Definitions of  Supply Chain Management Supply chain management (SCM) is the management of a network of interconnected businesses involved in the ultimate provision of product and service packages required by end customers (Harland, 1996). Supply Chain Management spans all movement and storage of raw materials, work-in-process inventory, and finished goods from point of origin to point of consumption (supply chain). Another definition is provided by the APICS (The Association for Operations Management) Dictionary when it defines Supply Chain Management  as the “design, planning, execution, control, and monitoring of supply chain activities with the objective of creating net value, building a competitive infrastructure, leveraging worldwide logistics, synchronizing supply with demand, and measuring performance globally.” Supply Chain Management (SCM) as defined by the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP): “Supply Chain Management encompasses the planning and management of all activities involved in sourcing and procurement, conversion, and all logistics management activities. Continue reading
Logistics Management
Logistic information system and it’s objectives
Logistic information system is nothing but a part of Management Information System to manage, control and measure the logistical activities. These activities occur within the organization or as well as overall across the supply chain. Logistics information systems are important for achieving logistics efficiency and effectiveness. In an enterprise, logistics information system seeks to achieve the following: It ensures of logistics functional operations into a process pursuing customer satisfaction at the lowest total cost. Information system facilitates planning and control of the logistical activities related to order fulfillment. It makes the firm more competitive, by making better tactical and strategic decision for the benefits of the firm and its customer. Helps provide customers information regarding product availability, order status, and delivery schedules promoting customers service. It reduces the requirements of inventory and human resources by enabling requirements planning. It interfaces with marketing, financial, and manufacturing information systems and provides information Continue reading
Concept of Strategic Logistics Planning
Strategic logistics planning is defined as a unified, comprehensive, and integrated planning process to achieve competitive advantage through increased value and customer service, which results in superior customer satisfaction, by anticipating future demand for logistics services and managing the resources of the entire supply chain. Strategic logistics planning carried out within the framework of the overall corporate goals and plan. It therefore requires an in-depth understanding as to how the different elements and logistics activities relate in terms of trade-offs and the total cost to the organisation. Logistics can therefore best formulate its own strategy only by understanding the overall corporate strategy. Formulating the Strategic Logistics Plan The development of the strategic logistics plan is dependent on the marketing, manufacturing, finance/accounting and logistics functional areas. Marketing provides information about product or service offerings, pricing and promotion for each channel. This includes planned sales volume per month, type of customer, and Continue reading
Categories of logistics
Logistics is the process of accurately interpreting customer requirements or orders or marketing strategy, as also providing manufacturing operations support, with precise execution of the process of reaching the product material from the point of origin to the point of requirement consumption ensuring suitable care of the product material throughout to avoid damage deterioration, continuously ensuring the lowest possible cost throughout the process. Logistics is concerned with getting products and services where they are needed when they are desired. The responsibility of logistics is the temporal and spatial positioning of raw materials, work in progress, and finished inventories when and where required. Integrated logistics support, when properly understood and applied, can provide the means to identify and resolve many logistic problems, frequently before they developed. Logistics, in the broadest sense of the word, can be considered as scope of activity comprised of three major areas or subsets. Subsistence logistics, Operation Continue reading
Functions of logistics
What is Logistics? “The service of providing the right resources at the right time and right place for efficient and effective performance of a goal-oriented activity, including consumption is called as logistics.” In simple words, “Logistics is the process of anticipating customer needs and wants; acquiring the capital, materials, people, technologies, and information necessary to meet those needs and wants; optimizing the goods- or service-producing network to fulfill customer requests; and utilizing the network to fulfill customer requests in timely way.” Logistics is the support element of the enterprise. It helps in managing the movement and storage of: Material into the enterprise. Goods in the enterprise. Finished goods from the enterprise. Its focus should be upon its inbound logistics system (movement of material within the organization) and its outbound logistics system (meeting the requirements of its customers). The definition above accurately defines the logistics process but is too restrictive under Continue reading
Business Objectives of Logistics Systems
The General objectives of the logistics can be summarized as: Cost reduction Capital reduction Service improvement The specific objective of an ideal logistics system is to ensure the flow of supply to the buyer, the: right product right quantities and assortments right places right time right cost / price and, right condition This implies that a firm will aim at having a logistics system which maximizes the customer service and minimizes the distribution cost. However, one can approximate the reality by defining the objective of logistics system as achieving a desired level of customer service i.e., the degree of delivery support given by the seller to the buyer. Thus, logistics management starts with as curtaining customer need till its fulfillment through product supplies and, during this process of supplies, it considers all aspects of performance which include arranging the inputs, manufacturing the goods and the physical distribution of the products. Continue reading