Strategies for Supply Chain Management in Tasmania Seafood Industries

This article discusses the strategies for supply chain management in Tasmania Seafood Industries. It explores the challenges faced by the industry and provides insights on how to optimize logistics, manage inventory, and improve customer service. The article emphasizes the importance of technology, such as IoT and TMS software, in enhancing operational efficiency. It also highlights the significance of a well-designed warehouse and effective channel design. Overall, the strategies aim to ensure customer satisfaction and competitiveness in the changing market.

Supply Chain Management:
Introduction:
Have we tried to wonder how companies like Walmart, Amazon and several sea food industries
tries to manage vast chain of supply of goods and material to the customer, retailer, distributor
and several other agents that ensures right product, in right time at right places to the right
person, ensuring the right amount i.e. the execution of the 7Rs?
To explain this, let us first understand the concept of supply chain management (SCM), which is
a broad range of activity that requires planning, controlling and executing the flow of production
through various channels to the end user i.e. the customers by streamlining the process in the
most cost efficient manner. It’s like several parts of a machine working together in a well
synchronized way and the activities may range from sourcing of raw material at the best possible
price on goods and materials and the co-ordination of supply chain visibility efforts to network
of partners, who are the key elements of SCM. The benefits of SCM can be enormous given the
facts that it creates efficiencies, always look out for the best pricing, boost collaboration, meets
customer demand in a highly efficient way (Rouse, 2018).
Globalization and the changing trends such as the eating habits of customers, growing awareness
of the nutrients in the food, climate change and its impact on the availability of quality produce,
and the ever growing population demanding more and more to pacify their hunger has resulted in
a more complex or extended supply chain (Fisheries Research Development Corporation, 2019). This
is to say that the number of suppliers, and suppliers to supplier, has increased, similarly the
number of channels before the produce reaches the final customer has also increased. Exactly the
similar growing complexity and the new challenges can be seen in the Tasmania sea food

industries that has the revenue of $468m, and a total production of 29,020 ton of sea food
produce. The figure can be compared from the below given table which would form the base of
implementing right strategies to deal with the future challenges while executing 7Rs.
Tasmania seafood industries export by commodity for the year 2018: According to
Fisheries Research Development Corporation, (2019).
Countries Total Revenue in million $ Revenue for the year 2018 m
$
HK 1082 5
China 724 72
Japan 274 8
Singapore 193 10
Vietnam 226 8
Taiwan 164 9
New Zealand 137
USA 93
Indonesia 93
Thailand 21
Korea 1.3

Export by species for the year 2018: $238 million
Revenue in $m
Abalone
Tooth Fish
Lobster
Fats & Oil
Generic fish
Trout
Eel
Salmon
other
Fisheries Research Development Corporation, (2019)

Export by volume:
Volume %
Flours, meals and pellets of fish
or of crustaceans etc. Salmon or Danube Salmon etc.
Trout Frozen fish fillets
Tooth fish chilled Abalone
Rock lobster Crutaceans, molluses & others
Preserved Abalone Frozen fish
Frozen Mackarel Fats & Oils
Fisheries Research Development Corporation, (2019)
Strategies to be adopted for e-logistics in the given new upcoming challenges for the
Tasmania Sea Foods Pvt. Ltd. for the period of five years:
The vision set by any organization decides the path or direction in which the organization would
see itself in the foreseeable future. In order to bring change in the direction of the organization
the change vision is to be set by including the entire stakeholder including those who will be
affected by the change intervention. When there is a change, it also brings challenges, for
instance falling into the trap of copying large organization formula of managing supply chain,
over dependence on technology and falling into the politics and cultural trap of the organization
i.e. resistance that may come around with change (Lawrence, 1969). So in order to break the

resistance that comes on the way of change, the action plan should be to create a clear cut vision
and detailed plan for change, develop the team that would bring those change and identify the
change leaders. The other aspects would be that of identifying the financial aspect and cost that
is incurred in bringing those change and incentivizing those who are catalyst in bringing those
change. Regular monitoring of the progress of change and taking corrective measure on
deviation from the initial plan would allow the organization to stick to the purpose or goal that
the organization wants to achieve (Min, 2015).
In order to better manage the working of a supply chain, information technology plays a key role
to solve modern challenges and managing risk and disruption. The usage of big data, predictive
analytics, IOT technology, supply chain analytics, robotics are all used for this very purpose.
For instance the usage of IOT can help in retaining the quality of sea foods by the usage of
sensor, which monitors the temperature while the food is in transit. Similarly the analytics can be
useful in determining where to put lockers (especially in the densely populated region) so as to
cut the single item deliveries. Similarly the usage of transportation management system (TMS)
could be used to plan, execute and optimize the physical movement of sea foods. So, we can
derive that TMS is a logistic platform that manages the daily operation of the transportation fleet.
TMS works as a module of ERP and helps the organization in inbound procurement and
outbound shipment. The usage of TMS is too handy in route planning and optimization assessing
operational activity, for freight audit and payment purpose. So we can say the real objective of
the TMS system is to bring the operational efficiency, in lowering the cost and increase the
visibility of supply chain (Levins, 2019). TMS software can be useful for all the parties involved
in the supply chain weather logistic provider or shippers, manufacturer, distributor or e-
commerce distributors, wholesaler, retailer or third party agents. The usage of TMS as a software

