Supply Chains and Logistics - PDF

SUPPLY CHAINS AND LOGISTICS

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
RECOMMENDATIONS.................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Supply chain management is the study of management with prime focus on maintenance
of logistics for understanding the needs and demands of the customers. This has increasingly
making substantial changes for gaining the profits and success due to rise of e-commerce and
interventions due to information technology (Barratt, 2016). Moreover, the customers'
satisfaction plus the marketplaces are interconnected are considered crucial in brining any
modifications to attain the desired outcomes. Subsequently, the adoption of lean approach has
helped in minimising the waste along with concentrating on improving the operations of the
supply chain by maximising the logistics to stay in the volatile markets effectually.
This essay is based on the critical analysis of the significance of role of customers in the
marketplaces. It will shed light on the wider conceptual framework of lean thinking paradigm to
understand the perceptions, taste and opinions of the customers. Along with, it will include about
the pros and cons of the customer services management with respect to supply chain
management due to rise of e-commerce and IT tools.
MAIN BODY
Impact of globalisation on customers' perception in relation to SCM
Globalisation has brought revolutionary changes in the way the world is conducting
businesses to meet the customers' expectations. It led to open economies and gave a platform for
developing countries to compete with the developed countries in terms of expansion and selling-
buying of commodities and providing services to different customers. This is mainly linked with
the supply chain management of companies and it helped in marking their presence on the global
map to gain the potential consumers' (Quarshie, Salmi & Leuschner, 2016). It transformed the
complicated environments into simplified manner so that several firms can make decisions to
target the audience at correct time with usage of correct information to attain the objectives and
goals.
In regard to the same, this has given variety of options to the customers who changes
their preferences, specifications and needs on the basis of demands, the latest trends or any
prevalent technological tools. It has affected the customization of products along with progressed
the usage of IT systems to maintain the sustainability and agility factors in context to supply
chain and logistics. Henceforth, this agility is evident these days due to enhanced awareness

among the customers' and their response rates towards any innovation or change in the existing
product or service.
Emergence of Supply chain design with Information Technology Practices for better customers'
services
Supply chain management (SCM) mainly deals with proper designing and implementing
of the processes to maintain and optimise the allocated resources along with finance and other
details required in an enterprise. With rise of Information systems and advancements in the
technological field. This is in collaborative link with the change management, risk management
and collaborations. Large organisations like Amazon, Jockey, Tesco etc. have inculcated a sense
of marketing tactic through employing IT tools and other technologies to gain their customers'
attention in appropriate manner (Ba,Prins & Prodhon, 2016). For e.g. Relocating the
warehousing or storage places for better viability in cutting down the single-item deliveries that
will also aid in reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
There is a huge leap of success rate in customers' retention recently, due to use of mobile
applications and social media platforms such as Facebook, YouTube etc. With the help of
globalized supply chain, it led to sourcing opportunities, cost effectiveness, improved quality and
many more. Moreover, it helps in understanding the survivability factor in the competitive
marketplaces (Supply Chain Management, 2018). This also aids in building relationships through
reliability and trust by addressing their queries in user friendly order. For e.g. e-commerce
websites have become more portable and customer friendly and give them choices in abundance.
Logistics and customers services management
Logistics is one of the components of supply chain management which concentrates on
the management of moving product to the right place at right time. It involves a number of
activities such as packing, transporting, distributing, storing and delivery. This plays the major
role in grabbing attention of customers in the most profound manner. Along with, it shed light on
the management of all the components with respect to the strategic sourcing of SCM (Yawar
and Seuring, 2017). It would support in establishing the dual purpose in terms of enhancing the
longevity at both local and global levels along with maintaining the image of brand's product or
service properly with reinforcing the ethical standards to gain the sustainability factor.