Richmond Business School: Supply Chain Management Analysis Report

This report delves into Tesco's supply chain management, examining its framework for achieving a competitive advantage. It explores key aspects such as customer service, transportation, and warehousing, highlighting the crucial role of logistics. The analysis includes an assessment of Tesco's supply chain operations, identifying critical issues and challenges related to customer service, risk management, and the impact of technology. The report also investigates how Tesco's management perceives and responds to these issues. Furthermore, it provides a critical evaluation of Tesco's supply chain practices and offers suggestions for improvement, focusing on areas like inventory management, transportation optimization, and the use of technology to enhance efficiency and customer satisfaction. The report also discusses the integration of various technologies like RFID and automated systems in Tesco's supply chain to streamline processes and improve overall performance. The report concludes with recommendations for Tesco to further optimize its supply chain management.

Supply chain
management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................2
How supply chain management and logistics is supported, delivered and development in
context to organisation...........................................................................................................2
Issues in supply chain management and logistics in context to organisation.........................4
How these issue perceive by manager and how they respond................................................4
Assess and give suggestion how the problem of supply chain management can overcome..5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES ...............................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Supply chain management is defined as management where where goods and services are
prepared in such a manner where they use raw material and convert them into finished products.
They use supply chain management to add value to customer in order to gain competitive
advantage which help them to increase sales and profit of organisation. In this report Tesco is
taken as a base consideration. Tesco is a multinational retail and grocery organisation and
operate their business worldwide where they have 7005 shops in country. The headquarter of
selected organisation is in Welwyn Garden City, United Kingdom. In this report, it include
logistic and supply chain framework in order to gain competitive advantage. It also include
issues and suggestion that improve supply chain management which help them to distribute
goods and services in an effective way. In this report, it is included about customer service,
transportation, warehouse, and competitive advantage. It also include that there are issues of
supply chain management and how to respond and model of supply chain management. In report
it also included that the concept and model of supply chain management which is used by
selected organisation.
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MAIN BODY
How supply chain management and logistics is supported, delivered and development in context
to organisation
Supply chain management: Supply chain management means the process which is
handle by managers and employees where there is flow of goods and services which is start from
producing raw material and by using that material or converting them into final product. In other
words, it can be said that in supply chain all are involved which include organisation, functions
and activities which is involved when manufacturing goods and services but this start from
sending raw material to manufacture from supplier then finally it is distributed to customer
(D'Eusanio, Zamagni and Petti, 2019).
In relation to Tesco, the process of supply chain is that they customer demand product
and according to that supplier deliver goods to warehouse as they receive goods and dispatch to
store. From store of Tesco, they check product and deliver to customer and again this cycle
continues from supplier to customer.
Logistics: It is refer to as the process where they manage how the resources which is
acquired, transported, and stored to final place from where goods and services are kept. In other
words, it can be said that organisation identify distributor and choose those who are effective and
deliver products on time. In other words, logistics is defined as the process where they have to
manage what resources is required, stored in warehouse and transport from various to their
stores. It involve the identification of supplier and distributor which help them to determine their
efficiency and accessibility of logistic partners. The manager of logistics is known as logistic
partner or logisticians.
There are some factors which is included in supply chain management and logistics
which is mentioned: Customer service: This is the main factor where in supply chain management and
logistics as it affect the way that when good and services are sold to customer as the
process of distributing, selling and manufacturing is the main element where organisation
focus on producing effective supply chain where the customer respond according to the
services provided by them (Feng, Zhu and Lai, 2017). In context to Tesco, they give
better customer service by producing high quality goods and services which help them to
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build brand image and if the logistic partner is good as they deliver product on time as
this increase customer satisfaction and build customer loyalty. The product is available to
customers from offline as well as online stores. RFID technology is used by organisation
which help organisation to improve their their availability. Because it help Tesco to
manage their inventory, there are various advantages such as tags are serialised, enable a
unique identification of each product in supply chain and many others (Burns, Maria,
2018). As Tesco, they have stated that there main aim is to give better service according
to their wants as they get many product from factories and farm so that they can satisfy
customer put them and deliver them in right place at right time.
 Transportation: Transportation is another factor which means transfer of goods from one
place to another. The process of transportation begins from the process of
manufacturing . The main role of supply chain management is to ensure that they are
delivering right product to right destination on the give time (Hong, Zhang and Ding,
2018). As transportation is a part of supply chain management which help them to target
their customer in proper manner. In context to Tesco, the organisation deliver their
products to customer through truck as from this they deliver to stores. After that they
supply by using rail services this is done because it help to reduce traffic. Due to this,
they partner with direct rail and Stobart rail services. This planning effectively help them
to cut carbon emission and by mode of transportation they can secure quality of products.
