Principles of logistics and supply chain management - Assignment Example

Supply-chain management deals with regulating the relationships of the business with the stakeholders in order to enhance the quality of services at affordable prices throughout the supply chain. Effective logistics is the core requirement in the enhance customer satisfaction in the supply-chain process. The business should have a detailed coordination of complex operations that involve facilities, suppliers, and organizational publics. Understanding the background of the business environment is necessary as an initial process of principles of logistics and supply chain.

The findings from the case study analysis help the concerned stakeholders to create proper recommendations and conclusions for future running of the business. This paper will focus on Kellogg’s, a national distribution center in the Pacific Asia region to analyze the business situation. Analysis of the business and key findings from the case study will help in answering the case study questions. Introduction According to Murphy and Wood (2011, p.20), logistics is one of the primary requirements of a country’s economic growth.

Logistics creates utility to goods and services, and in the process, it helps to satisfy human wants. Utility is the ability of a commodity to satisfy a given need or want. Murphy and Wood (2011) further identified four types of utility, which are possession utility, form utility, place utility, and time utility. These four types of utility must be organized to interact in the supply-chain process in order to create usefulness of commodities. Logistics activities add value goods and services, especially through time and place utilities.

This makes warehousing an essential part of the logistics system, although warehousing is rapidly being replaced distribution centers. Supply chain comprises of people, resources, activities, and organizations involved in moving a product or service from the supplier to the customer. The management of a business strategically places the supply-chain elements in such a way that they can effectively transform raw materials, natural resources, and components into ready-to-consume products (Bowersox, Mentzer & Speh, 2008, p. 88). Supply-chain management is defined as the process of regulating, directing, and coordinating the stakeholders along the distribution channel to ensure effectiveness and efficiency in the transactions.

Principles of supply-chain management include product differentiation, customization of logistics, proper market planning, product differentiation, strategic sourcing, adoption of a supply chain based on wide technology strategy and development of channel-spanning performance measures. The modern business arena is characterized by cutthroat competition where only organized and effective supply chain managers will survive. Proper management of supply chains requires businesses to adopt strategic processes such as agility, adaptability, and alignment in their distribution channels.

Background and Business Environment The business environment has undergone massive transformations in the 21st century. The current market is not the same as the blacksmiths’ or artisans that thrived in the early 2oth century (Woolven, 2001, p.44). Barter trade existed during the commodity economy because there was any other way traders could have exchanged value for goods. There were not strict supply chains since traders knew where to meet and make transactions. The markets have grown and have become more diversified than