Challenges, Solutions, and Critical Assessment: Supply Chain Report

This report provides an in-depth analysis of supply chain management, focusing on the retail company Morrisons. It begins by identifying key requirements within Morrisons' supply chain, including logistics, operations, marketing & sales, and services. The report then delves into the problems faced by organizations in supply chain management, such as increasing costs, supply chain complexity, consumer demands, risk, and volatility. It further explores how Morrisons can respond to these challenges through cost reduction strategies, simplification of the supply chain, fulfilling consumer demands, risk assessment, and volatility reduction. Finally, the report offers a critical assessment of the findings, discussing the evaluation of suppliers and strategies to improve supply chain management. This report, contributed by a student, offers valuable insights into supply chain management practices and challenges within the retail sector, providing a comprehensive overview of the subject.

Supply Chain
Management

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY.................................................................................................................................................3
Identifying requirements.........................................................................................................................3
Problems in Organization’s supply chain management...........................................................................4
The ways in which the organization can respond to the different challenges.........................................5
Critical assessment of the findings..........................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION...............................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Supply Chain Management refers to the way the management of the flow of different
types of goods and services can be done in the organizations effectively and efficiently (Ben-
Daya, Hassini and Bahroun, 2019). It identifies the way the handling of supply of various types
of goods and services can be done in the organizations which will help in ensuring that the short-
term, medium-term and long-term goals and objectives can be attained effectively and
efficiently. For this report, Morrisons has been chosen. It is a retail company which provides a
wide range of goods and services to the customers effectively and efficiently. In this assignment,
there will be specific focus on addressing of a wide range of requirements related to the
organization’s supply chain, critical issues in the supply chain, the way organization perceives
problems and responds to them. Additionally, specific focus will be made on critical assessment
of the findings will be done as a part of this project.
MAIN BODY
Identifying requirements
It is quite essential that the identification of a wide range of requirements in relation to an
organization’s supply chain can be done in the right manner quite effectively and efficiently
(Cole, Stevenson and Aitken, 2019). The use of Supply Chain is made in Morrisons because it is
a big retail company which provides a wide range of products and services to the customers.
Therefore, the supply chain of Morrisons has the following elements-
Logistics- Logistics refers to the detailed organization and the implementation of a
complex operation in the organization (De Angelis, Howard and Miemczyk, 2018). Therefore,
from the point of view of customer service it is important that the management of Morrisons is
able to consider Logistics because it will be highly helpful in ensuring that the management of a
wide range of needs and requirements of the customers can be done highly effectively and
efficiently.
Operations- Operations refer to the way through which the different types of activities
are run within the organization (Frazzon and et.al., 2019). In the context of Morrisons, it is very
important that the transportation is given due importance in Operations because through it the
delivery of goods is done to the customers and thus it is quite important that the transportation
activities are carried out in a proper manner effectively and efficiently.
Marketing and Sales- Marketing and Sales refer to the wide range of activities which
are carried out by an organization to make sure that the overall revenues are enhanced and thus
the enhancement of the overall profitability level can be done in the right manner. In this way, it
can be quite helpful in ensuring that the attainment of the goals and objectives can be done in the

right way in the companies. Thus, In Morrisons it is important for the managers that they are able
to put their focus on warehousing because by making the use of the big warehouses the
enhancement in the overall sales revenues can be done in the right manner.
Services- It is quite essential that the organizations are able to put their focus on ensuring
that the improvement in the level of services can be done which makes it an important
component in the organization’s supply chain management. Therefore, it is quite important from
the point of view of the managers of Morrisons that they are able to make sure that they can
increase the overall level of competitive advantage by ensuring that the use of a wide range of
services can be made in the right manner which can help in the attainment of the overall goals
and objectives.
Thus, In Morrisons it is quite important that all of the above elements in an organization’s
supply chain are considered. This will be highly helpful so that the organization is able to ensure
that the proper weightage to customer service, transportation, warehousing and competitive
advantage can be given which will be quite helpful in ensuring that the improvement in the
overall efficiency and effectiveness level can be brought in the right manner.
Problems in Organization’s supply chain management
There are various types of problems which are being faced within an organization’s
supply chain management. An explanation of some of these problems is as follows-
Increase in the costs- Nowadays, the supply chain of the organizations suffers from the
problem of the increase in the overall level of costs (Lamba and Singh, 2017). This is so because
the inventory handling in the firms requires a higher-level of expenditure to be made. In
Morrisons also, this particular problem is being faced by the managers because there has been an
overall increase in the level of costs which has created an overall impact on the level of
operations and functioning of the organizations.
Supply Chain Complexity- The supply chain of the organizations sometimes is very
complex which creates a lot of problems in providing certain goods to the customers. Therefore,
supply chain in Morrisons suffers from the problem of complexity which thereby creates an
overall impact on the way the goods are required to be provided to the wide range of customers
in the market effectively and efficiently.
Consumer Demands- The supply chains in the firms are required to be adjusted
according to the different types of consumer demands in the market (Min, Zacharia and Smith,
2019). The consumer demands are highly dynamic in nature and can fluctuate a lot and thus this
can create an overall impact on the customers in the market effectively and efficiently. In
Morrisons, the supply chain suffers from the problems related to the consumer demands and thus
in this way this can create an overall impact on the level of operations and functioning of the
company.

