What is Supply Chain Management, and How Does it Work? | Logistics and supply chain management in Oman

In our increasingly globalized economy, companies need to manage an ever-increasing amount of information, people and products in order to remain competitive. Every company has a supply chain; the challenge is determining which aspects need to be improved upon. Also called logistics management, supply chain management involves planning and tracking the flow of goods from their inception until they arrive at their ultimate destination. This includes everything from production to shipping. Let's take a closer look at this complex field.

1. What is the supply chain?
   A supply chain is the flow of products that a company sources, produces, and sells, from raw materials to the customer. The supply chain is a network of suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, and retailers who work together to provide products and services to customers.

2. What are the different types of supply chain organizations?

A typical supply chain comprises several nodes that move raw materials through several stages in the process — from raw materials to various stages of production. Each stage represents a sub-segment of the full supply chain that ultimately determines how much a company sells and how much it makes. The net result depends on how products are sold to the final consumer. Factors like elastic demand (how quickly a product is bought by a particular segment of customers) and product mix (how many products are in a specific product category) can also affect profits, total revenue, and sales. One way to analyze a company’s supply chain is the Supply Chain Risk Atlas (SCART) developed by Deloitte and completed in 2018.
Components of a Supply Chain
As an overview, a supply chain network consists of the following:
✍️ A third-party logistics provider is a company that purchases raw materials and performs freight brokerage services to move products from the producer to the end point, or from one final customer to another.
✍️ Logistics Management Services (Logistics) are firms who manage a company’s right-of-entry to receive, package, and transship cargo. They procure containers and workers to construct, outfit, and commission cargo vessels, as well as workplace and cabin crew to crew cargo ships.
✍️ Distribution Process is the act of moving products from their source through the final consumer.
Our mathematical framework considers a warehouse as an asset hosting multiple assets that are interdependent on each other, and it captures this interdependence using a network framework — counterparties and intermediaries. This framework considers each node in the supply chain as a node in a dominance matrix with other nodes considered as either substitutes or connectors, as shown in the below figure.

1. Why do companies use supply chain management?

Supply chain management is the process of planning and co-ordinating the flow of raw materials, parts, components, sub-assemblies, intermediate assemblies, finished goods, and related information from the point of origin to the point of consumption. This includes design, order processing, inventory, warehousing, material handling, packaging, transport, and customer service. The information technology used to manage supply chains The process of Supply Chain Management is a web-based, process-oriented, data-driven approach that documents a company’s purchasing, production, distribution, and customer support activities across its numerous functional areas and networks. This stream-of-conscious approach lays bare a company’s complex supply chain to enable customers and others able to observe the ongoing evolution of resources in a given process — i.e., a scene — that rewards further analysis, monitoring, and optimization to better meet customer needs.
The Supply Chain Management web application makes use of on-the-job features of several Excel-compatible spreadsheets, shared on site from management teams spread across departments and units within a company.
The Supply Chain Management platform includes many built-in reporting and analytics features, as well as an extensive API that can accommodate custom applications. One of the significant benefits of web applications is they provide a fast and flexible interface to create, share, store, and display customized views. The system can be customized for each client and business unit in any industry.
Currently, we have set up a simple ‘Customer Profile’ which shows basic information about a customer, such as name, birthdate, address, and email. This Profile is primarily for internal use, however, it could be configured to be available on website and sent via email to customers. Within the same application, a visit can be made to any Customer Profile. When this is done, the Profile can be exported to CSV format for analysis.
Whether A or B is processing material from C in process A or processing material from B in process B, the flow remains the same.

