Supply Chain Visual Representation - Essay Example

Supply Chain Visual Representation Introduction A company that seeks competitive advantage needs to manage their supply chain in procurement, distribution, and production (Baihaqi, 2009). The company retail branches can enhance product penetration into the market. This has increased company competitive advantage since such a strategy helps in managing inventory, linking supply and demand, as well as, reducing costs. This enables a company to produce enough products to fulfill orders, as well as, keeping limited stock (Fawcett, 2007).

Moreover, the company can provide retailers with products on time to avoid late deliveries and inability to supply products when needed. This informed the decision by the company to relocate the warehouses closer to customers and retailers.Riordan Manufacturing is a worldwide plastic manufacturer owed by the Riordan Manufacturing industries. The Riordan Manufacturing Company has its headquarters in San Jose and this is where the development and research activities of the company are conducted (Baihaqi, 2009).

This paper presents a visual representation of the operations of Riordan Manufacturing Company and relates its operations to the knowledge of supply chain operations. Riordan’s Functions and OperationsNotably, this company has focus in operations is through research, development and the patenting of plastic potentials. The main function of the company is to supply plastic products to various manufacturing companies such as beverage bottlers, aircraft manufacturers, and automotive manufacturers among others (Baihaqi, 2009).

The function of Riordan is to provide plastic supply to the manufacturers that depend on this company for raw materials Customer and supplier relationship According to Fawcett et al (2007), a good business involves a positive interaction between the customer and the supplier. For Riordan manufacturers they have managed to maintain a long-term relationship with clients as they always provide quality goods since they have a system that has embraced technology and innovation (Baihaqi, 2009). For efficiency of these processes of supplying other manufacturers with raw materials a beneficial relationship must exists between the supplier and the clients (Fawcett, 2007)The maintenance of a supply chain that is beneficial to cost efficiency has enables the company to maintain a good relation with clients External divisions and their purposeWith the main headquarters at San Jose, this company has also other operational branches at Hang Zhou China, Georgia, and Michigan (Baihaqi, 2009).

These plants add efficiency to the supply chain to clients over the world by reducing the supply cost by cutting on the transportation cost. The China plant is situated in a region where there is cheap human labor and raw materials thus reducing operation costs further.Upstream and downstream flow Fawcett et al (2007), states that for the efficient flow of information, a firm should be able to operate and relate with clients on a basis that allows their interaction to be termed efficient (Baihaqi, 2009).

In this company, the information flow through the staff is through the hierarchical form of mechanism where there exist key staff and subordinates. The following charts shows the various supply chains that may facilitate the interaction between a firm and clients Chart: Degree of Supply Chain Integration: Extracted from (Fawcett et al, 2007) ReferenceBaihaqi. (2009). riordan-manufacturing. Retrieved April 14, 2014, from riordan-manufacturing.com: http://riordan-manufacturing.com/Fawcett et l (2007).

Supply Chain Management: From Vision to Implementation. Beijing: Qing hua da xue chu ban she.