Table of content for Supply Chain Management:

• What is Supply Chain Management?
• Tips to improve Supply Chain Management
• MBA in Supply Chain Management

What is Supply Chain Management?

Supply Chain Management is the management of goods and services on the whole. It includes all operations that remodel raw materials into final products. Logistics is a part of Supply Chain Management. It is the department that looks after the planning and execution of smooth functioning of a few roles. These include flow and storage of inventory, capital and related information between the manufacturer and consumer.

The importance of fine supply chain management proved pivotal in the battle against the Covid-19 pandemic that spread across the globe. The pandemic came bearing a number of supply and demand shocks. All of which have compelled manufacturers everywhere to re-evaluate their supply chains. Amidst pandemic, countries with powerful domestic SCM had adequate medical supplies to support their needs. They could also donate their surplus to the frontline health workers from other nations. In addition, some firms were able to swiftly arrange the foreign supply chains for the much-needed medical reserves.  As an after-effect, companies are facing the burden of increasing in-house production. Also, there is domestic employment rise along with decreasing dependence on insecure sources. Strategies of lean inventories need attention.

Mentioned below in this blog are a few tips that can help you sustain yourself in this competitive business.

Tips to improve Supply Chain Management:

Identify your risks

Critically analyzing the risk factors for your company may require intense digging. It calls for mapping your entire supply chain inclusive of distribution and transportation. This is indeed exhaustive and expensive. But, a surprise disruption that is likely to halt your business can burn a much larger hole in your pocket than looking deep into your supply chain activities will. The objective of mapping must be to ascertain how long your company can ride out a supply shortage without shutting down. Also the time it would need to arrange for alternative sources and recover from the disruption. The answers to these questions share a direct relation with the resilience capacity of your company. How flexible your manufacturing is and whether it can be revamped when the need arises. 

After you have identified the risks in your SCM, you must make wise use of that information. You can either branch out your suppliers or store up key goods.

Branch out your suppliers

The only way to subside heavy dependence on one sole factory, supplier or region is to add more sources. Make sure that these sources are not vulnerable to the same dangers. Planting a fresh and new supplier in a different region will definitely take substantial time and money. The U.S. – China trade war and the pandemic have encouraged a glut of managers to progress to a new outlook for advanced production. Cutting down on China for supplies will be easier and more manageable in the case of some products than others. Furniture, clothing and household goods will be relatively easier to procure. Sophisticated electronics will need effort. However, as a SCM unit, you need to start somewhere. With the right knowledge and guidance, every step that you take can move you closer to success.  

Stock safety supply

Put aside safety supplies to safeguard your company from a sudden disruption shock. The managers should hold accounts of how much extra goods will be required and in what form as well. Safety stock carries with it a mountain of demerits. It ties up cash, is not completely ethical and is contradictory to the moral performance of just-in-time replenishment and lean inventories. But the other side of the coin highlights the costs of disruption. Increased prices would have to be paid for items that are suddenly short in supply. Moreover, a lot of time and effort would go into securing such goods.

Rethink trade between product diversity

During the Covid-19 outbreak, demand in several product types witnessed a surge. Manufacturers struggled with the making of more than one kind of product. Also, they were under the pressure of supplying to several market sectors simultaneously. Since different forms of the same product were added to serve different business markets, there was a sudden fall in the Stock Keeping Unit (SKU). ‘More choice is not always better’ has been a long argued topic among researchers. Segregating demand into many different categories and trying to serve numerous products can cause the real scramble. Especially amid periods of shortage. Companies must look into the merits and demerits of manufacturing a wide array of product variations.

MBA in Supply Chain Management

The economic turbulence caused by the pandemic has unleashed a multitude of vulnerabilities in SCM. The recession has also given birth to doubts regarding globalization. An MBA in Supply Chain Management will kit you with new eyes at the present supply networks. You will learn about the risks and ways to improve the supply chain market. Managers should not take a step back from globalization. Since doing so will leave a wonderful opportunity for other companies that did not back away. They will quickly fill the void with joy. An MBA in Supply Chain Management will prepare you to tackle such challenges. You will be trained to become a leader with a vast understanding of all key disciplines. You will also explore the benefits of innovations and find ways to make businesses work better come what may. 

It is time to observe SCM through an advanced lens. One which is adapted to the circumstances of the new business world. All in all, an internationally accredited, high-caliber and information-filled MBA in Supply Chain Management from LUBM can help you win this race.

For further program details, talk to our expert counselor today.