Competitive Dimensions of Operations and Supply Chain Strategies - Assignment Example

Supply Chain Management al Affiliation Supply Chain Management Introduction The eventual consumers of a product and the producer/manufacturer of that product lie on the two ends of the supply chain. In between them are a number of logistic activities that ensure the satisfaction of both the producer and the consumer. The logistic activities include procurement, transportation, ware-housing, etc. (Sukati, I., Abdul H, 2011).All these activities involve the sharing of information between the many substations along the Producer-consumer chain.

In order for given company to be in apposition of effective monitoring of the movement of materials thereby ensuring customers’ needs, and expectations are met; there are some factors that should be in place. These factors influence the level of satisfaction between the company and the customers. The characteristics of the supply chain that influence this level of satisfaction also gives directions the strategies to be put in place. They include speed, flexibility and quality. All the structural strategies/approaches to improve the supply chain should be based on increasing the speed of flow of information and products in the market, enhance its flexibility as well as maintain a top-notch quality level.

The structure of the supply chain should ensure that the product moves from one end to the other within the shortest period. All through the logistic activities, prompt information flow between departments should be smooth (Chi, 2010)On the flexibility issue, the structural designer of the supply chain should bear in mind and include alternative ‘routes’ to be used in case a problem is encountered along the primary route. For instance, in case of delays in transportation of a product to a customer may be due to mechanical challenges, are there any other alternatives that can be promptly applied?

This concept also applies to information sharing. The last factor is the quality, whereby it is achieved through the combined subtotal of speed and flexibility. If an approach in the supply chain is highly flexible and ensures fast movement of products and information, then the whole chain is considered of quality (Sukati, I., Abdul H 2011).Conclusion The decision on the approaches to monitoring the movement of products and information should be aimed at increasing speed and maintenance of flexibility.

This way the management of a supply chain will be facilitating quality and hence meeting customers’ as well as company requirements.ReferencesBarney, J. (2012). Purchasing, Supply Chain Management, and Sustained Competitive publication, 48(2), 3-6.Chi, T. (2010).Alignment between the business environment characteristics, competitive priorities, supply chain structures, and firm business performance. Strategic Direction, 26(3).Sukati, I., Abdul H (2011). An investigation of the relationship between supply chain management practices and competitive advantage of the firm 1(4), 01-13.

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