has got a craze in the recent times or say in a decade that facilitates smooth global trade and
managing logistics. TMS software is maintained either on the premises or on the cloud often
said to be SaaS. Even though TMS software is a module of ERP package some of the software
providers sells them as a standalone products. Some of the software companies that provide TMS
software are Oracle, SAP or GT Nexus. Once the demand forecast is complete, material
management which is one of the parts of supply chain needs to be taken care of. Material
management includes procurement, transportation and inventory of the produce from the
producers to the store front. In some cases the procurement activities are detached from the
material management team function but there has to be a outstanding communication flow
between the procurement team and the team that are handling inbound logistics. Choosing the
right strategy is key and would depend on the resources that organization is going to invest in. In
organization that has a fairly predictable demand can use ERP software to handle material
management operational activity. For Sea foods industries the concept of just-in-time method of
the material management can be considered as the standard set for the process of material
management All these are made possible by having a competent material manager and building a
solid team who can quickly adopt to the changes in the supply chain, understands the external
and internal customers are as important to the success of supply chain. They must display the
understanding of inventory turnover rate and procurement management tool so as to optimize the
visibility of material management throughout the supply chain.
The increasing use of technologies and changing consumer behavior, the same day delivery of
the produce is putting a challenge on the working of supply chain system that requires revisiting
the network strategies that an organization adopts. For this creating flexible and demand driven
supply chain can be answer to such challenges .For this understanding the competitor’s

capabilities with your own and making a required changes in the nodes would bring a change in
the organization. By selecting a network optimization tool and supporting the team when there is
more workload would ease them of their workload. In order to bring efficiency the tool has to be
continuously updated with the data into the repository so that the team can understand the trends
of different scenarios.
For efficient operation and business success, the ware house should be designed in such a way,
that makes the ware house highly automated and can handle high speed fulfillment of orders and
has the ability to cross dock with value added services. In order to devise a ware housing
strategic plan, outlining the current operation is important which will involve looking at the
current facilities in Tasmania and creating an accurate sketch of the building and floor, recording
all the equipment to be stored and writing down the processes and responsibilities of each staff in
the facility would ensure the smooth operation within the warehouse. After completing the
documentation work, planning as in regard to the inventory and storage needs has to be done.
This would require the type of sea foods that needs to be stored and amount to be kept as an
inventory. The demand of the highest selling sea product and the season factor is to be kept in
mind while maintaining the inventory. If any discrepancy is there in the plan and its actual
implementation then correction should be made in order to get rid of those gaps. If necessary, the
strategic plan needs to be revisited to form an alternative plan so as to ensure the operational
efficiency.
Strategizing channel design would require Tasmanian Foods to assess the key issues related to
channel, that includes assessment of the task to be accomplished by Tasmanian foods and the
task to be performed by others. Assessment of the challenges associated with the channel design
and management. How should the channel conflict be managed (Cullota,2009)? And the depth of

distribution that Tasmanian Sea Foods should possess. It requires planning for the critical task
like demand generation, demand fulfillment, post sales service and market feedback activities is
to be distributed between the partners and Tasmanian Foods. While theory of comparative
advantages would advocate for the more fragmented channel whereas on the other hand to bring
more efficient implementation firms may be prompted to reduce intermediary or no
intermediaries.
Supply chain management has a direct relation with the customer service. If a company wants to
be successful it has to serve well to the customers and supply chain plays a pivotal role in
delivering the produce to the customers in right time, right amount, right condition, and right
place and so on to bring the delight in the customers mind. This in turn brings transparency,
reliability and meeting the customer’s expectation and hence forth furthers turns out to be
forming a brand amongst its customer. Tasmanian Foods will integrate all the agents and
stakeholders by consultation and collaboration to frame a plan and execute those plans keeping
in view the expectation of the customers. This would ensure seamless flow of sea foods to its
customers and compete with the other producers at the same time. These are also evident from
the fact that the usage of inventory management software would be able to boost customer
service by enabling Tasmanian Foods do three things: Firstly the system would ensure the
delivery to the customer in time and is fast, secondly track the shipment that it reaches the
destination safely and lastly the optimal inventory is maintained so that the customers gets the
item when they want.
Conclusion:

“Research Development and Extension Plan 2015-2020” has identified five mega trends which
will affect the industry competitiveness over the next 20 years. These trends are increase in
population which in turn would increase the demand for more sea foods especially with rich
fibers. Increasing number of middle class would prompt them to intake more protein rich diet.
The customer would be more aware of the rich nutrients diet. Usage of transformational
technologies which would bring the competitive advantages and the swiftness in the operational
capability (Petty, 2018). Climate change and environmental factors that would affect the supply
of the produce specially in the primary sector such as agriculture and fisheries. All these mega
trends would definitely increase the complexity and the swiftness of supply chain and to ensure
that Tasmanian Sea Foods remains competitive given the ongoing and upcoming challenges, it
will develop multifaceted strategy as has already been discussed in the report above i.e. to say a
multi front strategic plan would ensure stability in the changing situation. The strategy discussed
above is subject to change and would require continuous revision so as to bring correctness and
discard the misfit strategy to have the maximum impact on the success of strategy. Adoption of
the latest technology, would ensure the swiftness of supply chain, accuracy of the data,
forecasting of the demand and tracking of the logistics. Customized ware housing plan would
help in optimizing the inventory of the Tasmanian Foods. Managing channel partners to be in
sync with the overall operation of the supply chain would overcome the barriers of the supply
chain. Managing inbound and out bound operation, freight charges, overload capacity etc. can be
ensured with the usage of ERP module, i.e. to say with the usage of TMS software. Lastly, all
these intervention will have the one objective to strive for i.e. satisfaction of the customer needs
and requirement.
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