Strategic Supply Chain Management Report: Kossan Rubber Industries

This report provides a detailed analysis of the supply chain management of Kossan Rubber Industries. It begins with an executive summary and introduction, followed by an overview of the company's operations and its supply chain map, including suppliers, manufacturing plants, transport, distributors, and a centralized server. The analysis identifies the strengths of the supply chain, such as efficient coordination and centralized activities, as well as weaknesses, including high internal costs and ineffective use of technology. The report discusses the negative impact of the supply chain on Kossan's operations and performance, highlighting disruptive procedures and inefficient resource utilization. The report concludes with recommendations for improvement, such as implementing blockchain technology, minimizing internal costs, and enhancing the communication system to optimize the supply chain's performance. The report is based on the assignment brief for Advanced Practitioner Corporate Award, focusing on knowledge and capability assessment.

Strategic Supply Chain
Management
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EXECUSTIVE SUMMARY
The report has described about supply chain map of Kossan rubber industries and its
analysis is done that how it overall works. Also, it is explained about strength and weakness of
supply chain. In addition, it has been discussed that supply chain impact on Kossan rubber
industries operations and performance is negative as procedure is disruptive. Furthermore,
resources are not utilised in efficient way by which supply chain capability is disrupted. The
recommendations that can be followed by Kossan rubber industries to improve supply chain are
that they can use block chain technology in their supply chain, internal cost should be minimized
and communication system must be enhanced.
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Table of Contents
EXECUSTIVE SUMMARY...........................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................4
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS............................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8
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INTRODUCTION
In every organisation there are various types of functions and operations performed. They
are inter related to each other. However, supply chain management is managing of raw materials
and finished products along with its flow and movement. It is necessary for every company to
develop an effective supply chain so that goods are reached in time to customers. Besides
globalisation has highly impacted on entire supply chain (Kot 2018). This is because it has led to
bring in several modification in it by making it complex. The business are entering in new
markets and they require a strong network of supply chain. This enable in improving efficiency
and gaining competitive advantage in market.
The report will give overview of supply chain map of Kossan rubber industries. Also, it will
describe about strength and weakness of supply chain. At last impact of supply chain will be
discussed on Kossan rubber industries.
MAIN BODY
Kossan rubber industries us Kuala Lumpur based firm which is public limited. It
manufacture rubber and sale and export product outside country as well. The company was
founded by Dato’ Lim Kunag Sia in 1979. The company produces 25 billion piece in a year.
There are various types of products manufactured that are medical gloves, clean room, etc.
Besides that, there are several subsidiaries of firm such as quality profile sdn. Bhd, Cleanera sdn.
Bhd, Kossan gloves sdn. Bhd, etc.
An effective supply chain enable in managing of resources, raw materials, finished goods,
etc. of company. It is necessary for firm to create and maintain a strong supply chain network.
This is because it enable in lowering of cost and generating huge revenue. The supply chain is
designed in such a way that suppliers, vendors, etc. are connected and goods are reached in
market in less time (Fernandes and Truong 2017). However, having a strong supply chain is
useful in gaining competitive advantage as well. This is because in that customer satisfaction is
high as their needs are fulfilled. Besides that, there are several models and theories which is
applied as well in designing of supply chain. The use of model helps in giving a framework and
overview of supply chain. But use of model depends on nature and type of supply chain to be
designed. Also, it depends on needs of company as well.
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Similarly, Kossan rubber industries also used model of channel coordination is supply chain.
The model aims at improving performance of supply chain by aligning plans and objective to
enterprise. It usually focuses on inventory management and ordering decisions in distributed
inter company settings. In this there are some concepts such as collaborative planning,
forecasting, etc. The model focuses at supporting the performance optimization by developing
arrangements for aligning the different objectives of the partners. These are called coordination
mechanisms or schemes, which control the flows of information, materials and financial assets
along the chains. Another model of supply chain is material management. It control flow of
material and order to customer and supplier (Oelze 2017). In this it also include company as
well. There are internal stakeholders such as warehouse, sales, etc. that are interrelated with
supply chain. It highly focus on generating value from supply chain.