The supply chain of Tesco is that they sell their goods and services by rail, air and
transport facilities which means some goods are send by them through rail and some by air
because some goods are perishable in nature for this they send their goods by air. Tesco has
launched their supply chain network in January 2015 so that they can build their for online
community as it is known as Tesco knowledge Hub and producer network (Jemai, Do Chung and
Sarkar, 2020). The new community help them to communicate with different supplier so to
overcome the challenges which help them to sustain and innovate them according to needs and
demand of customer. TESCO expands their logistic relationship with C.H Robinson as they
have contract with them to expand their distribution in order to increase distribution. The
distribution is done for diversified goods and services in market. C.H Robinson believe that they
have to distribute their goods globally to drive economy. For distribution they use processes,
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people and technology to deliver the goods to customer quickly. He is the largest third party
logistic provider (3PL).
3PL is a service which allow organisation to outsource their logistics from warehouse to
ultimate consumer. With the help of this selected organisation can focus on different areas of
business which help them to improve sustainability in market. The third party logistics give
various services so that they can effectively deliver goods with logistics in supply chain
management. The services include warehousing, transportation, packing, forecasting, monitoring
and many other (Kache and Seuring, 2017). With the reference to Tesco, the supply chain can
manage differently as per the demand because many time demand of customer increases
especially in festive season so Tesco have to manage their distribution accordingly.
Supply chain of Tesco is efficient as they have effective supplier who manage their
inventory and deliver them on time which help selected organisation to build their brand image
because of packaging, delivering and by maintain high quality goods and services in market.
Tesco provide training to supply chain workers so they can solve problem quickly, maintain
goods.
 Warehousing: Warehouse means a centre where all the raw material and products are
kept it can be whether finished or semi finished goods. This is the main point where
goods are taken and deliver to customer as they also perform other function such as
management of inventory, picking and receiving, distribution system management and
auditing of products and may other functions are performed in management (Ketchen Jr
and Craighead, 2020). Warehouse in supply chain management is important because it
helps in sustainable management of inventory, proof packaging and effective picking,
stable price, shipped product on time to customer and better customer experience. With
the reference to Tesco, the goods are delivered from supplier to warehouse of selected
organisation as they receive and unload the product and maintain daily record as they
monitor that products are available or not. They also check better quality are deliver to
customers on time because it increase level of satisfaction to employees in organisation.
As per the recent report that the warehouse of Tesco help them to reduce cost as there is
$2 billion cost involved which reduce half in two years. Because Tesco invest in high
productivity and take initiatives for distribution which include automated technologies. The main
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aim of Tesco is to use automated ' pick to zero' technologies. They have invest $ 8 million to
equip one fresh food warehouse with automated scanning, sortation equipment and tracking
system of product.
 Competitive advantage: Supply chain management is the main component for every
company to gain competitive advantage which will help them to retain in market for long
period of time (Khan and et. al., 2020). As companies only focus on developing effective
supply chain that will effectively help them to deliver goods or services quickly. In
context to Tesco, they utilise technology in such a way that add value to their customer
such as they can use supply chain automation through robotics, automate orders and
many other. As selected organisation can use automated machine which will
automatically connect with supplier when the level of inventory comes to an end point.
From the above discussion of supply chain management the main task of logistics is to
manage the flow of information and material in supply chain management. The supply chain of
Tesco include three main functions which include distribution, supply chain development and
network and capacity planning. They manage the distribution of goods and services to customer
through distribution centres. On the other hand, planning and implement capacity so that they
can insure that right product is been produced at right quantity.
Issues in supply chain management and logistics in context to organisation
There are various challenges in supply chain management and logistics that can hinder
the functions and activities of organisation. Some of the issues faced by Tesco of supply chain
management and logistics which are mentioned below: Quality customer service: This is the main issue of supply chain management where they
have to identify need and demand of customer in market and according to this when they
have to provide right quality of products to customer (LeMay and et. al., 2017). In
context to Tesco, they operate in different country and they have to deliver to many
goods to different people. As it is the big challenge for selected organisation as the
different people have different needs and according to that they deliver products on time.
