their financial management etc. With the help of this the production process of the company can be improved as they can manufacture the product on time when they are required as per the demand. But it increase the cost of for the Kellogg's and also it makes their process a lengthy one. 

TASK 4

Evaluate a supply chain strategy and the proposal for improvement

By analysing and monitoring the above case study it is analysed that supply chain work works as an effective strategy that is used by Kellogg's to provide better products to the customers. Like by reducing the prices of products it is easy for organisation to perform their work easily in market. This is also used by management to complete their work as per management strategy due to which brand and goodwill of Kellogg's will be improved in the external environment. It also help customers to generate trust among the products by identifying the brand name easily in a large store. Kellogg's is operating their business in secondary industry of raw-materials. This includes wheat, corn, rice and sugar in order to use premium products for the production of their product. It is also used by management to meet the proper requirement of products as per customers needs. Further, they are approaching customers through a network channel which includes wholesalers, distributors and then stores (Almeida Marodin and Saurin,  2015). In context of Kellogg's, management made collaborations with TDH that helps to make better logistic network in market.

On the other side, the organisation also formulates agreements with the FDS that leads an organisation to reduce the freeing of harmful gases in the environment such as CO2, hydrogen and other gases. The main motive to implement and utilise the gas and water resources in effective manner is to improve the quality of products or services which are offered by management. On the other side, organisation is also able to reduce the overall cost of production process. Just-in-time strategy is one of the effective tool that helps organisation to manage the inventory management system (Abner,  Setyawan and Sin, 2018). TDG also reduces the warehouses cost by ordering and supplying required raw-materials to formulate the resources. Some points are mention as follow:

• The organisation has the option to collaborate directly with suppliers so good quality products are available at low rates.
• Large number of platforms are exist in market that leads organisation to approach customers directly without the network channel.
• TQM approach is one of the effective tools that leads organisation to maintain the quality of products.

Justify and recommend improvements of a supply chain strategy

An effective supply chain strategy is one of the most effective tools that leads the organisation to manufacture their products as per the quality standards or benchmark. Moreover, it also helps management to perform their work on constant basis. This strategies also leads the organisation to reduce the actual cost that is related with supply chain process of organisation. By introducing this is easy for organisation to increase their brand image by providing better products to customers at low prices.

CONCLUSION

It is concluded from the above report that the company has to manage their supply chain effectively as with the help of which they can ensure continuous supply of the products and services to the customers. This ensures the timely delivery of the products with better quality.  It is important for the management of an organisation to understand the importance of SCM from perspective of customers, suppliers, distributors and retailer so as to sustain in competitive market world. Apart from this, it is also necessary to identify implications of interrelationship between supply chain and other functional areas so as to maintain the healthy working environment which brings motivation among staff to contribute maximum towards achievement of organisational goals and objectives.

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