University Report: Supply Chain and Operations Strategy Overview

This report provides a comprehensive overview of supply chain and operations management, encompassing fundamental concepts, strategic approaches, and performance measurement techniques. It explores the importance of understanding operations and supply chain management in a business context, highlighting the forces behind efficient supply chains and how they enhance competitiveness. The report delves into key principles, including customer segmentation, network tailoring, market signal observation, and strategic supply management. It examines performance measurement methods, emphasizing financial and non-financial metrics, key performance indicators (KPIs), and organizational benchmarking. The analysis includes discussions on the impact of big data, social media, and knowledge workers on supply chain efficiency and competitiveness. The report also covers strategic choices firms make to enhance their operations and supply chains, emphasizing the role of effective planning systems and end-to-end value creation.

SUPPLY CHAIN AND OPERATIONS STRATEGY
Table of Content
1. Introduction.
1.1 Understand the fundamental ideas, concepts, and techniques of operations
and supply chain management.
1.1.2 Operations and supply chain management concepts and tenets.
1.1.3 The main forces behind efficient supply chain management.
1.1.4 Competitiveness can be increased through operations and supply chain
management.
1.1.5 Important choices taken by firms to enhance their operations and supply
chain.
1.1.6 Application of several strategic concepts to operations and supply chain
management in businesses.
2. Recognize the methods and procedures used in performance measurement.
2.1 The importance of performance measurement in operations and supply
chain management.
2.2 Analyze numerous organizational performance metrics that are financial,
non-financial, single- and multi-factor.
2.3 The choice and use of key performance indicators for efficient operations
and supply chain management.
2.4 Organizations can increase the effectiveness of their operations and supply
chain management with the use of organizational benchmarking.
3. Conclusion.
4. References.

1. Introduction
Why is it important to study operations management and the chain of operations management
as part of a business education? There will always be an operations management chain
supporting any business activity you may end up being involved with in the future. Operations
management is an essential component of business studies, but it's also crucial to stay up to
date on current operations management practices to spot both positive and negative trends in
business operations and keep your company competitive in today's shifting business
environments. For instance, the Maui Sugar Company's activities were shut down in 2016 as a
result of the Hawaiian sugar business continuing to operate in the same manner for decades
and realizing that they were out of date and no longer competitive.
A supply chain includes everyone involved in directly or indirectly completing a customer
request. The supply chain also includes transporters, warehouses, merchants, and even the real
customers in addition to the manufacturer and suppliers. Every company, including a factory,
has a supply chain that includes all of the tasks necessary to accept and fulfill client requests.
Among these responsibilities are the development of new products, marketing, operations,
distribution, financing, and customer service.
1.1 Understand the fundamental ideas, concepts, and techniques of
operations and supply chain management.
1.1.2 Operations and supply chain management concepts and tenets.
Since supply chain administration (SCM) was a relatively new concept at the time, this paper
performed a fantastic job of summarizing key SCM principles. After more than ten years, this
essay is still regarded as a "classic," and it was republished in 2010 and again in 2013. It has
currently received over 160 citations from academic papers and trade periodicals. We reviewed
the supply chain initiatives carried out by the most prosperous corporations and distilled from
their experience seven core principles of supply chain management to aid decision-making by
managers.
1. Create client segments based on the different groups' needs for services and modify the
chain of supply to profit serve these segments.
2. Tailor the supply chain network to the needs of the different customer groups and their
financial success.
3. Observe market signals, and adjust demand forecasting across the supply chain
accordingly to ensure accurate forecasts and efficient resource use.
4. Improve conversion across the supply chain by differentiating products closer to the
consumer.