Map analysis
From the map it can be analysed that technology is integrated with each component of
supply chain. There is only one centralised server in which all data and info is stored. The
suppliers and vendors are connected with that server. Moreover, data and info is stored in server
by which it becomes easy to access it. The raw material purchased from supplier is then sent to
manufacturing plant. The rubber products are produced in that plant. Here, all subsidiaries
products are manufactured in one plan only. Then, they are being transport to different
subsidiaries. The transport is done as per demand of each product by subsidiary. They access
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Supplier
Distributors
Manufacturing
plant
Warehouse
Centralized Server
Transport

data from central server of how much products and raw materials left in stock and in plant. Here,
after that, Kossan rubber industries send finished products to various warehouse and distributors
in order to deliver in it the market. The main goal is to send products to fulfil market demand. In
overall supply chain, suppliers and distributors play vital role. It is because they are responsible
for timely delivery of products in market. Thus, if raw materials are not delivered to plant in
right time then it led to delay in production (Çankaya and Sezen 2019). Likewise, if distributor
do not distribute goods in right time then it becomes difficult to fulfil market demand. Hence,
company is not able to gain competitive advantage in market. Also, it is evaluated from supply
chain all of them are connected with server but not with each other. This shows that any error or
failure in server will led to delay in supply chain. Here, supplier will not be able to deliver raw
materials in time to production plant. Thus, in this way further process will be delayed and it
results in evaluating what are changes required to be done in supply chain.
Suppliers are the backbone for the company because the businesses in the market get
their raw material for production and operations from them. There has to be a strong control on
this factor so that the company is going to have higher operations and working which is going to
be present. Map which is presented above is having a structure for this process to take place so
that there is going to be higher operations and working which the business would be able to have.
Suppliers, manufacturing plant, transport, distributors and warehouse are the main chain which is
present in making the input be converted to output which has been used by most of the
businesses in the market so that there would be higher operation. There is a brand value and
image which a business is having therefore there is centralized server also which is included
making the processing and operations be higher and this is highly beneficial for the overall
operations of business (Mirghafoori, Sharifabadi and Takalo, 2018). Good monitoring and
controlling is very important for businesses to have in the market in order to be able to achieve
the targets and goals which is going to be effective for the overall working of the company.
Monitoring of the inventory is going to be present because of centralized server in the company
and this is going to be economic friendly as well so that the company will be able to gain higher
portfolio value in the market which is good for brand value.
The full supply chain is connected to centralized server because at all steps it is important
to have good monitoring so that the company would be able to gain a higher competitive
advantage in the market. The competition is increasing in the market which needs to be analysed
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and decisions have to be taken accordingly. There has to be good network which the company
must be able to develop for themselves which is going to be effective for a long run so that the
organization will be able to grow further. Distribution has to be effective and monitored because
the satisfaction of customers is important. The demands, needs and expectations of the clients is
increasing which must be dealt with effectively so that the company will be able to gain the
value in the market. Economic friendly measures have to be taken in order to be able to get a
higher reputation in the market and gaining that reputation is very essential which is going to
make the sales and distribution be higher. The company needs to have a good profitability in the
market so that good investment can be made for input which is coming in the business and the
organization would be growing effectively (Blackhurst and et.al., 2018). Businesses make sure
that they have this planned and well-designed structure of supply chain in order to be able to gain
the competitive advantage and also make the right working be present according to the demand
of the customers as well.
Strength and weakness
By analysing the above supply chain map it can be found that there are certain strength
and weakness of it. This is identified as below :
Strengths
Efficient coordination- This is major strength in supply chain as it is analysed that suppliers are
having an effective coordination with each other. With this Kossan rubber industries is able to
collaborate with them in managing of goods in market. Moreover, logistics and transportation are
integrated with supplier only (Rajeev and Govindan 2017). Thus, it becomes easy to distribute
goods in market. Alongside, it helps in focusing on quality and controlling of cost that result in
optimising customer value. However, there is more transactional approach followed that help in
generating optimal revenue direct from buyer. The supply chain is designed in such a way that
suppliers, vendors, etc. are connected and goods are reached in market in less time.
