The major challenges of the supply chain management includes the transforming of the importance of supply chains from supplier to customer. Actually supply chains have been developed from factory outwards so that the company’s business model may be continued without major change. The management tries to ensure that the production process is most efficiently run and products are cost effectively distributed. The focus is finding the customer that fit to the products rather than the products that fit to the market.
In today’s highly competitive market place, the market is for the supply chain that satisfies them best. The main aim of the supply chain management is on the higher levels of customer responsiveness. The supply chains must be designed to get the customer on the driving seat. The Coordination among the supply chain members must be strengthened to counterbalance the increased demand of the market. Close connectivity with the customers will improve the supply chain effectiveness.
Supply chain integration challenges can be classified through the challenge of system relationships. There are two kinds of relationships, which includes relation between sub-systems, and the relationship between supply chain management system and the business strategies, This classification gives importance to the technical challenges that come from the relation between supply chain system and internal business strategy.
Information sharing in a supply chain faces several challenges. The first and foremost challenge is that of the management of the incentives of different partners. The supply chain partners hardly share information that relates to sensitive cost data.Technology is another constraint in information sharing. Implementation of a cross-organizational information system is costly, time-consuming and risky. Partners may not agree on the specifications of the technical system The timeliness and accuracy of the shared information could be another major hurdle. Information sharing is only an enabler for better coordination and planning of the supply chain. Hence, companies must develop capabilities to utilize the shared information in an effective way. Consequently, the benefits of information sharing were not fully realized.
Another issue that requires more attention is the full integration of forward and reverse activities . One issue that has been hardly considered in (integrated) supply chain planning is the possibility of not filling customer demands on time. As such it leads to penalty costs.
Value stream mapping is an important tool for understanding the present supply chain and designing a new one. Supply chain management (SCM) should be an integral part of the company’s drive and direction. SCM represents the way to customer retention and growth, competitive advantage and profitability. The managing of stock requires proper process, people and technology. Inventory should move, Inventory velocity is key to supply chain success.
Supply chain management is a process to respond to the different requirements of each customer. Being successful requires logistics courses in kerala effectiveness. This is an exciting challenge and opportunity for companies who see the potential and make it happen. At one time, suppliers used to say how they would accept and ship orders to customers. But now customers are dictating to their suppliers how they will handle their orders and turnaround time.