Supply Chain Strategy And Its Significance In Business Operations

Looking at the Supply Chain from the Shelf Back

Supply chain strategy entails the frequentative process which tends to assess the cost-benefit tradeoffs of the elements in the operations of the firm. Firms strive towards ensuring that the supply chain of their products to the final consumer is tight. This is achievable through a rigid supply chain strategy aimed at bettering the sales of the final product to the end products. (Boonjing, Chanvarasuth, and Lertwongsatien, 2015 pp. 555-565). The strategies laid out by the firm are key towards the establishment of a well-incorporated supply chain in the particular firm.

First, in all the products that reach the final consumer, there is an acknowledgment of the efforts of several other firms which have contributed to the product until the level of reaching the final consumer. This is generally the supply chain. Secondly, the collective entities which build up the supply chain are all connected through the informational flows and physical flows. The information flows the supply chain coordinating the flow of goods in every direction in the supply chain while environmental flows entail the movement, differentiation and product storage (Gattorna, 2017 pp. 15-21).

It involves the state of where every part in the organization and the affiliated parties work in collaboration with the desire to achieve the same business goals and strategy through the integrated organization process and comprehensive sharing of the information.  The information gained by the organization is critical in enabling the firm to respond to the environmental changes effectively. The supply chain strategy is essential to facilitating the product flow amongst the supply chain partners. This is achieved through the efficient exchange of information ideas about the product at any stage in the supply chain. Operational strategy is also vital in the ensuring of the productivity and performance of the full systems in the production when in operation.

This theme of supply chain strategy is critical in the facilitation of effective and a smooth flow of products in the company and make a runway to the accessing the third party potentials which would have been costly to develop from within Moreover, to obtain the best operational benefits, there has to be a buildup between the operational integration and the information exchange regarding the product in the supply chain (Peng and Jie, 2016 p.017). The theme of achieving the effective supply chain integration illustrates the supply chain and production processes which are to be integrated effectively and come up with the proper strategies which will enable the optimization of the maximum benefits in the operational performance in the firm (Wu, Chuang and Hsu, 2014 pp.122-132).

Sufficient Planning, Integration of Supply Chain Activities and the Execution of Duties

Most organizations usually eye at achieving the effective supply chain strategy. However, for this to be achieved, the various firms in the supply chain focuses on the available resources within the business entities to enhance the internal integration though the resources might be limited. The external strategy should entail both the customers and the suppliers since the parties all inclusive usually contribute towards improving the financial status of the company. 

Conclusion

Supply chain strategy involves the close alignment and the incorporation of togetherness in the supply chain through a typical information system. The supply chain process is usually made up of several parties such as the manufacturers of the product, the producers of the raw materials, those involved in the logistics of the product and the parties involved in the finalizing the purchase of the final product in the market. Thus supply chain encompasses all the inputs that are vested in the production of a product until its purchase in the last market. Organizations integrate supply chains in the most effective manner to increase the performance of the operations in the organization (Qrunfleh and Tarafdar, 2014 pp.340-350).

This occurs first through the selection of particular vendors who are entitled in the provision of specific inputs come up with an agreement specifying the terms and conditions under which the particular vendor will supply the inputs at a given cost. Next is integrating the organizations closely than before whereby the supply chain of the organization is owned and entitled by the company. 

No	Key Theme	Description of Key Theme	Dominant concepts	References
1	Looking at the Supply Chain from the Shelf Back	The shelf-level view is key in the creation of the quality of the strategy being impacted inn the firm during the supply chain process. This is key in ensuring that the final products reach the end consumer with the quality metrics.  This doesn’t imply that it does not regard the product from manufacturers at all as the product was moved to the shelf. But that meant it didn’t consider the damage that occurred as the product made its way to the shelf	That means in a consumer goods company, for example, the senior personnel in the supply chain has to maximize the supply processes in response to the various retailers. Reflecting on the chain, and seeing the problems and opportunities from the consumer back, can lead to significant improvements over the more disconnected processes of the past – in effect, delivering on the promise of ECR.	Christopher, 2016)
2	Sufficient planning, integration of supply chain activities and the execution of duties.	Supply chain strategy focuses on the betterment of the execution plans by link ups of more chain and execution activities. There exist different causes for this act and the systematic forecasts to push the supply chain ahead. Many firms have latency in the flow of information exchange.	The information latency among the supply systems. The supply chain merchants emphasize the reaction of the store for their products before reaching end consumers The integration of the supply chain in the execution of the supply processes.	(Ptak. and Schragenheim, 2016).
3	Emphasis on the costs of transportation.	There are various measures that supply chain strategy focuses on to develop an effective supply chain process. The stores for the products in the supply chain are being moved to static points to ensure effective delivery and shipping of the end products to the final consumer.  This tends to be made not to take more than 24 hours. This thus facilitates the consolidation of the supply chain activities.		Luo, Shi, and Venkatesh, 2018, pp.1-13).
4	Development of the assigning of promotions and the introduction of newly arrived products.	Most firms ensure productivity in the supply chain through the official introduction of the anticipated product to the market at the various goals and objectives for the need of the product in the market. This method is helpful in that the whole chain is usually enclosed towards the procedures. The marketing plans should implicate the forecasts are effective to the core. This is essential in the enabling of the success of the firm. The communication of accurate information about the news in the supply chain that could not be appeasing was highly is not accepted.	The theme of the improvement of the promotions and the introduction of the new products into the supply chain market. · The synchronization of the firms plans to the individual suppliers and the retailers at various stages in the business.  · Demand planning tools that have the potential of ensuring a steady forecast and the promotion advancements. ·  Accuracy for newly arrived products in the market.	(Gattorna, 2017)
5	Building the Green Supply Chain	The suppliers have always strived towards the ensuring that develop an environmental friendly condition	The green supply chain movement has been a key element towards ensuring productivity. The key concepts are. · The opportunities and chances to save the costs of transport and resources. · The logistics information of the product by the firm towards the end customer for the final product.

References

Boonjing, V., Chanvarasuth, P. and Lertwongsatien, C., 2015. An Impact of Supply Chain Management Components on Firm Performance. In Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Engineering, Project and Production Management (pp. 555-565).

Christopher, M., 2016. Logistics & supply chain management. Pearson UK.

Gattorna, J., 2017. Introduction. In Strategic supply chain alignment (pp. 15-21). Routledge.

Luo, W., Shi, Y. and Venkatesh, V.G., 2018. Exploring the factors of achieving supply chain excellence: a New Zealand perspective. Production Planning & Control, pp.1-13.

Mohd Yusoff, Y., Ashari, H. and Salleh, M.N., 2016. The Impact of Supply Chain Management as a Mediator between Strategic Orientations and Supply Chain Performance. International Journal of Supply Chain Management, 5(2), pp.101-107.

Peng, M.A., and Jie, C.A.O., 2016. The Manufacturer’s Quality Efforts Investment Strategy and Supply Chain Performance with Fairness Preference. Chinese Journal of Management, 6, p.017.

Qrunfleh, S. and Tarafdar, M., 2014. Supply chain information systems strategy: Impacts on supply chain performance and firm performance. International Journal of Production Economics, 147, pp.340-350.

Wu, L., Chuang, C.H. and Hsu, C.H., 2014. Information sharing and collaborative behaviors in enabling supply chain performance: A social exchange perspective. International Journal of Production Economics, 148, pp.122-132.

Ptak, C.A. and Schragenheim, E., 2016. ERP: tools, techniques, and applications for integrating the supply chain. CRC Press.