Supply Chain Principles and Operations - Essay Example

REFLECTIVE LOG Reflective Log The consultancy project was quite involving the under study was significantly extensive, and it required a great deal of personal sacrifices for it to be accomplished. The entire exercise provided a learning exercise for me as I got to understand new ideas and concepts that I previously did not know. To begin with initially I had no idea about Select Lincolnshire For Food (SLFF) the moment I began undertaking the project is when I came across some information about the organisation that I later polished after conducting some in-depth research concerning it together with numerous visits to the physical location of SLFF. The consultancy project aimed to undertake an investigative research whose primary objective was to determine the attitudes and perceptions of consumers and other stakeholders concerning the operations and supply chain methods of SLFF. At first, the research topic seemed easy and straightforward but the moment I embarked on designing the action plan of how I intended to undertake the project it became evident to be that there are numerous underlying elements that needed to be considered for the project to be completed successfully. A numbers of aspects concerning SLFF had to be researched to enable me make informed decisions as far as the overall project findings were related as well as assist in coming up with the right recommendation that would help the organisation to improve its supply chain mechanism thus enhance efficiency. I encountered a number of obstacles especially at the initial stages of my project lifecycle that threatened to derail my work but through persistence I learned on how to overcome them to press forward in my quest to accomplish my task (Ivanov and Sokolov, 2010). Ideally, the topic was quite new to me in a number of aspects despite the fact that some of the provisions of the projects are part what I study in class. It was quite challenging for me to undertake or rather come up with workable solutions since I was juggling between reading to acquire knowledge on the subject as well as undertaking the actual tasks of the project. My schedule was tight as the project proceeded new informational requirements came up, and that means I had to devote extra time to undertake appropriate research in order for me to stay on track with my project. At times, the learning curve was quite overwhelming but the tougher the exercise got, the more encouragement I developed since I was confident that the knowledge that I was acquiring was sufficient to ensure I accomplish my project objectives. Notably, the consultancy project enabled me to develop a number of notable attributes that moulded me in a positive way to deliver the expectation from my tutors. I developed a real sense of time-keeping since the project had a fixed time frame, and thus all activities were supposed to be fashioned in a manner that would ensure they fit within the limited time allowed. Given the fact that I was researching the topic to polishing my knowledge at the same time undertaking the actual project work it would be difficult for me to achieve both tasks if I did not implement an effective time keeping strategy. That notwithstanding, the project had milestones or rather deliverables that had to be accomplished within specified time limits. In spite of the fact that my learning curve was relatively long I had to cover up for the lost time to ensure the progress of the project was on course irrespective of my circumstances (Burt, Dobler, and Starling, 2004). The project entailed a great deal of primary research since a number of its requirements needed first –hand data from the field to enable it comes up with its conclusions. Thus, a lot of data collection was involved that gave me an opportunity to interact with numerous personalities out in the field and through other mediums such as telephone. Initially, I was a person with an introvert kind of character in the sense that I would not readily interact with people without long periods of exposure to each other. However, through the project’s tasks especially data collection in the field I developed confidence and courage of approaching strangers and engaging them to assist me in filling the questionnaires. During the whole process I came into contact with numerous people since I was researching different aspects of the research question thus I had to administer a number of questionnaires and interviews in order to collect the appropriate date for analysis. At first I was quite shy and unable to express myself appropriately to the people to enable them give me legitimate answers but with time I developed a sense of confidence that enabled me to go an extra mile to engage the respondents in heated debates concerning their opinions on the questions under study. Relatively, my knowledge base on supply chain issues and information regarding how people view the operations of Select Lincolnshire for Food (SLFF) significantly improved as the numerous opinions and insights that I got from respondents change the manner in which I previously viewed the organisation’s operation and thus assisted me to develop a more objective opinion (Ivanov and Sokolov, 2010). Conversely, the part of mapping SLFF membership was quite challenging since one had to conduct an in-depth analysis to be able to understand how the 230 members of the organisation are geographically dispersed. Additionally, the project required one to analyse and comprehend how various supply chain mechanisms are developed. Actually this was the most difficult It was the most challenging part of the entire project but through the assistance of colleagues and insights from secondary research I develop some knowledge that enhanced my understanding of how supply chain methods are developed by SLFF. Since most of the provisions or rather the requirements of the project were involving aspects that were new to me. I employed an excellent deal of data investigations techniques and especially by retrieving secondary sources to analyse the ideas and opinions of previous researchers that helped me to make informed decisions concerning the project. That notwithstanding, the project was actually a challenge that sought to strengthen my knowledge base on supply chain techniques in relation to SLFF and am