Impact of Supply Chain on Business to Business Marketing - Essay Example

"A Supply Chain consists of all stages involved, directly or indirectly, in fulfilling a customer request. This includes manufacturers, suppliers, transporters, warehouses, retailers, and customers." (Chopra and Meindle, 2005) The systematic and strategic coordination of the traditional business functions and the tactics across these business functions within a particular company and across business within the supply chain, for purposes of improving the long-term performance of the individual companies and the supply chain as a whole.

Basically the process of supply chain management can be divided into three distinct flows; the product flow, the information flow and the finances flow. The product flow includes the movement of goods from a supplier to a customer. The flow of information related to the status of product delivery is referred to as the information flow while the finances flow involves payment schedules, credit terms and title ownership arrangements. A supply chain is a set of network facilities and distribution options that perform functions like procurement of raw material and their transformation into finished products.

The management of interconnected business activities that are involved in the provision of product and service packages is referred to as supply chain management. . It is defined as the management and coordination of a product's supply chain in order to increase efficiency and portability. It consists of all the stages involved in fulfilling customer requests. According to an American professional association, supply chain management comprises the planning and management of all the activities involved in sourcing, procurement, conversion and logistics.

Competing in a Global business through Alliances Reaching the Global MarketFocusing on Core Expertise/Business (Lee and Billington, 1992).Major Goals of Supply Chain:Efficiency Responsiveness(Lee and Billington. 1992)(Teigen, 1997)This figure shows an example of a supply chain. Materials flow downstream, from raw material sources through a manufacturing level transforming the raw materials to intermediate products (also referred to as components or parts). These are assembled on the next level to form products.

The products are shipped to distribution centres and from there on to retailers and customers (Teigen, 1997).Critical Success Factor of a Supply Chain:In the success of supply chains following factors are very crucial.Alignment of Business Strategy Understand the Market your company servesDefine core competencies of your companyDevelop needed supply chain capability Supply Chain Management:Supply chain management is a set of approaches used to efficiently integrate suppliers, manufacturers, warehouses, and customers so that merchandise is produced and distributed at the right quantities, to the right locations, and at the right time in order to minimize system wide costs while satisfying service-level requirements.

The strategic activities that are a part of the supply chain management involves