Centralise activities- Another strength is that the supply chain is centralized. It means that all
activities are collaborated which helps in ease and quickly sharing of data and info with suppliers
and stores in effective way. By that it has led to creating a strong relationship with supplier. So,
there is strong network established by which goods are distributed in all stores in market. Hence,
there is trust build with efficient communication and coordination of activities.
Weakness
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Internal costs – it has been identified that in supply chain there is high internal cost which is
being incurred. The cost incurred is on logistics, transport, etc. that is more. Hence, there is no
software programs or technology used to control cost in it. This is highly impacting on overall
network of supply chain and its efficiency. As data is not integrated so flow of goods takes long
time due to which cost increases.
Technology- Another weakness that is found in supply chain is ineffective use of technology.
There occurs different network and technical errors due to which data and info is not shared in
effective way. Thus, it disrupt the overall inventory and delivery of products and impact of store.
Due to it, further procedure of supply chain is not proceed.
Here, technology in supply chain is weakness of Kossan rubber industries. This is
because it require huge cost to install advance software. The integration of technology with all
subsidiaries has led to processing of data in time but due to technical errors suppliers are not
getting access in time (Luthra and Mangla 2018). Thus, there is slow down of process from it
by which production of rubber is impacted as well. On contrary technology has provided a way
in which data is stored centrally. The supplier interact easily and get real time data. With that
they predict overall market demand and supply. They update remaining stock on server so in
case Kossan rubber industries place order. Besides, products are send to distributors to be sold in
market. There is change in way of how things are being handled and managed in supply chain
with help of technology. When data is exchanged in network it integrate raw material info,
market demand, etc. it has led to decrease in distributer performance as they are not able to
deliver products in time and generate profits. There is no control on flow of supply chain of
Kossan rubber industries.
Impact of supply chain on Kossan rubber industries
Supply chain highly impact on organisation efficiency. Also, it affect on overall
performance of business as it is related to managing of raw materials and finished goods. In
supply chain there are various components included such as suppler, resources, technology, etc.
So, any change in supply chain impact on Kossan rubber industries. For example- delay in
procuring of raw materials affect on its production and delivery. Thus, it impact on Kossan
rubber industries profits and efficiency (Luthra and Mangla 2018). Besides, capabilities of firm
is reduced as they are not able to work with full efficiency. It also result in rise in cost of
operations. The company is not able to maintain technology efficiency as with frequent
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advancement in technology has resulted in installing of new software and application in supply
chain. Besides that, with rise in technical error there is mismatch in sharing of data and info with
suppliers and vendors. There is also risk of data breach and security in supply chain by which
overall efficiency is impacted. It has also led to bringing change in supply chain as any one step
or process interruption result in affecting next stage of supply chain.
As there are different subsidiaries of firm so they all follow common supply chain. So,
here technology is integrated in supply chain by which there is systematic flow of activities in
supply chain. In addition, data and info is shared in effective way in supply chain. However, in
some condition the supplier is not able to access data due to technical error. The supplier is not
able to communicate with vendor and transport companies. It led to glitch in server which shows
wrong info and data. Moreover, there has been a negative impact of technology in supply chain
as new infrastructure is required in it. Therefore, for supplier it has become difficult to install
advance software as it require huge cost (Tarofder, Azam. and Jalal 2017). Due to it, they are
not able to maintain efficiency of supply chain.
It has been analysed that efficiency of Kossan rubber industries delivery of products
efficiency has reduced. This is because of disruption in sharing of data and info due to which
products are not delivered in time. Hence, it has impacted on production as raw materials are not
purchased in time. The overall process of procurement and deliver of products is delayed. If raw
material is not purchased in time then goods are not delivered in time.
