Supply Chain Management And How They Affect The Success Of...

Executive Summary Supply Chain Management has significantly evolved in recent time with the new technology that is now available for organizations. With the creation of new systems and enhanced technologies, organizations have been given the opportunity to improve their operations with new Supply Chain Management systems by having access to the tools necessary to understand issues in their supply chain and look for opportunities to become more efficient while minimizing costs and keeping their customers happy. Supply Chain Management is a systematic and strategic function within an organization that works cross functionally amongst the different departments from the creation of a service or product to the end consumer. This report†¦show more content†¦According to O’Brien (2011), â€Å"supply chain management helps a company get the right products to the right place at the right time, in the proper order quantity and at an acceptable cost.† In recent years, companies have begu n to restructure their supply chains to incorporate more technology that can be used not only by themselves, but also by their customers and suppliers. Technology is necessary to enable the increase in collaboration allowing internal systems to provide more visibility to different data views externally in a safe and efficient manner; therefore, allowing for greater analysis and decision-support for supply chain managers (Carter, 2007). Along with technology, information is crucial for the performance of a supply chain in order for managers to make the best decisions to improve the performance of the supply chain (Hughes, 2008). A lack of collaboration amongst the different departments within a company – marketing, inventory management, logistics, customer service, and production – is a major source of supply chain management failure; therefore, information technology is a key component in achieving collaboration and success within an organization (O’Brien, 2011). According to Hughes (2008), â€Å"Information is a key element of the supply chain, playing the part of an aggregate that allows all other elements of the supply chain to work together in order to create an integrated and coordinated supply chain.