glad that I was able to match the expectations at the end (Weele, 2010). The project was an opportunity to implement the knowledge learned in class to a real-life setting whereby the concepts are to be incorporated into the processes of the system. In essence, the project was aimed at synthesising the skills and knowledge learned to determine how best they can applied to a practical setting as well as evaluating the competencies of the individuals on their efficiency on the field. Relatively, every project task had some aspect that had to be incorporated into SLFF’s system thus the knowledge from books would not be essential if it would not be transformed into concepts and processes that would enhance the system of SLFF in the manner in which it conducts its operations. Sincerely, my level of knowledge on the subject was limited and thus I had to make some effort to do extra research to ensure I was well equipped to manage the practical expectations at the field. Notably, I was glad that despite the limited amount of knowledge that I had the few concepts that I had mastered enabled to develop some crucial skills that enabled to accomplish numerous practical objectives. I realized there is a significantly wide discrepancy between the knowledge that we learn in class and what is expected of us in the field. Since studies that are theoretically oriented will end up equipping the learners with a lot of junk if they cannot be applied in a real world setting (London and Kenley, 2001). In a number of instances, I would pose to ask myself what the knowledge I learned in a class had to do with whatever I was undertaking in the field. It is prudent that theoretical knowledge is essential since it introduces the concepts to the learner, but then it is not enough since the same student needs to be challenged to what is behind the concepts that he/she has learned. I must admit that the consultancy project was designed in a technical manner that sought to challenge my knowledge and skills at the same time enhance critical thinking since most of the aspects required me to come up with workable solutions that will improve how SLFF conducts its operations. Additionally, the theory is supplemented with practical activity since most of the theoretical concepts cannot make much difference to an individual unless he/she experiences them. For instance, during the data collection stage I encountered a number of challenges while administering the interviews and questionnaires but from a theoretical perspective the bottleneck are generally generalised but I got to experience them in a one-on-one basis thus if someone would ask me the challenges that people encounter in future I will be in a better position to elaborate as I incorporated what theory has the practical experience thus has a more informed perspective of the same (Shah, 2009). Incorporation of the supply chain principles that have been learned in the system at SLFF was the climax of integrating knowledge into practice. I had a perfect understanding of the principles but when it came to incorporating them into the operations at SLFF to improve its efficiency it was quite difficult since I failed to correlate the various factors that were underlying for the organisation. But then after I comprehended the idea I began appreciating the manner in which knowledge that is learned helps to come up with workable solutions in organisations. It is evident that the approach that was utilised to develop the current supply chain operations system at SLFF is not the similar one that I sought to employ to ensure improved services. The project provided a comprehensive insight that assisted me to understand how I can utilise my knowledge of supply chain operations to improve the industrial processes in companies since as time goes by new concepts are generated that serve to overcome the bottlenecks that firms are currently undergoing thus boosting their performance (Burt, Dobler, and Starling, 2004). Supply chain operations do not entail rigid structures that firms have to stick to enhance their performance. Companies need to evaluate their supply chain operations continuously to ensure they are in line with the ramifications in the market so as to ensure they reach their clients in the most convenient manner. Relatively, a supply chain that works for firm B will not necessarily work for company C that is why the project first indulged in a field research to determine certain aspects that would be utilised to come up with the best supply chain that will cater for the needs of SLFF as well as enhance its overall performance. In a nutshell the project was designed in all-round manner as it incorporated the aspect of research that involved getting to the ground and collecting information of the actual situation before the data can be analysed and based on the theoretical knowledge that I had acquired from learning I was able to fuse the aspects into a practical scenario to come up with ideas that would enhance efficiency at SLFF. The consultancy project enabled me to get involved in the entire process thus assisting me to develop a number of skills that are not learned in class as well as transforming theoretical aspects into workable solutions in the practical field. Knowledge from secondary sources was vital in enabling me analyse the shortcomings of SLFF as I readily compared the performance and competencies of the organisations with the industry expectations to develop areas where it is not performing as expected thus improving its weaknesses (Akȧli, 2005). References Akȧli, E., 2005. Applications of Supply Chain Management and E-Commerce Research. [New York], Springer Science Business Media, Inc. Burt, D.N., Dobler, D.W. and Starling, S.L., 2004. World Class Supply Chain, The Key to Supply Chain Management, 7th ed., Tata McGraw-Hill. Ivanov, D., & Sokolov, B. V., 2010. Adaptive supply chain management. London, Springer. London, K.A. and Kenley, R., 2001. ‘‘An individual organisation economic supply chain approach For the construction industry: a review’’, Construction Management and Economics, Vol. 19, pp. 777-88. Shah, J., 2009. Supply chain management: text and cases. Upper Saddle River, N.J., Pearson Education. Weele, A. J. V., 2010. Purchasing & supply chain management: analysis, strategy, planning and practice. Andover, Cengage Learning. Read More