Supply Chain, my definitions...

When mentionning about "Supply Chain", I mean the following business...
- Operations : warehouse process and organisation
Transportation, logistics (3PL management) : usually part of the operations, deal with day-to-day side of product transportation from one hub to another. Administration
QA : Quality Administration, take care of all products that could not be distributed (because expired, obsolete, damaged,...), currently on hand.
Returns, complaints : products returned from the customers, complaints management
- Supply Chain : flow control from a product production until the distribution of the product to the end-customer. Could be assimilated to "value chain", or the strategy side of the business
- Customer Service (order management) : buffer, middleman between production and customer or "end-customer". The commercial back-office side of the business. Telephone and e-mails.
- Stock Management : stock analysis, forecasting, crucial for an efficient production, and to calculate relevant safety stocks.
- Production Planning : stock management specialized in product production management, adapt the production lines accordingly
- Distribution Planning : stock management specialized in customers forecast
- PDM (Product Data Management) : product portfolio management, technical specificities of the product, to ensure we are talking about the same product, in whichever side of the world we are.
- Finance : Foreign Exchange management, invoicing, accounting... everything linked to business.
- IT Management : ERP, operational backbone of any efficient and complex supply chain flow

10 best reasons why Supply Chain is the future.

1. Raw materials, ressources (human and logistic wise as well) and getting scarce.
2. Corporate competition is getting tougher and tougher. New positionning have to be found in order to differentiate yourselves from the others... Supply Chain management can offer that.
   
3. Quality and speed are becoming increasinlgy crucial point from a sales point of view. Because some sectors are highly competitive (e.g. electronic products have a very short lifetime - very fast outdated)
   
4. Have I already mentionned about reliability ? Getting its order on time,... (crucial point from a stress and business point of view)
   
5. Main cost cuts can happen there - there is huge room for large improvement (transportation, but as well from an inventory management...), because not considered as that much "strategic")
   
6. The corporate world is getting global, interconnected... Intercontinental connections are getting easier (meaning that "international", at least from a European point of view, is already to be considered as a standard). It is impossible for Companies nowadays to not deal with foreign partners... relationships have to be organized. It request as well a bigger flexibility (earthquake, wars...)
   
7. Customers needs are getting more and more complex. Standard goods for standardized tastes are not enough any more. Welcome to forecasting and complex inventories where codes are just different from a detail point of view).
8. Key when launching a product. A wrongly forecast supply means loss of market shares, and profits ! Not enough stock, when the demand is skyrocketing, and when the production lead-time is more than 3 months... brrrr, what a nightmare...
   
9. Controls the whole "Chain" (I know it sounds silly), from product design until stock presence (and regular replenishment) on the shelves. Coordination management. A second control layer that makes sure everyone is on the same page.
   
10. Is supply Chain just about logistics, and inventory management ? Very diversified, jobs there entails low-skilled workers to very educated statisticians... you can make a carreer out of this.. it might englobe other functions in the near future... a great area of creativity (which may sound strange).
    

Supply Chain - The Intro !

Supply Chain... something related to Supply and Demand ? Nearly there, nearly there...

Supply Chain - my scope.

Hello world, and welcome to my new blog !
Supply Chain, here we go ; a current experience that could profit anyone interested in this matter.

Currently, I am working for a 500 American MNC, here in Brussels. This company distributes around 100 000 different products (codes) all over EMEA (and for the remaining products manufactured in Europe all over the world - America & ASPAC). My position right now is the one of an "internal consultant" ; improving internal warehouse, inter-company processes from a HR, finance and IT point of view. Previously, I gathered some experience as a Key Account Representative for a few European countries.

The goal of this blog will be to share about my daily experiences, and daily findings. Your input would be gratefully appreciated, but I know as this is a starting blog, well, you won't be that many... :-) (experience rules here).