Level of risk- The supply chains in the organizations is also quite risky. This is so
because the firms are required to make sure that they can adjust themselves according to the
dynamic needs and requirements of the ever-changing business environment which thus requires
them to make additional investments to be made in the supply chain (Nakasumi, 2017). In
Morrisons, this is also a problem which is being faced by the managers in the supply chain
management which is creating an overall impact on the company.
Supply chain volatility- The supply chain of certain types of organizations is quite
volatile in nature. This therefore creates an impact on the way these organizations are able to
carry out their wide range of activities. In Morrisons, the supply chain which is being used is
quite volatile because this creates an overall impact on the different types of supplies in the
organizations.
Demands of the supply chain- There are certain types of higher-level of demands of the
supply chain which are required to be considered by the organizations. For a company like
Morrisons, this can create a problem because frequent change in the demands of the supply chain
affects the overall level of functioning and the way a wide range of goods are to be delivered to
the customers.
The ways in which the organization can respond to the different challenges
There are different types of ways which can be used by the organizations through which
they are able to ensure that they can respond to the various types of challenges in the right
manner. Thus, it is quite crucial that the managers of Morrisons are able to make the use of the
following ways-
Identifying ways of decreasing the costs- The identification of the different types of
ways in which there can be an increase in the costs has to be done in the organizations which will
be quite helpful in making sure that the right ways can be adopted so that a reduction in these
costs can be brought which will be quite helpful in enhancing the overall level of profitability
(Nunes, Causer and Ciolkosz, 2020). Thus, In Morrisons it is quite important for the managers
that they are able to make sure that these particular ways are implemented which will be quite
helpful in ensuring that the reduction in these particular costs can be done in the right manner.
For this, the managers are required to identify the different types of elements in the supply chain
and thus assess the increase in the overall level of costs. This will be helpful for the company so
that it is able to manage its overall needs and requirements related to the supplies in a proper
manner.
Reducing the Supply Chain Complexity- It is important for the firms that they are able
to ensure that the Supply Chain Complexity can be reduced. In Morrisons, it becomes highly
crucial that the different types of methods and techniques can be adopted which will be quite
helpful in ensuring that the Supply Chain Complexity is reduced in the right manner which will

help a lot in enhancing the overall level of efficiency and effectiveness and also makes sure that
the overall level of profitability can be enhanced.
Fulfillment of the consumer demands- It is quite crucial for the organizations that they
are able to make sure that a proper identification of the different types of consumer demands can
be made. In this way, the firms will be able to make sure that they are able to manage their needs
and requirements properly. The management of Morrisons is therefore required to make sure that
the identification of the consumer demands can be made so that the required changes in the
supply chain can be made which will help a lot in ensuring the fulfillment of these demands in
the right way in the future.
Identification of the risk level- It is crucial that the organizations are able to identify the
risk level which is present in the supply chain in the right manner. In this way the management
of Morrisons will be able to make sure that the assessment of the risk can be made and the
appropriate ways can be used so that the management of the level of risk can be done in the right
manner effectively and efficiently in a proper manner.
Reducing the supply chain volatility- In the firms, it is highly important that the supply
chain volatility can be identified and the appropriate measures can be used to reduce it
effectively and efficiently (Rajeev and et.al., 2017). In Morrisons, it is quite crucial that the
supply chain volatility can be identified in a proper manner and the right measures are taken so
that it can be reduced which will be quite helpful in ensuring that the supplies can be managed in
the right manner in the firms.
Fulfillment of demands- In the organizations, it is essential that the wide range of
demands of the customers are identified using the appropriate mathematical and statistical
models for forecasting which can be highly helpful in ensuring that the companies can manage
their needs and requirements properly (Reimann and Ketchen Jr, 2017). In Morrison, it is quite
important that the different types of demands of the companies are identified using the right
measures which will help a lot in ensuring that the fulfillment of these particular demands can be
done.
Thus, these are some methods which can be adopted by the managers of Morrisons
through which they will be able to meet out the challenges of Supply Chain Management. This
can help them to raise the overall level of efficiency and effectiveness.
Critical assessment of the findings
There can be use of different types of ways through which an organization can make sure
that an improvement in the supply chain management can be made in the right manner. The
following methods can be used by Morrisons for this particular purpose-
Evaluation of the suppliers- For the organizations it is quite crucial that the evaluation
of the suppliers can be made in the right manner effectively and efficiently. Therefore, it is quite