5. Use strategic supply management to decrease the total cost of ownership of services
and products.
6. Develop a technological Create a supply chain plan that takes many decision-making
processes into account tiers it paints a precise picture of how information, services, and
goods are moving.
7. Use channel-spanning performance metrics to examine the effectiveness and efficiency
of all efforts made to reach the end user.
The businesses described in this article are just a small sample of the many that have improved
customer happiness and profitability by improving supply chain management. All of these
businesses have recognized the necessity of integrating supply chain activities, even though
they have each followed a different project. As a result, there has been an increase in revenue
because of better asset utilization, cost savings, and price advantages that assist draw in and
keeping consumers.
1.1.3 The main forces behind efficient supply chain management.
Although these factors may influence future supply chains, it is less certain how they will affect
the fundamental mechanisms of such supply chains. Large data sets will always have a position
in supply chain organizations, it is now widely acknowledged. The way and speed at which data
is examined, however, is the next frontier. With these new techniques for managing and
analyzing data, we can now predict trends and be better equipped to handle those changes
quickly.
Similar to this, social media may give users the chance to contribute feedback at each location
along the supply chain, which can then be applied as useful business intelligence of the
company. The final outcome of social media management will define how helpful it will be to
the company at hand, as with other new trends and technology. Knowledge workers are not a
brand-new concept. In actuality, the phrase dates back more than 50 years. The steady influx of
college-educated, technologically advanced professionals who utilize information as their
principal tool of trade and who are joining organizations, on the other hand, is quite new and
unheard of.
For goods to be artificial and supplied in the proper quantities, at the proper times, and at the
proper locations, suppliers, factories, warehouses, and retailers must be effectively integrated.
This is the focus of supply chain management. A high-performance business model can be
created by connecting important business operations within and across firms using supply chain
management. Therefore, to achieve a high level of efficiency throughout the supply chain and
within it, highly skilled personnel, significant amounts of data, the capacity to evaluate this
data, and open communication are needed.
The world's technological capacity for information storage has approximately doubled every 40
months since the 1980s.Massive volumes of external data surround today's supply chains,

which traditional supply chain systems are unable to use. The amount of data in the "digital
cosmos" of today is doubling twice a year. Along with this exponential increase in volume,
Jeseke, Gruner, and Weiss (2013) point out two more aspects of data that have undergone
significant change. First, information is flooding in. The increased use of linked devices, such as
webcams, cellphones, RFID readers, cars, and sensor networks, has added many new
autonomous data sources. These kinds of devices increase the speed of data gathering and
processing by continuously generating data streams devoid of human involvement.
Many of these systems from the last ten years are either obsolete or only partially useful due to
the big data era. Big data presents an opportunity to establish the customer-centric supply
chain and rethink supply chain operations from the outside in. It is obvious that data volumes
are increasing, but also that data velocity is quickening and data variety is expanding. But given
the current supply chain architecture, the problem is that businesses can't always use the data
they have. To fully utilize the power of big data, new techniques and algorithms must be
created.
A particular segment among the employed population has long used using knowledge and
technology produce supply chain management offers unparalleled value, just as big data and
social networking are still widely used businesses and play a significant role in how decisions
are made and conveyed. The supply chain knowledge workers are those folks. The value that
these people had previously hidden is now there in the operations stream. Although knowledge
workers are common in fields like technology, medicine, and few people outside of the supply
chain industry would consider it a business think that would be favorable for knowledge
workers to exist in an industry that is so clearly focused on operations.
Knowledge workers are in many ways supply chains themselves because their skills and the raw
ingredients that are experiences moving through various channels with the ultimate aim of
offering benefit to the final customer. The flood of knowledge workers and their contributions
will continue to be very beneficial to supply chain management as a field of study and as a
business. We may anticipate that as we enter the new era of the supply chain knowledge
worker, these people will continuously develop new solutions that will enable businesses to
satisfy the always-changing wants of their clients. Knowledge workers will have the opportunity
to reinvent supply chain management in the future and push its bounds farther into the public
consciousness.
1.1.4 Competitiveness can be increased through operations and supply chain
management.