In other words, it can be said that they identify the needs and demands which will help
Tesco to effectively manage their distribution system and for this they can deliver best
quality products. Customer are now ordering goods through online so have to effectively
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manage their goods and services which create experience of customer and with the help
of this they can effectively manage their goods according to needs and demand of
customer in their offline as well as online stores (Mardani and et. al., 2020). Risk Management: This is another issue which is risk management which means there
there are different problems that lead to problem in distributing goods and services in
market. With the reference to Tesco, they are various problems that while distributing
goods and services that affect the operation of business as there are various factors which
are customer demand, political agenda because they operate in different country and have
different rules and regulation in other country so high risk is involved in distributing
product to customer. Tesco, also face an issue of risk management when delivering or
distributing goods and services from their warehouse to customers. For this they have to
effectively develop strategies in order to achieve business objectives effectively and
efficiently. Multiple channel in market: In relation to Tesco, this means that selected organisation
sell their product from their store and online which means when delivering products from
their store and delivering goods to customer at their home as per their order (Micheli and
et. al., 2020). This means that it involve various cost and labour cost which automatically
increase cost of product. As teso bring their goods and raw material from different modes
of transport such as rail, air and other modes of transport which affect the delivering of
goods and services to customers in market.
 Accountability and compliance: This is the main issue for supply chain management and
as organisation should consider and have to socially comply. As they have to conduct and
take care of such as child labour and fair compensation practices. As the main issue come
in the form of illegal practices and unfair trade practices which destroy business image
(Rajeev and et. al., 2017). In other words, it can be said that the main issue which is faced
by Tesco of accountability and compliance as the selected organisation operate their
activities and functions in different countries so they have to comply according to the
country where they operate.
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How these issue perceive by manager and how they respond
There are various issue that are to be perceive by organisation and solution how manager
will overcome situation which are explained in detail below: Managing customer service: Customer service is the main point where they have to
provide right product, right quantity and at right time (Rebs, Brandenburg and Seuring,
2019). In context to Tesco, manager face issue related to supply of product because they
are operating in different country and have fulfil expectation of customer by providing
them goods according to their need The manager of Tesco can respond to this situation
as they have to keep proper record that what is ordered by them as this can be done by
using technology which help them to effectively manage supply chain in order to gain
competitive advantage and maintain customer experience. Cost Control: This is the another major issue of cost control which means increase in
freight cost, adopting new technology, labour cost and many other which lead to increase
in cost of production which ultimately rise in price of goods and services. The manager
can respond this type of situation they should invest in transportation management
system or they can provide online services and reduce unnecessary cost involved in
production which will help them to effectively achieve business objectives (Sarkar,
Omair and Kim, 2020). In simple words, it can be said that the selection organisation
have to control their cost because this is the main issue is that due to innovate products
the cost of goods also increases which negatively influence the decision of buying
behaviour of customer.
 Supplier relationship: This is another important to create better understanding and build
mutual agreement between supplier which help them to effectively achieve business
objectives.
From the above points there are some issues which is to be solved by manager of supply
chain management and logistic which will help organisation to achieve business objectives. As
they have to monitor and identify issues related to situation which usually occur in department.
Assess and give suggestion how the problem of supply chain management can overcome
Tesco can solve issue regarding supply chain management and logistic as they have
introduce lean management which help them to operate their supply chain effectively (Sodhi and
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Tang, 2020). As they have adopted path braking technique which include primary distribution,
Radio frequency identification technology and replenishment which help selected organisation to
improve their management of supply chain and logistic effectively and efficiently. In supply
chain there are various model which include continuous flow model, fast chain model, efficient
chain model, agile model, custom configured model and agile model (Vanalle and et. al., 2017).
Tesco should use efficient chain or flexible chain model. Efficient chain model because it is
effective for those organisation who have many competitor in market and want to gain
competitive advantage in market. On the other hand, flexible model is also effective as it help on
managing high demand. Some of the recommendation which help selected organisation to
improve supply chain which are mentioned below:
 Conduct training programs: In context to Tesco, they should trained their employees
in the department of logistics and managing supply chain management where as this
will they should trained them how the products are kept in warehouse at which shelf,
maintaining records or entry of received and delivered product as this will help them to
effectively improve their supply chain in organisation (Zaid and et. al., 2018). In
other words, it can be said that they provide training and development in supply chain
management employees so that they can effectively manage all issues and problems
which help them to achieve business objectives.
 Automatic purchasing: This is the most effective strategy by using ERP system in
supply chain management as this is a process of automated purchasing. The main
benefit of using this is that it does not take lot of time because it automatically place
order with supplier when there is less inventory in warehouse. In this way it help Tesco
to maintain the balance of inventory in organisation as it also help employees to focus
on other duties.
 Gain data: This is another recommendation which help Tesco to develop strategies on
time by maintaining proper record as it help selected organisation to deliver right
product to right customer as this increase satisfaction level of customer in order to
maintain their position in market and can gain competitive advantage (Slack and
Brandon-Jones, 2018). They can gain data from warehouse and supply network so that
they can manage their products according to demands of customer. As they do not
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want over inventory and less inventory which will help them to achieve business
objectives.
