Abstract
Supply Chain Management is a network of facilities that produce raw materials, transform them into intermediate goods and then final products, and deliver the products to customers through a distribution system. The management of the supply chain and the roles of various actors involved differ from industry to industry and company to company. As a result Supply Chain Management (SCM) has become a vital issue for manufacturers, professionals and researchers. It is felt that to manage the supply chain effectively entire structure of supply chain must be understood properly.
This paper attempts to provide the reader a complete picture of supply chain management through a systematic literature review. It presents main activities of supply chain and the step-by-step approach for understanding a complete picture of supply chain.
1. Introduction
Organizations adopt numerous business improvement methodologies to improve the business performance. Manufacturers and researchers have noted a number of problems regarding supply chain activities in their research and practice (Sridharan et al., 2005). It is observed that usually either a system (Integrated approach) or a subcomponent in supply chain (Disintegrated approach) is focused and discussed in the literature but fails to answer the rational (why, what, how) behind supply chain activities ( Spens & Bask, 2002). This paper addresses these questions with the help of structured literature review, which not only helps to understand the management of supply chain but also provide the a six step approach to manage the supply chain.
8. Discussion and Conclusion
Organizations have multiple objectives like enhanced competitiveness, better customer service and increased profitability etc. To seek these objectives organizations employ various defensive as well as offensive business performance improvement approaches. Approach we have discussed (SCM) covers all functional areas of organization. It is the network of customers, suppliers, manufacturers, and distributors concentrating the flows of material, information, and finance through physical and human resources.