Concerning a company's competitive strategy outlines the spectrum of consumer wants it
hopes to satisfy through its products and services in comparison to its competitors. For
instance, Mart strives to offer a wide selection of goods with acceptable quality at competitive
costs. The majority of the items sold at Mart are standard items that may be found elsewhere,
including everything from clothing to household appliances. Mart offers affordable prices and a
wide selection of goods. McMaster-Carr sells products for MRO (maintenance, repair, and
operations). It has a catalog and a website where it provides information on more than 500,000
products. It bases its competitive strategy on giving the customer convenience, accessibility,
and response. McMaster doesn't compete based on low prices due to its emphasis on
response. McMaster and Mart employ different competing strategies.
Compare Zales, which sells diamond jewelry in brick-and-mortar stores, with Blue Nile, which
uses an internet-selling model for diamonds. Blue Nile has emphasized the range of diamonds
offered on its website as well as the fact that its margins are substantially smaller than those of
its competitors who operate brick-and-mortar stores. However, customers must wait before
receiving their jewelry and cannot view or touch it before buying (the Blue Nile does provide a
30-day return period). In contrast, a customer can enter Zales, receive assistance from a
salesman, and depart right away with a diamond ring. A Zales store does not offer a wide
selection, though. A typical Zales store has fewer than a thousand stones, compared to Blue
Nile's website's more than 70,000 selections.
Contrarily, a Mart buyer prioritizes price more. When making an online purchase from the Blue
Nile, a consumer emphasizes both product selection and price. Customers at Zales are more
interested in quick responses and assistance with product selection. As a result, a company will
base its competitive strategy on the priorities of its clients. An aggressive strategy targets one
or more client categories and tries to meet the demands of these customers’ products and
services.
For a corporation to be successful, the functional strategies and the competitive strategy must
complement one another be successful. The success of Seven-Eleven Japan, for instance, can be
attributed to the superb alignment of its functional strategy. Seven-marketing Eleven has
placed a strong emphasis on convenience, including quick access to stores and the availability
of a variety of goods and services. Seven-operations Eleven's and distribution have prioritized

having a high store density, being extremely responsive, and having a top-notch information
infrastructure. As a result, supply chain infrastructure is used to provide fresh goods and
services that create a positive feedback loop raise demand, and the increased interest in turn
makes it simpler in order to expand store density for operations, replenishment responsiveness,
and information infrastructure.
1.1.5 Important choices taken by firms to enhance their operations and supply
chain.
The most crucial component of every system is the basis of effective planning systems. All that's
left components must of the system operate on shaky foundation without a solid foundation.
The planning process is similar. You need a solid foundation for it. Three crucial components
make up the foundation.
 Value from beginning to end (E2E): The supply chain that spans the supplier's supplier
to consumption serves as the foundation for the GSCI planning system (end-to-end).
This guarantees that the apparatus will maximize cost, and inventory customer service
across the whole value stream. Narrowly focused deciding methods can improve
outcomes for a single section at the expense of adding inventory or cost to other supply
chain components or raising customer service risk. Every supply activity is motivated by
a foundation that sets a significant emphasis on total value throughout the whole supply
chain to manage its planning holistically and concentrate on end-to-end measures.
 Business Knowledge: Excellent planners are well-versed in the company's operations,
business strategy, competitive advantages and disadvantages, E2E supply chain strategy
and shareholder needs. They can meet a company's immediate and long-term needs by
utilizing all planning systems and processes thanks to their in-depth expertise in the
business world. Although the general planning procedure for, say, the heavy equipment
or fashion industries founded on CPG-related ideas, these principles must be adapted to
the unique setup and evaluation of client values
 Correct Data: Many supply chain systems are built on accurate data, which is essential
for planning. The accuracy of supply plans depends on the data utilized to create them.
Bill of materials, ERP variables (i.e., planning parameters entered into SAP to generate
the supply plans, such as lead times, planning windows, and operating efficiency), tables
with customer master data and inventory correctness are among the crucial databases
used in an entire supply chain plan.
Ten Resources for Planning Ideas