Technology is having negative impact as well which is not going to be good for the brand
value and reputation. The data can be stolen and high protection and security investment is going
to be required in order to be able to maintain this factor. Updates have to be done in order to be
able to operate effectively and make the portfolio of the company be higher which is going to be
good for the overall working. Data is not always feed and can impact the processing of the
overall working of the company which has to be well analysed otherwise there are bigger issues
which the organization will have to deal with in future. It is important to take the right measures
after analysing the negative and positive factors of technology which is being added in the
supply chain which is going to be highly beneficial and make the performance of the
organization be present (Sholeh and Wibowo, 2020). Time to time working and steps by steps
actions have to be implemented in the company in order to be able to get a higher operations and
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working which is beneficial and make the organization be able to have a better economic factor
for a long run in the market.
Furthermore, the impact on other wider organisation of technology in supply chain is that
the subsidiaries does not get relevant info in proper time. Thus, if they do not get accurate info in
time then they are not able to process order further. So, this results in delay in manufacturing
other rubber products whose order is already in process. As with supply chain all other
subsidiaries are inter related and integrated with centralised server. The supply chain connect and
integrate supplier by creating a network.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Hereby, it can be concluded that supply chain is managing of raw materials and finished
products along with its flow and movement. An effective supply chain enable in managing of
resources, raw materials, finished goods, etc. The channel coordination model aims at improving
performance of supply chain by aligning plans and objective to enterprise. Also, strength of
supply chain is efficient coordination and centralise activities but weakness is internal cost.
There is negative impact of supply chain on Kossan rubber industries operations. This is because
of disruption in sharing of data and also other subsidiaries are affected in manufacturing rubber
items.
Recommendations
There are certain recommendations which can be followed by Kossan rubber industries.
It will enable in increasing efficiency of supply chain. Thus, they are as follows
 Here, Kossan rubber industries can use block chain technology in their supply chain. It
will enable in providing real time data by storing on server. With that suppliers can easily
access data and track products or raw materials easily. Hence, assets can be tracked from
production to delivery.
 The internal cost should be minimized by finding out areas which require improvement.
In that Kossan rubber industries can use software and application to monitor and control
costs. Thus, in this way efficiency of supply chain can improved and delivery goods in
time.
 The communication system must be enhanced and it should be based on real time. By
that any variation in it can be tracked. Moreover, it will be useful in maintaining trust as
well as network with suppliers and stores.
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REFERENCES
Books and journals
Blackhurst, J. and et.al., 2018. Supply chain vulnerability assessment: A network based
visualization and clustering analysis approach. Journal of Purchasing and Supply
Management. 24(1). pp.21-30.
Çankaya, S.Y. and Sezen, B., 2019. Effects of green supply chain management practices on
sustainability performance. Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management.
Fernandes, A.C. and Truong, H.Q., 2017. Supply chain management and quality management
integration: A conceptual model proposal. International Journal of quality & reliability
management.
Kot, S., 2018. Sustainable supply chain management in small and medium
enterprises. Sustainability, 10(4), p.1143.
Luthra, S. and Mangla, S.K., 2018. When strategies matter: Adoption of sustainable supply chain
management practices in an emerging economy’s context. Resources, Conservation and
Recycling, 138, pp.194-206.
Mirghafoori, S.H., Sharifabadi, A.M. and Takalo, S.K., 2018. Development of causal model of
sustainable hospital supply chain management using the Intuitionistic Fuzzy Cognitive
Map (IFCM) method. Journal of Industrial Engineering and Management (JIEM), 11(3),
pp.588-605.
Oelze, N., 2017. Sustainable supply chain management implementation–enablers and barriers in
the textile industry. Sustainability, 9(8), p.1435.
Rajeev, A. and Govindan, K., 2017. Evolution of sustainability in supply chain management: A
literature review. Journal of Cleaner Production, 162, pp.299-314.
Sholeh, M.N. and Wibowo, M.A., 2020. Supply Chain in the Construction Industry: Micro,
Meso, Macro. Journal of Advanced Civil and Environmental Engineering. 3(2). pp.50-57.
Tarofder, A.K., Azam, S.F. and Jalal, A.N., 2017. Operational or strategic benefits: Empirical
investigation of internet adoption in supply chain management. Management Research
Review.
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