Supply Chain Management's Planning and Control at Coca-Cola - Literature review Example

? [Operations management] By Insert Presented to Location Due Element I Introduction Supply management is the process of modern corporate purchasing. Supply chain management is that practical where different organizations through a cumulated effort ensure that the end products get to consumers. These organizations between the producer and consumers are referred as supply chain (SHAH, J. 2009, pg. 51). The concept of supply planning and control is very wide and for this reason it will not be possible to get and write all the literature relation to the concept. This document will attempt to focus on the literature, journals and websites that are most relevant to the issues of supply planning and control. Survey of the month: Mixed results for supply chain management jobs. (2010). IOMA’s Report on Salary Surveys, 10.5, 1-4. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.msu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/365779321?accountid=12598 The article happened to have been written by an unknown author but it contains an overview of the supply chain job and what its average salary is. According to the article, the average salary was around $90,000 and the salary has been in cumulatively over all the nations. The author lists the increase that have been realized over the past few years then goes ahead to look into other factors that may have contributed to the increase one of them being job satisfaction. In the job satisfaction there was mixed results as some industries or jobs there was an increase in job satisfaction ranging from 5%-10%. Where there was high increase in job satisfaction was in the field of logistics and the fields where job satisfaction was low the main reason was due to lack in advancement and poor payment. This article is important because it enlightens on the performance of supply chain management. It also collects the views of people about supply chain management in general. Ellinger, A., Shin, H., Northington, W., Adams, F., Hofman, D., & O’Marah, K. (2012). The influence of supply chain management competency on customer satisfaction and shareholder value. Supply Chain Management,17.3, 249-262. Retrieved from http://serach.proquest.com.proxy2.cl.msu.edu/docview/1010037094/13A291Fa1C446390891/42?accountid=12598 The authors’ main message in this article is about customer’s satisfaction in connection with supply chain. They go ahead to highlight how a good supply chain is beneficial to the shareholder an example is how the supply chain can add value of the shareholders if it is efficient well enough. According to their research, they discovered that there was a relationship between an excellent supply chains with customer’s satisfaction. When the supply chain was excellent, customers were satisfied and through their satisfaction the shareholders value in the company increased. It is not just a matter of profit maximization as the authors attempt to see that each and every customer is happy with regard to the supply chain used. Profit can only be made through sale and it is the customers that buy the products. For this reason it is important to make sure that the customers are happy and satisfied because they are the people who determine the company’s success. In my view I think the authors here were addressing the managers so that they can take a closer look at their supply chain and see if it satisfies the customers so as to maximize the profits. Customer satisfaction is the theme in this article which is relatively an important factor to consider in the supply chain management. Christian, L. R., & Kelivin, J. D. (2010). Job types in the supply management profession. Journal of Suppy Chain Management, 46.3, 40-56. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.msu.edu/login?url=http://search.prquest.com/docview/845503015?accountid=12598 The theme of this journal is to explain what is expected in supply chain jobs. In other words the journal speaks of the responsibilities that come with the supply chain job. Rosetti and Dooley in this article start by explain how the definition of the supply chain management job and add of how accuracy in the job is not given enough weight. For this reason the efficiency of the job is hindered. The authors state that there must be a proper job description that will help those who are being employed in these jobs to know what exactly is expected of them. It point out that it can also be of much importance to train the employees. This will help to increase the accuracy and reduce losses incurred due to unskilled employees. The article is important here because it states what authority those in the job have and what their responsibilities are thus these results to efficiency in supply chain. Potocan, V. (2009). Does trust influence supply chain management?. Journal of American Academy of Business, Cambridge, 15.1, 118-124. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.proxy2.cl.msu.edu/docview/222858199/13A291FA1C446390891/29?accountid=12598 Professor Vojko Potocan, PhD, is professor at the Faculty of Economic and Business Maribor. Professor Potocan bases his article on trust in business people. He states the impact that trust has on business people when it comes to the part of making decisions. Taking a close look at supply chain, it will come to your notice that trust is a very important aspect. One will choose a channel that he is sure will delivery and yield the expected results. Therefore trust plays a major role in a supply chain and Potocan goes on to explain the different forms of relationship that are there within the supply chain. There are two types of relationships that it is easy to understand and look at. These are the long term and short term relationships. Regardless the length the relationship will last, Potocan stresses that it is important trust to be there between the intermediaries. This article is of great important since it tries to explain what a manufacturer has to go through before deciding on which supply chain to use. This differs from the above mentioned article because the main focus here is the trust that exists in a supply chain while the previous article was about salary in a supply chain. Hsu, C., & Hu, A. (2008). Green supply chain management in the electronic industry. International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, 5.2, 205-216. