Business > STUDY GUIDE > University of Texas - BUSINESS 303Understanding the Supply Chain (All)

University of Texas - BUSINESS 303Understanding the Supply Chain

Document Content and Description Below

Understanding the Supply Chain LEARNING OBJECTIVES After reading this chapter, you will be able to: 1. Discuss the goal of a supply chain and explain the impact of supply chain decisions on the su... ccess of a firm. 2. Identify the three key supply chain decision phases and explain the significance of each one. 3. Describe the cycle and push/pull views of a supply chain. 4. Classify the supply chain macro processes in a firm. In this chapter, we provide a conceptual understanding of what a supply chain is and the various issues that need to be considered when designing, planning, or operating a supply chain. We discuss the significance of supply chain decisions and chain performance for the success of a firm. We also provide several examples from different industries to emphasize the variety of supply chain issues that companies need to consider at the strategic, planning, and operational levels. 1.1 WHAT IS A SUPPLY CHAIN? A supply chain consists of all parties involved, directly or indirectly, in fulfilling a customer request. The supply chain includes not only the manufacturers and suppliers, but also transporters, warehouses, retailers, and even customers themselves. Within each organization, such as a manufacturer, the supply chain includes all functions involved in receiving and filling a customer request. These functions include, but are not limited to, new product development, marketing, operations, distribution, finance, and customer service. Consider a customer walking into a Wal-Mart store to purchase detergent. The supply chain begins with the customer and his or her need for detergent. The next stage of this supply chain is the Wal-Mart retail store that the customer visits. Wal-Mart stocks its shelves using inventory that may have been supplied from a finished-goods warehouse or a distributor using trucks supplied by a third party. The distributor in turn is stocked by the manufacturer (say, Procter & Gamble [P&G] in this case). The P&G manufacturing plant receives raw material from a Variety of suppliers, who may themselves have been supplied by lower-tier suppliers. For example, packaging material may come from Pactiv Corporation (formerly Tenneco Packaging) while Pactiv receives raw materials to manufacture the packaging from other suppliers. This supply chain is illustrated in figure 1.1, with the arrows corresponding to the direction of physical product flow. [Show More]

Last updated: 2 years ago

Preview 1 out of 17 pages

Buy Now

Instant download

We Accept: