Supply Chain Management: Concepts & Practices

This assignment delves into the core principles and practices of Supply Chain Management (SCM). It examines topics such as global value chains, sustainable logistics, reverse logistics, and green supply chain management. Students are required to demonstrate their understanding of these concepts through analysis and application to real-world scenarios.

Running head: SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Supply Chain Management
Name of the University:
Name of the Student:
Author note:

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Executive Summary
The study examines the basic components of the supply chain management and its
implementation in the industries. Nippon Express, the logistics company is taken as an
example in order to explain the supply chain management’s process. The company has
assembled all the strategic logistic assets in order to give their clients a global scope. The
findings of the report suggest that the market of Nippon Express is presently having a strong
global network of over forty countries. Presently, the industry is investing on retaining,
training and recruiting professional skilled workers for client satisfaction. Furthermore, the
report suggests the industry’s application of several technologies in order to make its supply
chain management more efficient and effective. As per the findings, Nippon Express
industrial sector however, can implement various environmental friendly measures in order to
save the world from global warming and climatic changes. The report consists of several
technologies which has differentiated its supply chain management procedure from other
companies and increased their customer satisfaction.
The report consists of five different themes of current affecting factors in the global
logistics and the supply chain management. Firstly, designing the supply chain from the shelf
back helps in providing the manufacturers with useful insights. Bigger companies have senior
level managers who are responsible for handling the issues. In order to adopt cost effective
measures, companies can implemented cloud system to leverage their information
technology. Secondly, better planning and execution helps in maintaining coordination
between the manufacturers and suppliers. Thirdly, transportation costs play a major factor in
this. The report discusses about several factors which can reduce the transportation costs of
the supply chain management. However, proper forecasting is also done in order to benefit
the industry in a huge way. Lastly, the findings also suggest how green supply chain is
important for the benefit of the companies.

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Table of Contents
Task 1.........................................................................................................................................3
Introduction............................................................................................................................3
Discussion..............................................................................................................................3
Key Performance Indicators...............................................................................................3
Challenges in Achieving the KPIs.....................................................................................4
Cost Efficiency...................................................................................................................4
Greener Operations............................................................................................................5
Highest possible quality level of products and services.....................................................6
Critical Analysis and Challenges...........................................................................................6
Just in Time............................................................................................................................8
Recommendations..................................................................................................................8
Task 2.........................................................................................................................................9
Conclusion................................................................................................................................13
Bibliography.............................................................................................................................14

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Task 1
Introduction
Supply chain management refers to the methods involved in the management of goods
and services, its flow from the manufacturing unit to the target customers. Nippon Express is
a logistics company, which has many years of experience in transportation, warehousing,
distribution and other services (Abbasi & Nilsson, 2016). The report highlights the global
challenges Nippon Express faces in relation to cost efficiency, greener operations, highest
possible quality level of services and global access.
Discussion
Key Performance Indicators
The key performance indicators are the powerful tools which help in understanding
the structure of the business. Keeping track of the key performance indicators and measuring
those helps in the improvement of the business. To improve the efficiency and revenue,
Nippon Express must eliminate its infrastructure from the dispersed tasks (Beske, Land, &
Seuring, 2014). They can opt for the cloud system in order to achieve their aim as well as
leverage information technology resource in a cost effective yet flexible manner. Such
processes help in reducing the costs, hence benefiting the company. In addition to this, cloud
environment can add more value to their distribution unit and improve their processing time.
Data analysts can easily automate the processes and find the right tool for visualization,
hence reducing time. Interactive dashboards of KPIs must be created for highlighting the
differences of each month. Improvement in the distribution services would increase the
customer satisfaction, which in turn will benefit the company (Green Jr, Zelbst, Meacham,
& Bhadauria, 2012).

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Challenges in Achieving the KPIs
Nippon Express faces lots of challenges in achieving the cost efficiencies in terms of
its supply chain management. The rising cost of fuel and increasing number of global
customers is increasing the supply chain cost of the organization. Apart from that, with the
advancement of technology, the organization always has to adhere to frequently changing
technology and purchase highly advanced technological equipments for maintaining its
supply chain. In such situation, it become quite challenging for the organization towards to
achieve cost efficiency in its supply chain management (Ross, 2013).
On other hand, the organization also faces difficulties in achieving the greener
operation in terms of achieving sustainable supply chain management. The organization has
to use trucks, ships and other vehicles for transporting their goods the clients. It is always not
possible for the organization towards using electric vehicles for transporting goods, as they
are quite less speedy than the normal transportation vehicles. Therefore, the organization
often fails to meet greener operation in supply chain management (Jacobs & Chase, 2013).
Nippon Express also faces extreme difficulties in achieving global access in regards to supply
chain. Moreover, the organization faces challenges in the integration of supply chain across
the global boundaries. On the other hand, the organization faces the issues in terms of
managing the quality of the products and services sent to the customers. The goods can often
be damaged during its transportation through different vehicles. Therefore, it prevents the
organization in achieving the quality of products to be delivered to the customers (Dekker,
Fleischmann, Inderfurth, & van Wassenhove, 2013).
Cost Efficiency
Nippon Express a logistics company of Tokyo, Japan is taken as an example to
explain the supply chain management’s process. However, the RFID technology application

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can benefit the company to a huge extent, which may vary from industry to industry. The
Nippon Express has been established in the year 1937, which has a strong network over forty
countries. Previously, all the operations of manufacturing, producing, washing and others
were being performed manually (Ahi & Searcy, A comparative literature analysis of
definitions for green and sustainable supply chain management, 2013). After the introduction
of RFID technology, the tagging and counting of products are done in seconds. Moreover, it
has applied several strategies like cost leadership strategies and others to improve its ratio of
profitability. Among all those, the focus strategy of the company helps in improving its focus
on their customer satisfaction (Stadtler, 2015). The industry uses scanner, which helps in
scanning the tags automatically without any error. It helps in scanning multiple tags
simultaneously. It reduces the work load of the labors and does the work more accurately and
swiftly. It helps in reducing the costs of the manufacturers as the maximum work is machine-
based (Brandenburg, Govindan, Sarkis, & Seuring, 2014).
Greener Operations
Greener practices at different levels of the industry can build a corporate image,
which in turn, will lead the industry to sustainability, in this competitive world of business.
The management plays an integral part in such implementation of green practices. The
Nippon Express company is changing their business pattern to reduce the carbon footprint.
Ecological imbalances and global warming are one of the biggest problems; the earth is
facing in modern days (Barney, 2012). The industrial sector however, can implement various
environmental friendly measures in order to save the world from global warming and climatic
changes. Furthermore, several initiatives are taken by the industry as a segment of the green
practice in their supply chain movement. This includes; saving paper while carrying out their
services, reducing the usage of water, reduction of carbon emissions, usage of alternative

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energy sources for production and manufacturing, eliminating the usage of plastics while
packaging and saving trees (Seuring, 2013).
Highest possible quality level of products and services
In addition to the greener practices, supply chain management of the industry benefits
the distribution processes by maintaining the highest possible quality of the products as well
as services. It accelerates the delivery management’s speed to a great extent, while improving
efficiency and increasing accuracy in selecting and distributing processes (Ahi & Searcy, An
analysis of metrics used to measure performance in green and sustainable supply chains,
2015). The company has assembled all kinds of logistics techniques to reduce distribution
costs and keep a track of the items and products, by registering it in the distribution center’s
computer system. The company has a network of large distribution centers and with the help
of advanced technology; it can monitor its inventory levels and retain the quality of the
products (Brandenburg, Govindan, Sarkis, & Seuring, 2014). It also helps in maintaining the
quality of the services by putting the cartons properly in right places, sorting them quickly
and also efficiently, dispatching of the cartons to its retailers in less span of time with
accuracy. When the items reach their destination or store, at the entrance they get scanned as
well as registered automatically. There quality is also taken care and kept intact. This in turn,
helps in accelerating the delivery speed, while improving efficiency and quality, increasing
accuracy and at the same time reducing distribution costs (Ahi & Searcy, A comparative
literature analysis of definitions for green and sustainable supply chain management, 2013).
Critical Analysis and Challenges
The implementation of information technology in the supply chain management of the
company helps in manufacturing processes by reducing the manual work, which in turn
reduces the costs. It also benefits in managing the warehouse by improving visibility and
planning (Beske, Land, & Seuring, 2014). Once the production is complete, the producers of