 Segregating strategies of organisation and supply chain: When organisation develop
strategies for innovation, pricing and other strategies they have ensure that supply
chain is the main key for implementing their strategies successfully. With the reference
to Tesco, they have to make effective strategies because it affect supply chain
management.
 Improve distribution network: Tesco by improving their distribution system can help
them for effective supply chain and can deliver product right product to customer. As
they have regularly communicate to manager of logistics and supply chain which help
them to take regular feedback (Demeter, 2017). This will help Tesco to reduce delay in
delivering goods and services and can create better customer service. The selected
organisation also sell their products through online as they have to make sure that
goods are delivered on right place with right product on time.
CONCLUSION
From the above discussion, it is analysed that supply chain management and logistic is
the main department where the activities and functions of business is affected. As of every
organisation produce their goods in high quality and deliver goods and services on time which
will help them to provide better services to customers as well as retain new as well as existing
customer in market. In other words, it can be said that there are various issue in supply chain
management and logistics which is difficult for organisation to maintain their goods and services
in market. Manager in organisation can effectively overcome issues of supply chain management
by taking various measure which help them to satisfy their customer in order to achieve business
so objectives effectively and efficiently. There are various model of supply chain management
which are continuous flow model, fast chain model, agile model and many more. There are some
suggestion that should be adopted by every organisation which only help them to satisfy
customer but can also remain in market for long period of time and can gain competitive
advantage.
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REFERENCES
Book and Journals
D'Eusanio, M., Zamagni, A. and Petti, L., 2019. Social sustainability and supply chain
management: Methods and tools. Journal of Cleaner Production, 235, pp.178-189.
Feng, Y., Zhu, Q. and Lai, K.H., 2017. Corporate social responsibility for supply chain
management: A literature review and bibliometric analysis. Journal of Cleaner Production, 158,
pp.296-307.
Hong, J., Zhang, Y. and Ding, M., 2018. Sustainable supply chain management practices, supply
chain dynamic capabilities, and enterprise performance. Journal of cleaner production,
172, pp.3508-3519.
Jemai, J., Do Chung, B. and Sarkar, B., 2020. Environmental effect for a complex green supply-
chain management to control waste: A sustainable approach. Journal of Cleaner
Production, 277, p.122919.
Kache, F. and Seuring, S., 2017. Challenges and opportunities of digital information at the
intersection of Big Data Analytics and supply chain management. International Journal
of Operations & Production Management.
Ketchen Jr, D.J. and Craighead, C.W., 2020. Research at the intersection of entrepreneurship,
supply chain management, and strategic management: Opportunities highlighted by
COVID-19. Journal of Management, 46(8), pp.1330-1341.
Khan, S.A.R., and et. al., 2020. A state-of-the-art review and meta-analysis on sustainable
supply chain management: Future research directions. Journal of Cleaner Production,
p.123357.
LeMay, S., and et. al., 2017. Supply chain management: the elusive concept and definition. The
International Journal of Logistics Management.
Mardani, A., and et. al., 2020. Evaluation of green and sustainable supply chain management
using structural equation modelling: A systematic review of the state of the art literature
and recommendations for future research. Journal of cleaner production, 249, p.119383.
Micheli, G.J., and et. al., 2020. Green supply chain management drivers, practices and
performance: A comprehensive study on the moderators. Journal of Cleaner Production,
259, p.121024.
Rajeev, A., and et. al., 2017. Evolution of sustainability in supply chain management: A
literature review. Journal of Cleaner Production, 162, pp.299-314.
Rebs, T., Brandenburg, M. and Seuring, S., 2019. System dynamics modeling for sustainable
supply chain management: A literature review and systems thinking approach. Journal
of cleaner production, 208, pp.1265-1280.
Sarkar, B., Omair, M. and Kim, N., 2020. A cooperative advertising collaboration policy in
supply chain management under uncertain conditions. Applied Soft Computing, 88,
p.105948.
Sodhi, M.S. and Tang, C.S., 2020. Supply Chain Management for Extreme Conditions:
Research Opportunities. Journal of Supply Chain Management.
Vanalle, R.M., and et. al., 2017. Green supply chain management: An investigation of pressures,
practices, and performance within the Brazilian automotive supply chain. Journal of
cleaner production, 151, pp.250-259.
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Zaid, A.A., and et. al., 2018. The impact of green human resource management and green supply
chain management practices on sustainable performance: An empirical study. Journal of
cleaner production, 204, pp.965-979.
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