What is Supply Chain Management?
Supply chain management is a pre-determined process to effectively manage the product movement in a delivery cycle, along with the related data and finances. It is commonly referred to as SCM, and its success depends on the contribution of all the associated entities in the shipping cycle. The application of supply chain management spans from packaging to product delivery.
Significance of Supply Chain Management in an E-commerce Shipping and Delivery
Supply chain management highlights optimization in every aspect of a shipping life cycle. Therefore, when planned and executed correctly, sellers enjoy the most crucial benefits, low cost and low transit time.
- Low cost: SCM dictates the most cost-effective way to accomplish every delivery task. From optimum allocation of free inventory to ensure a continuous flow of products. SCM allows stakeholders to make optimum use of their resources.
- Lower transit time: Following and acting as per a determined SCM strategy allows every stakeholder to collaborate seamlessly. Furthermore, SCM is also used to identify future threats, allowing a shipping company to plan for a solution. All the features, when compiled, have always resulted in lower transit times.
Prerequisites of Supply Chain Management and How It Works
Supply chain management is deployed from a centralized software and can be broadly categorized into five phases that work together.
- Monitoring: SCM is deployed from a centralized platform that allows the buyer, seller, and shipping company to monitor the product during transit.
- Inventory management: SCM aligns and makes it easier to track inventory per invoice.
- Warehouse management: Warehouse managers enjoy more control over product movement and processing.
- Transportation management: It allows shipping companies to direct and optimize systems used to handle products.
Use Case with Supply Chain Management
Say a company needs to coordinate various activities to produce and deliver customers’ goods. To optimize the supply chain activities, companies can use the SCM strategy to design, manufacture, pack, and transport the products.