1. The basis for having devoted, competent risk-and-return planners for the supply chain.
2. Supply chain Intricacy is what determines planning complexity.
3. Considering the business when planning.
4. Plan and execute your strategy.
5. Customer service is a crucial output metric for supply planning.
6. The main tenet of the planning system is accurate data.
7. The organization can effectively work on what is most important thanks to
segmentation.
8. Cut out supply chain time that adds no value.
9. The supply chain strategy should meet the demand trigger.
10. Select the appropriate New Product Initiative launch strategy.
Supply chain activities represent both a risk to the corporation and a chance to create total
value that may result in a substantial profit for the organization. Inventory, cost/waste,
customer service, and proprietary assets are all areas of supply chain risk. It is advisable to
assign able supply chain planner (s)to manage this portion of the supply chain if there is a
sizable a supply chain operation that poses a risk in one or more of these four areas categories
(both in terms of talent level and the number of people). The second justification for filling
supply chain planning positions role may be the overall value opportunity. This contains the
chance to manage the supply limitation, manage cost/cash savings, enhance customer service,
boost income, decrease assets, or greatly enhance activity effectiveness/efficiency.
1.1.6 Application of several strategic concepts to operations and supply chain
management in businesses.
 Spread Throughout the Supply Chain
Moving and storing a product from the supplier stage to the customer stage of the supply chain
is known as distribution. Distribution occurs between each pair of supply chain steps. Raw
materials and components are transported from suppliers to manufacturers, whereas finished
goods are moved from the producer to the consumer. Distribution has a significant role in a
company's total profitability since it directly affects both the cost of the supply chain and the
value of the customer. Distribution, including how it affects markdowns and lost sales, has an
impact on about 35% of the revenue in the clothing retail sector.
There are two main stages to developing a distribution network. The supply chain network's
general structure is illustrated in the first phase. Decisions like whether the product will be
offered directly or via an intermediary are made during this phase. The general framework is
then transformed into specific areas and the distribution of their capacity, demand, and
capability in the second step. This chapter focuses on problems that affect how the broad
distribution network is designed. The second phase, which begins with the wide network and
ends with a particular supply chain network, is the subject of chapters 5 and 6.

Companies have a wide range of options when developing their distribution network, as the
aforementioned instances demonstrate. The demise of businesses like Blockbuster and Web
Vans shows how a poor network may significantly harm a company's ability to make a profit.
The right distribution network option expands the supply chain surplus by meeting customer
needs as cheaply as possible.
 Improved Design of Distribution Networks
The reaction time length the amount of time that a client to get their order. Product selection
refers to the number of distinctive products/setups that the distribution network offers
provides. The likelihood that a product will be in stock is known as product availability stock
when a customer order is received. The ease with which customers may place and receive
orders, as well as how tailored this experience is, all have an impact on the customer
experience. It also includes merely sensory elements like the chance to buy a cup of coffee and
the benefits that the sales personnel offers. Time to market is the period of time needed to
introduce a new product. Order visibility is the ability for customers to track their orders from
placement to delivery. The network's capacity to manage client returns of defective things and
how simple it is for a client to do so are referred to as return capabilities.
At first look, a customer could seem to always demand the highest level of performance in each
of these areas. In reality, though, it is not like that. Customers should anticipate a longer wait
time when ordering books from Amazon than when visiting a local Barnes & Noble. Customers
can choose from a substantially larger assortment of books at Amazon.com than they would at
the Barnes & Noble location. On Amazon, customers must choose between speedy service and
a large selection. By changing the distribution network design, the following supply chain costs
are impacted (notice that these are four of the six supply chain drivers):
 Transportation
 Infrastructure and handling
 Information’s
 Stocks
The above mentioned cost and customer service characteristics are the primary criteria used to
compare different delivery network configurations. no distribution infrastructure will, in
general, function better than others in all respects. Therefore, it's crucial to make sure that the
distribution network's advantages align with the company's strategic positioning.
2. Recognize the methods and procedures used in performance
measurement.
2.1 The importance of performance measurement in operations and supply
chain management.

