Supply Chain
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Supply Chain
Supply chain in a firm entails the network between an organization and its supplies to create and distribute particular commodities and services. Supply chain primarily comprises of the product producers, distributors, transport firms, and retailers. Supply chain management controls the whole production flow of a commodity or service-beginning from the raw state to the final commodity when delivered to the consumers. The conceptual paper discusses the importance of a firm having a supply chain strategy and the key drivers of any supply chain strategy.
Firms with a supply chain strategy tend to have a competitive advantage over other firms as they have enhanced customer service. Primarily, the supply chain strategy plays a key role in boosting customer service. Customers anticipate commodities to be delivered quickly on time. The significance of the supply chain strategy is that it enhances client contentment. Firms with an effective supply chain strategy also have minimized operating costs (Chin, Tat & Sulaiman, 2015). Supply chain management enables a firm to minimize buying and producing expenses, hence minimizing the costs incurred. Finally, firms with a supply chain strategy also have an enhanced financial status. The rationale behind this is that firms value the supply chain since they help manage and minimize the supply chain expenses, thus increasing the firm’s competitive position in the market.
Supply chain potentialities end to be guided by the decisions made based on the supply chain drivers. The drivers are made to focus on the efficiency basing on changing the business needs. One primary driver is production. It is designed to be very responsive by establishing entities with an outstanding volume and using adaptable manufacturing styles to create various products (Purvis, Spall, Naim & Spiegler, 2016). Another key driver is inventory management. The inventory plays a crucial role in the supply chain’s potentiality to perform well. It aids the firm in being efficient. In case a firm has a competitive strategy to be more efficient, it can locate its inventories close to its clients. Transportation is a driver that bases its work on the fact that responsiveness can be attained through transportation means that it is fast and adaptable such as airplanes. Transport transmits commodities from one state to another in a supply chain and significantly affects efficiency (Tang & Gattorna, 2017). The final driver of the supply chain is information. The information as a driver plays a critical role in the effective functioning of the supply chain as it aids the supply chain to rectify itself at any level. Moreover, one firm that has depicted effective use of supply chain is Coca Cola company. The rationale behind this is projected in its competitive advantage as it outshines its rivals and has been growing daily due to its effective supply chain as a competitive advantage.
References
Chin, T. A., Tat, H. H., & Sulaiman, Z. (2015). Green supply chain management, environmental collaboration, and sustainability performance. Procedia Corp, 26, 695-699.
Purvis, L., Spall, S., Naim, M., & Spiegler, V. (2016). Developing a resilient supply chain strategy during ‘boom’ and ‘bust.’ Production Planning & Control, 27(7-8), 579-590.
Tang, M., & Gattorna, J. L. (2017). 3 Developing an aligned supply chain operating strategy. In Gower Handbook of Supply Chain Management (pp. 43-53). Routledge.