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.proxy2.cl.msu.edu/docview/199427249/13A291FA1C446390891/26?accounid=12598 The main objective of the authors of this article was to bring out the advantages of a supply chain management. They explain the development of a green (advantageous) supply chain. They start by stating hoe it was proposed and the ignorance that has been there to appreciate of how effective its proposal would have been. The article carries on an investigation to see how a green supply chain management is implemented in Taiwanese electrical industry and how effective the supply chain have been. The article also points out of how to make the environment clean by supplying a collection of products that are environmental friendly. The knowledge of the safety of the products in the environment is important in making the supply decision and it can also improve efficiency in the supply. This article is so interesting because it does not focus mainly on how the manufacturers can earn more from the supply but how best to conserve the environment in the supply chain. I would like to think it is the best article I have come across regarding the supply chain management. The audience addressed here are the manufacturers and the intermediaries in the supply chain. Robert Handfield on a website page http://scm.ncsu.edu/scm-articles/article/what-is-supply-chain-management Handfield states that supply chain management is based on two core ideas. One of the ideas states that SCM is practical and it involved the movement of physical flow and information flow from the manufacturer to the final consumers through the help of the cumulated effort of intermediary organizations called supply chain. The second ideas states that SCM is not taken with much weight by some of the organizations despite its old age in existence. SCM has the task of ensuring maximum customer value and also it is helpful in curbing with competition. These organizations that make up a supply chain are connected by the physical and information flow. Physical flow comprises the flow of goods from the producers to the final consumers whereas the information flow is the sharing of knowledge and plans between the organizations. From the page, Handfield’s main objective is to shade light on the concept of SCM by defining and explaining how SCM goes about. Unlike the other articles, Handfield’s article is just an introduction of SCM which is also important. Element II The coca-cola company History of the company Coca-cola is multinational company which manufactures non-alcoholic beverages. Coca-cola has its headquarters in Atlanta Georgia. The company’s first product was produced by a pharmacist called John Stith Pemberton in the years 1886. The first soft drink was sold to the public in 8th May 1886 in a pharmacy. For the first year the company used to operate on a loss since a drink used to sell at $50 and the manufacturing expense of one drink was $70. The drink used to contain the ingredient of cocaine extracts as well as caffeine-rich kola nut. The company later on was bought by Asa Griggs, who was also a scientist owned the company from the year 1851 to 1929. Asa obtained the ownership by simply buying the formula from Pemberton for a price of $2,300 (BELL, L. 2004, pg. 10). During his Era as the owner, Griggs incorporated the company in 1892. Asa was aggressive in marketing and this made coca-cola one of American’s popular drink in the late 1890s. The marketing was a very important element in the development of the drink and the company as well. Soon the company had a share of market in Canada. The company has never dropped the marketing spirit even today despite having a large share I the market. The soda used to be sold in fountain and mostly it was sold in the drug stores or ice cream saloon. Soon this became a past tense and gave way to the bottling industry. Coca cola drink was now being sold in bottles. There was an introduction of a new coca cola formula in the year 1985. Currently, coca cola products are consumed at a rate more than one billion drinks per day! Transformation process of coca cola Coca cola production involves a variety of processes in order to produces the drinks into bottle and cans for consumption. The managers and the employees who provide the workforce are the transforming resources whereas the bottles and cans are the transformed resources. Coca Cola Company operates through franchise. Franchising can be defined as to grant another firm the permission to produce the same product as yours. And for this very reason, Coca Cola Company has firms all over the world. This other firms are strictly controlled by the head firm on in Georgia. Lately there has been stiff competition in the soft drink industry from companies like Pepsi. And due to this, Coca Cola Company has been forced to keep making continuous improvement in order to curb with this competition. Therefore the production techniques