1. Which aspects of a supply chain should be improved upon?

Supply chain is very important in the present scenario. It is a series of connected activities or processes that are performed to get a product from the supplier to the consumer. In the supply chain, the order follows the following path: (1) manufacturer, (2) wholesaler, (3) retailer, (4) end user. Also in the supply chain, there are load, shipment size, principles, and feel for each process; the order could begin with the order processing that there are no strict limits on the load and the shipment size. Low margins: In the current scenario, the results of in-store operations, while benefiting the company, also have a low margin at which to operate. As a result, retailers struggle by lowering their margins by staying cheap or they retain high margins by improving services, adjusting to the new technologies, and joining services.
At Walmart, we always evaluate opportunities to optimize the supply chain and embrace opportunities to reduce costs and improve our service and requirements to bring the savings to the shoppers. Walmart comprehensively analyzed the market, worked with the customers, and we are preparing to adjust to changes in the market. But we are adding a new chronic pain point to the customer, especially overseas: the shipping. For a retailer like Walmart, who relies on perfectly matched, order-matching, stable relationships in its supply chain with its customers and partners, and constantly innovating to maintain and improve them, shipping can be a constant threat. And we try to plan ahead to minimize shipping risk. We try to incorporate and adjust how often we ship orders by removing the complexity of factors that increases their accuracy. This method gives us a better plan to have order matching by providing small, consistent, well-managed, efficient shipping service in the transportation.
Walmart Israel was the first strategic investor to deploy this tech.

1. Which technologies are used in supply chain management?

There are two basic technologies that can be used to track inventory and assets in the supply chain. The first is RFID or Radio Frequency Identification. RFID tags are attached to inventory and assets, and they are scanned as the items move through the supply chain and can even be used to track items in the retail environment. The second technology is GPS or Global Positioning System. GPS enables tracking as the asset moves through different economic areas. Affordability of Supply Chains
Supply chains help to protect company's budgets and to meet the growing demands of a fast-growing economy. They play a huge role in keeping costs down while keeping inventory from leaving companies. While many companies will try working their supply chain as efficiently as possible, there will always be anomalies and costs that need to be managed. Below is an outline of some commonly used supply chains.
Machine Sort & Pick Machine – In this process, the materials are sorted according to requirements, and the product and costs are entered into a computer. The computer then determines the increment cost, # of pieces, and weight for the selected machine and automatically places a bid for each machine. Orders can be saved, canceled, and multiple cycles started for the same product.
Machine Shipped & Sold/Transported – In this process, head, tail, and items are sorted according to requirements, materials are matched and bids are submitted. Not much work is required to start a cycle, since there is software to do all the work and bid work automatically.
Machine Delivered – In this processing factory, distribution centers or even donation centers pick the product, adjust the level of charge, and the product is loaded at the factory for loading.
Machines Inspected – In this process product is selected after cost and quality criteria are defined. The inspection process involves the selection of machine specifications, the CG (Chief Quality Officer), Quality Assurance, and selection of experts for specific machines and vendors. Once selected, the CG sends updates to the CDO, allowing the company to manage the asset in a bid process.
Machine Closed – In this process, inventory is closed.

1. How can you improve your own supply chain and logistics processes?

A supply chain is the network of suppliers, manufacturers, warehouses, and shipping companies involved in getting products from a producer to a consumer. It’s important to look at your supply chain and see where you can improve the process. If you can make it more efficient, then you can cut down on costs.
The old way of doing things was inefficient. You probably don’t realize this, but food can be quite expensive. Let’s say I get the option to purchase a 10kg bag of rice at the store for a dollar. Yes, you read that right. If I calculate the cost per kilogram using the following formula:
Calculating this, we realize that it costs $3.40 to produce a kilogram of rice using conventional methods. I could do the same for frozen vegetables but they’re cheaper to produce in Iran. Better still, these countries focus more on produce that is exported rather than locally produced.
Let’s examine the cost of producing different food commodities.
According to the US Department of Agriculture, beef costs approximately 54 US cents per kilogram. And chicken, 27.64 US cents.
My everyday grocery costs add up quite quickly. It costs $5 for a pack of instant rice ($3.40 for 10kg), $1 for a chicken breast ($2.43 for 14.3 Oz), $2 for a pack of pasta ($3.56 for 10.1oz), $1 for a bag of broccoli ($3.40 for 10.25 Oz), and $1 for a frozen vegetable ($3.70 for 6.85 Oz). Check out the prices for cheese.
It can be quite costly to buy each of these food items. It will not only make you eat less healthy, but it will also cost you a lot more money to do so. We can cut down on costs here.
You should always try to decrease costs wherever you can. Being able to accurately calculate them is useless unless we can also cut them down. We have to see how we can help the process. This is why we should understand how to streamline the supply chain and reduce the costs. Supply chains are a complex matter, but they're something every business has to deal with, so it's important to have a solid grasp on the basics. Thanks for reading This article I hope you will understand about supply chain management. If you want to know more about logistics and supply chain management in Oman