Introduction
In the area of business market, one of the major responsibilities of an organization is to provide the customers with the products that they want. This helps in improving the position of the company in the market and helps the customers to remain satisfied and associated with the firm, hence improving their performance as well. In this respect, the supply chain management and the logistics systems that are implemented by the organization can be seen as the major lifeline to the sustainability of the firm (Wang et al., 2016). This paper has discussed the major concepts about supply chain and logistics with the aim of summing up their relevance for the business.
Supply Chain Management in Business Organizations
Supply Chain Management includes a discussion of the major aspects of the development of an efficient supply chain for a business and the relevance that it has for the company. In order to understand the relevance that a supply chain can have for a company, the profit leverage effect can be used. To put this concept in simple words, the money that a company saves in purchasing is accounted as an addition to the profit that they make. Considering this, it can be clearly stated that as supply chain is the system of purchasing of a company, it is highly relevant to the company and its profits to develop an efficient supply chain (Christopher, 2016).
As supply chain is so important for a business organization, it is the priority of the firms to develop a supply chain that can efficiently add to the profits of the firm by reducing their costs of purchasing. Consequently, the professional make use of strategic sourcing processes which help them in identifying the strengths and weaknesses of their supply chain and develop it in such a way that the expenses are minimum, and the profits are increased. The various methods that were discussed in the chapter which are implemented to achieve the desired result include analysis of portfolio, total cost, expenses and weighted point evaluation (Prajogo et al., 2016).
Changes in the Purchasing Industry
As technology is being developed in order to facilitate almost all the other aspects of the development of a business, supply chain management is also changing with the progress of IT. one of the major changes that have been observed is that more and more professionals have started to adopt the strategic sourcing activities in order to improve their supply chain. It means that the relevance that was held by procure to pay activities in the commercial market has reduced notably. Not only this, since there are so many strategic procedures to select from, the individual skills of the professionals and their knowledge about the specific market and industry have started to play a role that is bigger than ever (Bozarth & Handfield, 2015).
With the development of technology, most of the systems that are included in the process of development and management of the supply chain have become automatic and digitally controlled. The systems that are implemented by firms make use of the information that is available on the web and generate data about the developments in the supply chain of the company. This has reduced the clerical work of the professionals associated with supply chain management and has also helped them in reducing the possibilities of human errors to the least (Grant et al., 2017).
Logistics in Business Organizations
In the present times, logistics is seen as one of the most important and critical areas with respect to the performance of a firm in the market. As business organizations are heading towards achieving sustainability while performing their operations at a global level, experts have observed that the relevance of the logistics systems is certain the grow in the near future as well. As a result of these kinds of developments in the business world, the area of logistics management has also undergone a major change. As the operations have become global for a number of firms, the process of logistics is more and more dependent on information (Prajogo et al., 2016).
In order to make sure that each firm is able to develop their logistics in the most efficient manner, companies have started to outsource experienced professionals for this task. However, it is also important for businesses to understand their role in the system and work with the professionals in such a way that an efficient system of logistics can be developed. Logistics include a range of activities in the practical world and the representatives of the firm understand the needs and financial constrains of the company in the best manner. As a result, it is important that their knowledge of the business is used by the logistics professionals in order to develop the best strategy of logistics management that can help the company to increase their profits (Christopher, 2016).
Application of Logistics and Supply Chain Management in Practical Business
As it is evidently clear from the discussion above, supply chain and logistics can collectively be considered as the two areas of business that determine the performance of the company in the market. When a customer makes a purchase from a firm, their assessment of the performance of the company is made by the quality of the delivery service of the company as well as the product that they have developed (Grant et al., 2017). Supply chain and Logistics are the two aspects of the management of the operations of a firm that dictate the quality of delivery service for the company. With efficient logistics and supply chain, it is possible for a company to make sure that they are able to provide for the needs of the customers in the minimum time and with the best quality of service (Wang et al., 2016).
In a practical sense, this means that the efficiency of the supply chain and the logistics operations of a firm play a key role in determining the association of a customer with a firm. With a good system of logistics and supply chain management, a company can provide quality service to their customers which will improve their experience of purchasing from the company. For the firm, developing these systems requires the efficiency of delivery services along with ensuring the fact that the expenses of the organizations are reduced to minimum while providing their customers with the products that they want (Bozarth & Handfield, 2015).
Conclusion
In conclusion, both supply chain and logistics management can be considered as the critical processes that play a key role in determining the level of success that a business can achieve. In the business world, supply chain holds a great deal of relevance, especially in the modern times. The reason for this is the growth that has been observed in the retail industry at a global level and the importance that digital markets have obtained after the development of IT. As IT has become a part of businesses all over, the professionals are changing their approach with respect to the strategies that they implement in the management of their supply chains and logistics. Considering this as a major issue of concern, it has become highly important for companies to outsource professional services that can help them to develop an efficient system of supply chain and logistics while ensuring quality service to their customers along with minimum expenses for the firm. With the help of the right mathematical tools and technology, a firm can make use of their available data in order to understand the challenges that they can face while providing for the needs of the customers. Such strategies have proven to be highly efficient for firms and have helped them to increase their profits using the right approach for their supply chain and logistics management (Bozarth & Handfield, 2015).
References
Cecil. C. Bozarth, & Handfield, R. B. (2015). Introduction to operations and supply chain management. Pearson Prentice Hall.
Christopher, M. (2016). Logistics & supply chain management. Pearson UK.
Grant, D. B., Trautrims, A., & Wong, C. Y. (2017). Sustainable logistics and supply chain management: principles and practices for sustainable operations and management. Kogan Page Publishers.
Prajogo, D., Oke, A., & Olhager, J. (2016). Supply chain processes: Linking supply logistics integration, supply performance, lean processes and competitive performance. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 36(2), 220-238.Wang, G., Gunasekaran, A., Ngai, E. W., & Papadopoulos, T. (2016). Big data analytics in logistics and supply chain management: Certain investigations for research and applications. International Journal