A fundamental element of any business strategy is the Supply Chain process or strategy to deliver goods and services to the consumer. This function represents the core value of any organisation and ultimately drives bottom line profits to shareholders and business owners. Hence it becomes a requirement to apply a robust strategy across the operation to ensure goods are delivered and operations are controlled according to plan.
The natural extension of this process is the Supply Chain definition where companies attempt to describe the process and function of Supply Chain Management (SCM). This definition should ideally help to capture the charter or spirit in which the process is performed. Employees would then naturally refer to it during their work thereby embedding the process via their actions. Unfortunately these cultural aspects of a strategic definition statement are frequently overlooked and attempts to instill a positive cultural attitude are hampered through an absence of such definitions.
Background
The SCM terminology was introduced to industry in the early 1980's through the Financial Times. At the time, it was an attempt to define how a particular company performed various duties and outline the operational management process to handle suppliers, customers, and partners. Ten years later the terminology was emphasised by various communities and organisations that represented the professionals and working force within this particular business function.
In the late 1990's the Global Supply Chain Forum (GSCF) had managed to establish a greater understanding of the process and emphasise on the SCM definition. This particular rendition appears to have gained popularity by industry experts and organisations with many companies electing to refer to it as part of their strategy and operation. It is possible to locate this definition and certain variants throughout the Internet but there has not been any major changes made to the GSCF definition for the last 20 years.
Application
Research from various surveys and opinions polls indicate there are common weaknesses within the Strategic Supply Chain process across industry. Generally survey respondents suggest that the senior level Management approach could be stronger within their organisation or that the Strategy itself is completely absent. These indicators imply there is a valid argument to impose more regular use of Supply Chain definitions in order to underline the senior level management policy.
Given the debate and confusion stemming from industry, it is suggested that a pragmatic approach towards definition is required. This will certainly provide freedom and flexibility within any organisation to improve the Supply Chain Strategy without being bound into the elementary level of debate or discussion we have witnessed so far. On the surface, the majority of definition statements can be broken down into some common elements, thereby providing us with the basis for a framework to define SCM.
The Common Components
· Concept - Definition and understanding of the Supply Chain Management concept
· Objective - The problems, objectives, and ultimate goal of the Supply Chain function
· Scope - Interpretation of the processes, activities, functions and boundaries of the Supply Chain
It is suggested that any organisation can produce a core strategic statement and policy by referring to these common components.
The intrinsic value of producing a strategy is provided through the culture and following it brings from employees. By 'keeping it simple' when defining the Supply Chain Management function, the company is able to quickly transpose this value into a viable output. This framework is a practical approach to engage the workforce and underline the Senior Management policy without casting a shadow over it through academic debate.
Want to know the benefits of supply chain management and how it will help your business efficiency? Talk to Alenu IT Solutions today!The natural extension of this process is the Supply Chain definition where companies attempt to describe the process and function of Supply Chain Management (SCM). This definition should ideally help to capture the charter or spirit in which the process is performed. Employees would then naturally refer to it during their work thereby embedding the process via their actions. Unfortunately these cultural aspects of a strategic definition statement are frequently overlooked and attempts to instill a positive cultural attitude are hampered through an absence of such definitions.
Background
The SCM terminology was introduced to industry in the early 1980's through the Financial Times. At the time, it was an attempt to define how a particular company performed various duties and outline the operational management process to handle suppliers, customers, and partners. Ten years later the terminology was emphasised by various communities and organisations that represented the professionals and working force within this particular business function.
In the late 1990's the Global Supply Chain Forum (GSCF) had managed to establish a greater understanding of the process and emphasise on the SCM definition. This particular rendition appears to have gained popularity by industry experts and organisations with many companies electing to refer to it as part of their strategy and operation. It is possible to locate this definition and certain variants throughout the Internet but there has not been any major changes made to the GSCF definition for the last 20 years.
Application
Research from various surveys and opinions polls indicate there are common weaknesses within the Strategic Supply Chain process across industry. Generally survey respondents suggest that the senior level Management approach could be stronger within their organisation or that the Strategy itself is completely absent. These indicators imply there is a valid argument to impose more regular use of Supply Chain definitions in order to underline the senior level management policy.
Given the debate and confusion stemming from industry, it is suggested that a pragmatic approach towards definition is required. This will certainly provide freedom and flexibility within any organisation to improve the Supply Chain Strategy without being bound into the elementary level of debate or discussion we have witnessed so far. On the surface, the majority of definition statements can be broken down into some common elements, thereby providing us with the basis for a framework to define SCM.
The Common Components
· Concept - Definition and understanding of the Supply Chain Management concept
· Objective - The problems, objectives, and ultimate goal of the Supply Chain function
· Scope - Interpretation of the processes, activities, functions and boundaries of the Supply Chain
It is suggested that any organisation can produce a core strategic statement and policy by referring to these common components.
The intrinsic value of producing a strategy is provided through the culture and following it brings from employees. By 'keeping it simple' when defining the Supply Chain Management function, the company is able to quickly transpose this value into a viable output. This framework is a practical approach to engage the workforce and underline the Senior Management policy without casting a shadow over it through academic debate.
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