Supply chain Operations

by Boundless Management Advisory Services

Supply chain includes all activities direct or indirect used to fulfil a customer request.

Cycle-based process view for supply chain operations includes the following stages :

· Customer Order Cycle

The cycle includes all procedures involved directly in receiving and fulfiling a customer order.

Major stages in this cycle are:

- Customer arrival at a telemarketing centre, at a retail store or at a company website

The prime objective of this stage is to maximise the arrival of customers so that orders are customised.

- Customer order entry

The prime objective of this stage is to ensure that the order made is quick and is communicated to all supply chain stakeholders involved in delivery.

- Customer order fulfilment

The prime objective of this stage is to get the correct and accurate order to the customer at the said cost.

- Customer order receiving

The prime objective of this stage is to complete the transaction in an orderly fashion.

· Replenishment Cycle

The cycle includes all procedures involved in replenishing retailer inventory .

The primary objective of this cycle is to replenish retailer inventories at the lowest cost while providing product availability to the customer.

The major stages involved in this cycle are:

- Retail order trigger

The prime objective of this stage is to trigger maximum retail orders.

- Retail order inventory

The prime objective of this stage is to replenish retail inventory through order.

- Retail order fulfilment

The prime objective of this stage is to fulfil the customer's retail order.

- Retail order receiving

The prime objective is to provide in time and accurate order to the customer.

· Manufacturing Cycle

The cycle includes manufacturing a product that will fulfil the customer, retailer and distributor's order. It is driven by actual orders placed with the manufacturer, forecasts for expected future demand and the current product availability in the manufacturer's finished product warehouse. The primary goal of this stage is to meet the forecasted demand in a timely and cost-effective way which is within the scope of capacity of manufacturing.

Major phases in this cycle are:

- Arrival of the order from a distributor, retailer or customer.

- Schedule Production

- Manufacturing and shipping

- Product Received at distributor, retailer or customer.

· Procurement Cycle

The cycle includes all procedures required to ensure that materials are available for manufacturing so that delivery can be made on time. The demand is driven by the production's schedule rather than by market demand or by customer's behaviour.

Supply chain procedures are categorised into push and pull.

· Pull is when ordering happens by a customer. This kind gives tighter control of inventory costs and has the ability to support high levels of customisation of a product or a service.

· Push is when supply chain processes start in forecast to a customer's order.

Boundless ensures that all stages are religiously followed when your customer orders so he gets the ultimate delivery experience.

For more on supply chain, call us at +91-11-66797769 or e-mail at info@boundlessindia.com or visit us at http://www.boundlessindia.com.