Procurement logistic and supply chain management Coursework

Procurement logistic and supply chain management - Coursework Example Cooper et al (1997) mentioned that practitioners and educators have variously addressed the concept of supply chain management as an extension of logistics, or as an all-encompassing approach to business integration. BCAM is headed by James Irvine, Managing Director holding 40% of the shares while Tom Irvine is the Production Director with 25% shares in the company. The company was established 100 years ago by the Irvine family which came into existence during mass industrialization of UK agricultural sector manufacturing tractors and wide range of associated agricultural equipments like harvesters, balers, mowers and sprayers. Over these years, BCAM was able to build good reputation in the market but lacked innovation and neglected both product and market development failing which the company was not able to react to the demand and had to face stiff competition, mainly from Europe, USA and Far East. As supply chain management and procurement logistics are important in efficient, smo oth and continuous functioning of the company, this paper critically analyses the supply chain management process of British Consolidated Agricultural Machinery (BCAM), its consequences on the operation and management of the company and evaluating different approaches of supply chain management to benefit the company in terms of improved procurement and supply chain management. ... Further Hugos (2006) states that supply chain management is the coordination of production, inventory, location and transportation among the participants in a supply chain to achieve the best mix of responsiveness and efficiency for the market being served† Various definitions from different authors concentrate mainly on flow of goods and materials within the company for timely production, cost effective operations and better customer service which is not evident or persistent in the supply chain process of BCAM. The supply chain process at BCAM did not meet any of the essential criterions as suggested by several authors in Mentzer (2001). BCAM lacked strategic planning in its supplied chain process as purchasing officer would make a reorder for the goods and materials only after the low stock level and stock issue made by the warehouse. Warehouse officials manually carried the inventory and issued reorder report to the purchase department after which purchase department would require three days to forward purchaser order to the supplier, which may extend to week further if the individual product lines are batched up into one large order with a single supplier. It may be noted that logistics play a major role in supply chain management process which is not limited to single organization but refers to a network that work together and coordinate their actions to deliver a product to the market (Hugos, 2006). Delivering product to customers requires implementation of the strategic process within the firm to integrate the firm with other members of the supply chain and other operational activities at day to day level (Lambart, 2008). Procurement of materials, which is the primary task of purchase department lacked decision making power as it

Smoothie King Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Smoothie King - Case Study Example According to Tracy, Jansen, Scarfone and Butterfield (2007), one of the ways of protecting important documents is using company e-mail lists to attach these documents. Company e-mail addresses usually have a higher level of security than common, free e-mail services; therefore, a company should acquire a private company e-mail server. This ensures that the servers used before the recipient accesses the e-mail remain uncompromised. One concept that many people usually fail to understand is the fact that e-mail is not sent like regular mail, where the sender and recipient seal and open the envelope. Contrary to regular mail, e-mail is usually sent as open text, and any individual who mistakenly or intentionally receives the e-mail can read the contents (Tracy, Jansen, Scarfone and Butterfield, 2007). Therefore, it is advisable to attach documents to the mail, and as an added precaution, add a security feature to the attached files. The security feature, like passwords and access codes, can then be sent as a separate e-mail or though a different way. This ensures that, in case the wrong person intercepts the e-mail, the chance of compromising the information is lessened. The size of the documents being sent as part of normal working procedure is usually big and cumbersome, and the process of attaching and sending them might be tedious. In this case, it is usually advisable to upload the file to certified file sharing websites and sharing the link with the intended recipient of the e-mail (Tracy, Jansen, Scarfone and Butterfield, 2007). This serves two purposes; first, it eliminates the tedious nature of attaching and sending the e-mail, and reduces the security risk of sending the e-mail. Most hosts of uploaded information require passwords and security clearance, therefore, the chances of unintended access is reduced. After an analysis of the Smoothie King case study, it is evident that all the steps needed for the establishment of a franchising operation are inc luded. This is because the essential steps in the process; identifying the potential franchisee, proof of qualification, business agreement, and conclusion of the franchising decision are included. However, I would suggest that an extra step be added to the whole process. In my opinion, qualification on paper is not enough to prove that a potential franchisee has the potential to start a business. Even though a potential franchisee might have all the necessary financial ability and qualification to be able to run a franchising operation, the best quality is having business ability. Some individuals might have the necessary resources to run a business but lack the fundamental ability to run the said business. This means that the process of running a franchising operation requires an individual to have a certain mind set; therefore, it is essential that the franchiser test the potential franchisee. This can be achieved by having a short time where the individual or company is given th e opportunity to run a mock franchise to test their ability. The steps listed above also lack an important part; the review of operations after the franchising deal is approved. Normally, a franchiser would want to retain their particular brand in the market, meaning that one franchisee can spoil an existing reputation. Customers would not understand that a franchisee is not part of the