Issues Faced by NHS Supply Chain Managers

Business and Management
NHS Supply Chain

TABLE OF CONTENTS
TOPIC: An Investigation into finding issues which supply chain managers of NHS are facing..................3
INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................................3
Theoretical Background and Research Focus..............................................................................................4
Ways, problems and importance of managing inventory.........................................................................4
Strategies and effectiveness of managing suppliers.................................................................................5
Tools of maintaining safety and quality for taking competitive advantages............................................6
Aim..........................................................................................................................................................6
Objectives................................................................................................................................................6
Research questions..................................................................................................................................7
Justification and Contextualization..............................................................................................................7
Importance of research............................................................................................................................7
Reason of importance..............................................................................................................................7
Response to requirements........................................................................................................................8
Research Methodology............................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION.........................................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..........................................................................................................................................12

TOPIC: An Investigation into finding issues which supply chain managers of NHS are facing.
INTRODUCTION
Supply chain can be defined as a system of companies, information as well as people
activities which are involved in the process of supplying goods and services of companies to end
users or customers (Christopher, 2016). Supplying goods to customers is not an easy task as
suppliers have to manage inventory and quality and it is found that during supplying process,
suppliers find problems related to marinating inventory and quality. Supply chain management
process involves all activities which transform raw materials into final goods. This present study
is based on NHS. In the context of NHS it is found that supply chain is becoming complex as it
supports National Health Service in England by providing end to end supply chain solutions. So,
it is important for this to identify effective strategies for solving all problems which NHS and in
providing health care and food products.
This present study will show different views of authors on managing supply chain and
out of them it can become easier for researcher and organizations to select the best one and
maintaining quality. Further, it will also discuss several problems which are being faced by
suppliers and identifying the main root cause for allowing them to select better ways. Lastly it
will discuss problems related to inventory management and quality of health care as well as food
products management as how all these problems are affecting customers or vulnerable people
experience and brand of company. Research methodology and ethics also play an important role
in gathering and analyzing information which will also being discussed in this study.

Theoretical Background and Research Focus
Ways, problems and importance of managing inventory
Inventory management is the main key area of supply chain management which refers a
procedure of ordering, storing as well as using company’s products or inventory. This process is
complex and sometimes suppliers and NHS face problems in successful management. As per the
Kositphon and Chaovalitwongse, (2016) one of the main problems in managing inventory is
fulfilling customers’ demand and having lack of space for storing, Sometimes it becomes
difficult to predict demands of customers and due to lack of ability of prediction as well as
imbalance between available inventory and demand direct affects supplies. This imbalance can
affect customers; experience. So, it is important to solve this problem for increasing efficiency.
NHS face problems in storing health care and food products as there is a fear of decreasing
quality. For improving health and providing access to all people to food and healthcare services
they have to store products and lack of storage is the main problem.
According to the Bendavid, Herer and Yücesan, (2017) there are several ways which can allow
suppliers in managing inventory in an effective manner and also make a balance between people’
demand and supply is using or implementing Just in time tool. As per this approach, suppliers
and companies can reduce waste and increase efficiency by ordering products and producing
goods only when they are required. Ordering extra inventory can increase cost as it requires extra
space and can also be damaged. So, this is one of the best tool or strategy for effective inventory
management which is being used by some retailers. It is also found that NHS supply chain has to
manage around 4.5 million orders per year as 95000 orders points at around 15,000 locations.
For that it has to contact several suppliers and managing all of them is other main problem (NHS
Supply Chain, 2018).
Inventory management plays an important role because it helps them out in preventing stocks,
managing multiple locations at once in an effective manner, supplying products to customers in a
right quantity and quality which leads to increase customers’ experience. When customers
receive products in right quantity then they are more likely to stay loyal with NHS for the long
run which improves their image. It reduces storage cost an companies can increase profit margin
which can allow them to become sustainable and taking competitive advantages. It is also stated
by Hidayat and Saleh, (2020) that better inventory management and turnover bring revenue