The supply chain is a continuous process that begins with acquiring raw materials and
concludes with selling the finished product. It includes several functions, including anticipating
sales, buying, manufacturing, marketing, sales, and distribution, as well as three main flows:
materials, information, and money. An entirely new field has opened up for gaining competitive
advantages: supply chain management. In order to improve the long-term performance of the
supply chain as a whole as well as the performance of individual companies, Meltzer et al.
define the supply chain as the systematic and strategic coordination of traditional business
functions and the tactics across these functions within a specific company and across
businesses within the supply chain.
Supply chain management, which is dynamic, necessitates obligatory decisions at the tactical,
operational, and strategic levels to enhance performance. It is necessary to make decisions
about the chain's configuration, its structure, and the activities that will go along with each
stage at the strategic level. This phase's decisions are often referred to as strategic decisions.
Despite improvements in organizational effectiveness and efficiency and developments in SCM,
there are still problems that still need to be overcome, including functional integration, supplier
collaboration, and—in particular—the alignment of a performance monitoring system. In
reality, without such alignment, the majority of firms will never make an improvement that
lasts. There are specialized frameworks in place to help the three management levels deal with
such complexity. According to the literature, the Supply Chain Council's Supply Chain
Operations Reference (SCOR) and the Global Supply Chain Forum are the two primary models
for operating a supply chain (GSCF).
It is crucial to look into the idea of systems for evaluating performance and their significance in
order to control the supply chain after focusing on specifically supply chain management the
models for the service supply chain and management.
Wong & Wong emphasize the significance of evaluating the supply chain's performance to
achieve enough efficiency by selling products at competitive costs and by ensuring the greatest
possible use of pooled resources among chain members. Therefore, performance evaluation is
a crucial instrument for managing supply chains, as organizational performance always has a
significant impact about the ways in which the companies.
Performance evaluation in the supply chain has grown in significance, particularly in light of
how gains from supplier integration enhance performance. Furthermore, Cousins et al. Take
notice that successful supply chains are increasingly identified as having direct communication
with customers and suppliers as a differentiating factor. Gunasegaram et al. point out
information sharing, communication, and trust as being essential components in boosting the
performance of enterprises and integrated supply chains Despite being in the spotlight,
measurement and performance metrics related to supply chain management, according to
Gunasegaram et al., are not given enough attention in the literature because there aren't
enough empirical studies and case studies on such metrics.

Financial and non-financial criteria are combined in a balanced scorecard. The business's
mission and strategy, which focuses based on four perspectives: customers, internal company
procedures, learning, and growth—offers goals and measures. Tessa et al. also gave 140
techniques for performance assessment systems for the years 1980–2007. The studies were
divided into four groups: supply chain, service, corporate, and person.
2.2 Analyze numerous organizational performance metrics that are financial,
non-financial, single- and multi-factor.
In the context of Kenya, this paper gives a thorough discussion of the use of strategically sound
banking practices. The main goal was to assess commercial banks' performance taking into
account both financial and non-financial performance measures. Return on equity (ROE) was
one of the financial indicators, whereas customer happiness, learning and growth, and internal
procedures were non-financial indicators. The resource-based perspective and balanced
scorecard methodology served as the study's pillars. Among the target group were 40
commercial banks. Additionally, the stratified selection approach was used to proportionally
determine the 181-person sample size. Online reviews and closed- and open-ended
questionnaires were used as data gathering tools. Primary data for the study came from Kenyan
head offices of commercial banks, while secondary data for the years 2016 to 2018 came from
the central bank of Kenya's annual reports.
Commercial banks play a significant role in changing the nation's economic structure, not just in
Kenya but around the world. However, the banks must use several strategies to retain
sustainability due to the intense competition in this sector. Therefore, adding non-financial
knowledge to financial dimensions is one method to achieve such goals. Implementing such
methods, thus, aids managers in striking a achieving a balance between short- and long-term
objectives will help create a sustainable competitive system. Therefore, the purpose of this
study sought to assess commercial banks' performance using a strategic intelligence metric. To
successfully navigate the business world, Strategic information provides specialized knowledge
and a broader spectrum of sensitization. Strategic intelligence is essential for assisting
managers in making wise decisions.
The commercial banks, the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), as well similar to other financial
institutions, currency exchange offices, make up Kenyan banking industry The Central Bank of
Kenya Act 491 and the Kenyan Constitution Act No. 488 for banking control how the sector is
administered. In Kenya, there are currently forty (40) commercial banks functioning, excluding
those that were under statutory administration or receivership between 2015 and
2018.According to reports from 2016, commercial banks in Kenya saw an average increase in
profitability of 24.6%. A law limiting interest rates was passed this year.
The current study was required due to the pressing need for the banking sector to perform
better and for competitive methods for strengthen the Kenyan economy. The study looked at
the function of commercial banks in Kenyan have strategic intelligence.