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Nippon Express pack the items in the cartons and then deliver those cartons to the buying
company’s warehouse (Fawcett, Ellram, & Ogden, 2013). However, there are several
challenges faced by the supply chain management of the industry. It is required to do a
detailed research of the RFID technology before its application in the supply chain
management. Managers must be well equipped with the handling of the technology so that
they can train their employees with the utilization of the technology. It is important to
understand whether its application is beneficial for the organization or not. Moreover, the
technology can be expensive and requires proper maintenance. In addition to this, the RFID
technology has a troublesome relationship with liquids and metals (Wisner, Tan, & Leong,
2014).
(Figure: Supply chain management
Source: Kbmanage.com. 2017)

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Just in Time
In a manufacturing industry, efficiency, compliance, automation and speed are
necessary components for fulfilling the organizational goals. Nippon Express provides
timeliness as well as greater accuracy, planning and forecasting, fulfilling orders, procuring
materials and more (Tayur, Ganeshan, & Magazine, 2012). In addition to this, the industry’s
supply chain management tools are designed well in order to meet the requirements.
However, the industry faces certain challenges which can be handled and the
recommendations given are quite feasible (Christopher, 2016). To achieve “Just in Time”
management, the industry should be able to understand the needs and requirements of each
and every client. Moreover, there should be a phase of preparation with each supplier for
delivering the goods on time. In this manner, the production demands can be met easily.
Furthermore, Nippon Express information technology solutions help in increasing the
visibility and accuracy of their operations (Brindley, 2017).
Recommendations
The application of supply chain management helps in the smooth flow of products
and goods. It helps in building a relationship between the customer and the organization by
fulfilling their demands. However, it is important to do a detailed research before applying
the technology.
The industry must adopt innovative technologies and top quality management. The
seven concepts of top quality management includes; continuous improvement, employee
empowerment, benchmarking and other concepts. The Nippon express must check whether
their top quality management includes all parts and staffs of the organization or not.
Therefore, to improve the quality of the supply chain, top quality management is essential.

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In addition to this, proper planning and execution is necessary. Six sigma
procedures help in analyzing the data and improve the process. Lean system also helps in
educating the suppliers, developing the workforce and reducing the job classes’ number.
Other strategies include JIT or Just in Time which promises to deliver rights goods with
right quality to the right people at right time. Therefore, Nippon Express can implement such
strategies in order to make their supply chain processes more effective and efficient.
Task 2
Five different themes of current affecting Global Logistics and Supply Chain
Management:
1) Designing the Supply Chain from the Shelf Back: Most of the time, the consumer
goods retailers and companies thought that the supply chain management ended at
retail or the delivery of items to the stores. They completely forgot that supply chain
exists in the areas where the consumers make their decisions. Moreover, their focus
on demand driven industries still struggles to push the products to the stores (Seuring,
2013). Companies like Wal-Mart, Procter & Gamble and others have senior level
managers who are responsible for managing the supply chain. Managers are
responsible for optimizing the processes with various retailers for streamlining the
goods’ flow, in consumer goods’ company. This is done in order to manufacture floor
to the retail shelf (McCormack & Johnson, 2016). This can lead to some significant
improvements in delivery and transportation of the goods. Shelf level view also helps
in creating other insights . For instance, Wal-Mart has changed their way of looking at
the quality metrics. Previously, it was internally focused and tracked the quality of the
products. It helped in changing the designs of the packages and thus, reducing
damages from handling as well as stocking processes. It helped the manufacturers to

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look at the problems clearly and hence, providing them with opportunities for
improving the procedures (Grant, Wong, & Trautrims, 2017).
2) Better Planning as well as Execution: In both retail companies and consumer goods,
supply inefficiencies occur, which is created through the disconnection between the
planning of supply chain and the execution of systems as well as processes. There are
several reasons for this. Firstly, many companies have immature operations planning
and sales processes. Due to this, it develops a strategy which drives supply chain
management (Coyle, Langley, Novack, & Gibson, 2016). Most of the companies still
have poor information flow. Both the consumer goods and retailers are looking out for
new and innovative processes as well as systems to reduce the information latency.
This in turn will allow them to keep a track of the store shelf happenings. Moreover, it
will drive appropriate replenishment and manufacturing decisions, by closing the
loops between planning as well as execution (Gereffi & Fernandez-Stark, 2016). In a
recent study, it is found that, only eleven percent of the companies have highly
integrated supply chain planning as well as execution processes. On the other hand,
more than ninety percent companies are still planning to have a better planning and
execution process in the next three years. This can be done by adopting several
strategies like improving the visibility of supply chain, better integrating of existing
software and collaborating with the suppliers as well as retailers (Govindan,
Soleimani, & Kannan, 2015).
3) Transportation Costs: The main focus must be on the transportation costs as the fuel
costs are raising rapidly. However, with innovative technology and measures, these
issues can be solved. Efficient planning of production helps in the smooth movement
of products and its raw materials in a less span of time. Previously, in companies all
the works were done manually (Zhu, Sarkis, & Lai, 2017). It was necessary to count

