Were you aware of Supply Chain Management prior to this course? Define the term in your own words, and what you think are its most important activities.
I was aware of the Supply Chain Management concept prior to this course. As the Logistics Coordinator , at radiation oncology company, I am not actively involved in various supply chain activities but I still get a chance to interact with people on a daily basis who orders raw materials from suppliers, who manufactures and ships final product to the end-customer and who provides service. Based on my knowledge supply chain activities start with the product development and all the way to delivering the final product to the end-customers and then servicing the product and sending the parts for repair back to suppliers.
By definition, Supply Chain Management (SCM) is the active management of the flow of materials, final goods, and related information among suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and end-customers. The main elements of a supply chain include purchasing, operations (demand planning, forecasting, and inventory management), distribution (moving products from warehouses and manufacturing facilities to the customers), integration (developing collaborative workflow among various departments), and information systems needed to coordinate these activities. All the activities are equally important in order to sustain competitive advantage in business. The more effective supply chain activities are the more competitive business will be. Many firms now are trying to create strategic partnerships with suppliers, transportation and warehousing companies, distributors and other customers in efforts to make and distribute products and services to customers in the most effective an efficient way in order to stay competitive.
There are essentially three goals of SCM: to reduce inventory, to increase