changes time after time. These changes are also aimed at reducing the production costs. The drink production process involves two phases; production of packaging materials and packing/bottling the manufactured drinks. In the recent past, Coca Cola has been using glassed bottles for packaging. Glass bottles are heavy and expensive to transport and for this reason the company had been forced to manufacture near the bottling firm in a way to reduce the transportation costs. For this reason the company has always been researching a way to solve this problem. Today the company is able to use the plastic bottles which are light and very efficient. The recycle concept is a very important element in this production because recyclable containers reduce the production cost and also prevent pollution. The cans are always delivered in plenty in the bottling site. The cans are cleaned and checked in the rinsing machine. Those cans which are free from any defect are taken to the packing machine. Here the cans have one end open so making them look like cups to ease the filling process. The drink itself is made from a liquid sweetener which combines with a concentrated beverage base to form syrup. The head company usually ships this concentration to the bottling site where it is usually mixed with sugar and water before packaging. The water used is from the local franchise firm and it is made pure before being added into the concentration. The head company also supplies the carbon dioxide which is piped into the manufacturing process through a carbonator. The role of carbon dioxide in the drink is to make the drink fizzy. The head company usually monitors and control all these processes despite them being done by the franchise. It is the responsibility of the head company to check the activities of the franchise regularly. The two are linked together and the franchise takes instruction from the company. After the cans and the drink are ready, the cans are filled using an automatic production line. All cans are filled with the exact amount of drink. Each can is stamped with a seal for the purpose of identification and the seal is helpful to determine where the drink was produced and when. This is important due to the presence of the franchises. The cans and bottles also a date so as to state the length of time the product is safe for consumption. The cans are then transported for sell and consumption. Evaluation of the company’s performance. One thing about Coca Cola drinks is that they are of the right quality. The quality of a drink in United States is the same as that of a drink in Kenya. The company makes sure that the drinks produced by the franchise are of the desired quality. This is evidenced by the act of the company continuously checking the development of the franchise. The water used is also purified before being added. The speed of production is high. This is with the help of automatic machines like those used for packaging. The production of the drink is not a long process since not much ingredients are mixed. The production process is also flexible because Coca Cola Company keeps changing the production technique in order to curb with the increasing competition and also to reduce the cost of production. The franchise act has been so effective in reducing the production and distribution costs. The company only ships the concentration and carbon dioxide. Another point where the company reduces cost is on the packaging. The company uses the cans which can be recycled thus saving the cost of manufacturing new cans each time production is conducted. Coca Cola Company has been able to make good use of the SCM and through this it is the world leading in soft drink production. Despite the company having franchises almost in every country, it has been able to manage all of them effectively and obtaining good results in the end. One tool that can be helpful to analyze the complex operational issues is the sales. The sales have always been high in the recent years globally. Some of other techniques that can be used are mathematical modeling, statistical analysis and mathematical optimization. Coca Cola Company is where it is today due to the good planning, coordination and planning. And the SCM has also played hand in the success of the company. References List BELL, L. (2004). The story of Coca-Cola. North Mankato, Minn, A+. CHRISTIAN, L. R., & KELIVIN, J. D. (2010). Job types in the supply management profession. Journal of Suppy Chain Management, 46.3, 40-56 COYLE, J. J., & COYLE, J. J. (2009). Supply chain management: a logistics perspective. Mason, OH, South-Western Cengage Learning. ELLINGER, A., SHIN, H., NORTHINGTON, W., ADAMS, F., HOFMAN, D., & O’MARAH, K. (2012). The influence of supply chain management competency on customer satisfaction and shareholder value. Supply Chain Management,17.3, 249-262 HSU, C., & HU, A. (2008). Green supply chain management in the electronic industry. International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, 5.2, 205-216 MAHADEVAN, B. (2009). Operations management: theory and practice. New Delhi, Published by Dorling Kindersley (India), licensees of Pearson Education in South Asia. POTOCAN, V. (2009). Does trust influence supply chain management?. Journal of American Academy of Business, Cambridge, 15.1, 118-124 ROBERT HANDFIELD (2011). What is Supply Chain Management? Retrieve from http://scm.ncsu.edu/scm-articles/article/what-is-supply-chain-management SHAH, J. (2009). Supply chain management: text and cases. Upper Saddle River, N.J., Pearson Education. Survey of the month: Mixed results for supply chain management jobs. (2010). IOMA’s Report on Salary Surveys, 10.5, 1-4 Read More