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the products several times which includes the stages of manufacturing, production,
washing of the products and its packing. Previously, all these operations were being
performed manually. After the introduction of RFID technology, the tagging and
counting of products are done in seconds. RFID scanner helps in scanning the tags
automatically without any error. Moreover, it helps in scanning multiple tags
simultaneously (Rushton, Croucher, & Baker, 2014). It reduces the work load of the
labors and does the work more accurately and swiftly. It helps in reducing the costs of
the manufacturers as the maximum work is machine-based. Most of the companies
are embracing different strategies for lowering their transportation costs. For instance,
Clarks Company found that it can gain substantial profit by replacing its center of
consolidation in China, instead of shipping from Asian locations. It helped in reducing
the shipping costs through the usage of larger containers (Myerson, 2016).
4) Proper Forecasting: Proper forecasting is essential for any organization or industry,
as it ensures in having enough supply in hand, in order to satisfy the demands and
desires of the consumers. Business analysts utilize the systems of logistics and supply
chain management as well as some other tools, in order to forecast the demands in
advance (Mangan & Lalwani, 2016). For example; Amazon uses forecasting
techniques to increase the satisfaction of the consumers, reduce the inventory stock
outs, schedule the production effectively, lowering the safety requirements of stocks,
reduce obsolescence costs of products, manage the shipping better, improve price and
promote management (Awudu & Zhang, 2017). The three major forecast types used
within supply chain’s context are; demand forecasting to investigate the demands and
requirements of the buyers, supply forecasting to know about the current suppliers
and producers and lastly, the price forecast, which is the compilation of demand’s and
supply’s information. Forecasting abilities of any business varies from organization to

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organization. In order to improve the forecasting abilities, one needs to understand the
size of the demands and the uncertainty drivers. The demand planning and strategy
needs to be kept simple. The organizations should always have backup plans as well
as change their strategies when needed (McKinnon, Browne, Whiteing, & Piecyk,
2015).
5) Green Supply Chain: Consumer goods and retailer companies are taking the
initiative of reducing their carbon emissions in order to develop a Green Supply Chain
Management. Wal-Mart Company has announced several strategies and initiatives
over the past years for undertaking green supply chain measures. This will not only
help in reducing the carbon emissions, but also lower the transportation costs
(Monczka, Handfield, Giunipero, & Patterson, 2015). The companies are changing
their business pattern to reduce the carbon footprint. Ecological imbalances and global
warming are one of the biggest problems; the earth is facing in modern days. The
industrial sectors however, can implement various environmental friendly measures in
order to save the world from global warming and climatic changes (Heizer, 2016).
Green practices at different levels of the industry can build a corporate image, which
in turn, will lead the industry to sustainability, in this competitive world of business
(Coyle, Langley, Novack, & Gibson, 2016). The management plays an integral part in
such implementation of green practices. For instance, Nippon Express takes several
initiatives as a segment of the green practice. This includes; saving paper, reducing
the usage of water, reduction of carbon emissions, usage of alternative energy sources
for production and manufacturing, eliminating the usage of plastics while packaging
and saving trees (Grant, Wong, & Trautrims, 2017).

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Conclusion
To conclude, supply chain management helps in the smooth flow of products and their
distribution. It compiles all the steps of distribution along with the decisions of marketing,
desires of the consumers in accordance with the company’s goals and strategies. Moreover, it
gives a brief explanation of the application of several technologies in the supply chain
management. As per the findings of the report, application of such technology helps in the
smooth movement of products and goods. In addition to this, the five different themes of
global logistics and supply chain help in providing with useful insights.

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