important that the management of Morrisons is able to make sure that a proper evaluation of the
different types of suppliers can be made which will help the company to be able to identify the
supplier which can provide supplies at lower costs which will help in ensuring an overall
enhancement in the overall level of profitability effectively and efficiently.
Analysis of the strategies- In the firms, it is quite important that the wide range of
strategies can be analyzed in a proper manner (Saberi and et.al., 2019). It can be very helpful
particularly for a company like Morrisons. This is so because it will be able to make sure that
through a proper analysis it is able to take the right decisions related with supply chain
management which will help in ensuring that the attainment of the goals and objectives which
are related with it can be attained.
Use of demand planning- It is crucial for the organizations that they are able to ensure
that the analysis of demand planning can be done in the right manner (Wu and et.al., 2016).
Therefore, for a company like Morrisons it becomes important that through its use it will be able
to ensure that it can make proper plans regarding the different types of demands. This will help a
lot in the taking of the right decisions effectively and efficiently in the right manner.
Removing data silos- A data silo refers to a situation in which only a particular user
group has the access to the crucial information which is required across multiple user groups.
Therefore, In Morrisons it is essential that the managers are able to take appropriate actions so
that the data silos can be reduced in the right manner effectively and efficiently. This can lead
towards ensuring that the company is able to take the right decisions effectively and efficiently in
relation to the supply chain management.
Monitoring of the system- A regular monitoring of the system is quite essential to be
carried out from the point of view of the management because by making the use of the
appropriate methods and techniques the managers will be able to ensure that the can assess the
inflows as well as outflows of the inventory in a proper manner. Thus, in this way Morrisons will
be able to make sure that the monitoring of the system is carried out in a proper manner which
will be quite helpful in ensuring that the conclusions and recommendations can be derived
effectively and efficiently.
Thus, in this way it can be said through making the use of these particular methods and
techniques the organizations will be able to ensure that they can derive the appropriate
conclusions and recommendations in the right manner.

CONCLUSION
From the above report, it can be concluded that Supply Chain Management refers to the
different types of techniques and methods which can be used by the organizations for ensuring a
proper management of the different types of supplies. The different types of factors which are
related with the supply chain of an organization are required to be considered. There are a wide
range of problems and issues which are required to be considered by the firms effectively and
efficiently. The managers can make sure that these particular problems and issues can be solved
in the right manner. The improvement in the supply chain can be done when the use of the
various types of methods and techniques is made which can be quite helpful in ensuring that the
conclusions and recommendations can be derived quite effectively and efficiently in a proper
manner.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
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management: a literature review. International Journal of Production Research. 57(15-16).
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Cole, R., Stevenson, M. and Aitken, J., 2019. Blockchain technology: implications for operations
and supply chain management. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal.
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economy: towards the circular supply chain. Production Planning & Control. 29(6). pp.425-437.
Frazzon, E. M. and et.al., 2019. Towards supply chain management 4.0. Brazilian Journal of
Operations & Production Management. 16(2). pp.180-191.
Lamba, K. and Singh, S. P., 2017. Big data in operations and supply chain management: current
trends and future perspectives. Production Planning & Control. 28(11-12). pp.877-890.
Min, S., Zacharia, Z. G. and Smith, C. D., 2019. Defining supply chain management: in the past,
present, and future. Journal of Business Logistics. 40(1). pp.44-55.
Nakasumi, M., 2017, July. Information sharing for supply chain management based on block
chain technology. In 2017 IEEE 19th conference on business informatics (CBI) (Vol. 1, pp. 140-
149). IEEE.
Nunes, L. J. R., Causer, T.P. and Ciolkosz, D., 2020. Biomass for energy: A review on supply
chain management models. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. 120. p.109658.
Rajeev, A. and et.al., 2017. Evolution of sustainability in supply chain management: A literature
review. Journal of Cleaner Production. 162. pp.299-314.
Reimann, F. and Ketchen Jr, D. J., 2017. Power in supply chain management. Journal of Supply
Chain Management. 53(2). pp.3-9.
Saberi, S. and et.al., 2019. Blockchain technology and its relationships to sustainable supply
chain management. International Journal of Production Research. 57(7). pp.2117-2135.
Wu, L and et.al., 2016. Smart supply chain management: a review and implications for future
research. The International Journal of Logistics Management.