2.3 The choice and use of key performance indicators for efficient operations
and supply chain management.
Supply chain performance refers to the ability of the supply chain to deliver the appropriate
commodities to the appropriate location at the appropriate time for the least expensive
logistical cost. This definition takes into account the eventual customer's cost, value, and
delivery time. The authors claim that this definition includes the supply chain's most important
elements. Three key criteria are used to assess performance.
According to it may be inferred from an examination of the literature that the authors approach
the challenge of determining the effectiveness of the supply chain from several perspectives.
Strategic, tactical, and operational indicators are differentiated based on the degree of the
process of making decisions. Additionally, they are separated into qualitative and quantitative
or cost and non-cost ones. Customer happiness, flexibility, minimal integration of information
and materials, effective risk management, and supplier performance are a few examples of
qualitative metrics. Authors highlight that among the quantitative measures.
 Cost, sales, profit, and inventory investment maximization are connected to costs.
 Product lateness, sick rate, customer response time, and lead time are connected to the
customer.
 Utilization of resources and capacity are related to productivity.
A measurement system should employ three different sorts of measures: flexibility, resource,
and output, according to several writers. Resource management techniques can save expenses
while maximizing resource utilization. They want to make sure there is good cost efficiency. The
next category makes an effort to offer ways to maximize performance by measuring a supply
chain's outputs. The supply chain's adaptability to changes in volume and schedule from
customers and suppliers is gauged using flexibility metrics. These measures serve various
purposes and have various goals.
2.4 Organizations can increase the effectiveness of their operations and supply
chain management with the use of organizational benchmarking.
To build In order to manage a supply chain with cost-effective and resilient operations,
benchmarking essential. It is possible to compare the performance of earlier projects with that
of current projects by using historical information to determine standards and best practices,
allowing for a more thorough examination of the next step. The goal of benchmarking is to
avoid faulty projections leading to exaggerated expectations that will reduce the likelihood that
management will be successful. Additionally, assessing prior performance promotes the
reflective process of learning from past errors and also raises the assurance of managerial
transparency.

Here are three considerations that must be made to guarantee a successful project
benchmarking:
 Comparability: By standardizing the comparison formats, businesses should only
benchmark comparable things.
 Compliance: Strict adherence to antitrust laws is required.
 Change: To make changes for the betterment that supply chain management, It is
essential to keep a complete record of the necessary information, such as details about
the business's operations.
In the end, supply chain benchmarking can be used to optimize performance, identify areas for
improvement, and even reach a new target goal when done appropriately. The best supply
chain may vary depending on the firm, but one thing is certain: benchmarking’s advantages can
help an organization achieve the best supply chain.
With the promise of significant improvements to their bottom lines and a competitive
advantage over their rivals, many businesses today are working to build best-in-class supply
chains. The globalization and complexity of supply chains are also increasing. You should be
aware of how your supply chains stack up against those of your industry's competitors and
best-in-class firms to set suitable targets and uncover best practices. The process of
benchmarking involves finding, comprehending, and adapting the best procedures and
practices that may be found both inside and outside the company to improve performance.
Choosing the benchmark to utilize is the first step in starting a benchmarking project. Typically,
businesses conduct two forms of benchmarking.
The largest challenge will be developing uniform metrics to analyze the operations of different
businesses to get comparable conclusions. Your supply chains will continue to face increasing
pressures in the future. As a result, a procedure must be established to compare your supply
chain's performance to that of competitors and to comprehend the best practices that are
resulting in notable advancements. You won't be able to deploy your resources as efficiently
without this approach.
3. Conclusion
Operation is a process that turns inputs into outputs with higher values. The task of resource
management in the production and delivery of goods and services falls under the purview of
operations management. The phases of sourcing, manufacture, distribution, and after-sales are
included. A supply chain is a web of businesses and operations that runs the length of the value
chain. SCM is a collaborative mindset and a collection of strategies and tools for integrating and