Map the Supply Chain Paper (Essay Sample)

Map the Supply Chain Paper
Name
Institution
A supply chain is as system of organizations, activities, technology, people, information, and resources involved in facilitating the movement of a company’s products and services from their suppliers to their consumers (Zuckerman, 2002). Generally, it spans all movement and storage of raw materials, work-in-progress goods, finished goods from the production point to the consumption point. A supply chain does not only include the manufactures and the suppliers, but it also includes and not limited to retailers, customers, warehouses, and transporters. However, the supply chain has three main links that enables proper flow of products, services, finances, and information, which include suppliers, the manufactures, and the distributors of the final company’s product (Zuckerman, 2002).
In this case, I will discuss a product manufacturing industry where, first, there is the flow of materials from suppliers and their ‘upstream’ suppliers at all levels is one of the main links in the supply chain. It is worth noting that, the suppliers are responsible for supplying the industry with information and raw materials. Therefore, they play an important role in this link by ensuring that the manufacturers do not lack raw materials and information to develop the needed products to customers (Ivanov, & Sokolov, 2010).
For information suppliers, a manufacturing company can hire external researchers to carry out research of the market and gather information of the tastes and preferences of consumers. A company can also have an internal team who can also gather information that will help the production department design a product that will meet consumer’s needs and preferences. The research team can also assist in discovering new market where the manufacturing industry will be able to satisfy the needs of the consumers (Ivanov, & Sokolov, 2010). On the other hand, there are also the suppliers of raw materials to the manufacturing industry thus through their help, the basic quality of the finished products can be significantly improved. This is because being the outside contact of the industry; they get first hand information of the improvements made on the raw materials and understand fully on what the company needs to develop their products. Finally, there are also the financial suppliers in this supply chain link and it consists of the credit firms, title ownership, payments, and payment schedules. The financial suppliers ensure that the manufacturing industry gets the financial support such as on time payments, and this guarantees constant and enough production of goods that satisfy the market (Ivanov, & Sokolov, 2010).
The second link is the transformation of materials into semi-finished and finished products through a company’s own production process. This link represents the center of all internal operations of a company; therefore, no manufacturing supply chain management can function in seclusion from the manufacturing activities. This stage in the supply chain supports the management in several ways, for instance, alleviating manufacturing lead times and supplying materials closely matched to the customer’s requirements and the size (Zuckerman, 2002).
The production sector in the company ensures that the product design has a significant impact to the efficiency and effectiveness of both demand and supply in the supply chain. The main factor that influences the demand and supply is the technology the manufacturing company is using in producing the final products. Moreover, open market conditions, international free trade, and the constantly evolving integrated global economy in the today’s environment also offer the manufacturers a wide access to raw materials and other dynamics of production. This means that, the transformation of semi-finished goods to final products plays an important role in the supply chain since it helps meet the needs of the customers (Zuckerman, 2002).
The final link in the supply chain is the distribution of products to consumers and their ‘downstream’ customer at all levels. In this case, the distribution channel supports the flow of products and services from the manufacturers to the final consumers. A company either establishes a direct channel from the manufacturers to the consumers or uses other intermediaries such as the distributers and retailers to get the final product to the end users. Their main responsibility is making sure the company’s products are safely delivered and available to the consumers (Coyle, & Coyle, 2009).
Presently, the rapid expansion of the internet as the main selling platform is resulting to manufacturers developing innovative and flexible Omni-channels capabilities in their supply chain in order to fulfill customer demand from distribution centers, ...