Supply Chain Management
In the first week of class, we read about how exactly communication, trust, and strong associations are essential components to provide chains. It really is clear to me that these concepts are critical to mitigating the impact of the bullwhip influence on businesses. Businesses should think about how exactly to include existing technology and better methods of communication within the source string to ensure that up-to-date information is providing accurate demand forecasting along the various components in a source chain. An article I read out of the University of San Francisco addresses this subject.
It recommends that supply chains use point-of-sale data (POS) and that such data should be produced open to all partners in a source chain (“How to Manage the Bullwhip Effect on Your Supply Chain”). This article then shows that entities can access these data utilizing a vendor-managed inventory (VMI) system to give a platform for better writing among cogs in a source chain (“How exactly to Manage the Bullwhip Effect on Your Supply Chain”).
The notion of a vendor-managed inventory system is fascinating to me since it shows how technology, information, and communication writing can make the process of inventory management and purchasing new inventory more efficient. While these systems are beneficial to the efficiency of a supply chain, a VMI does take work from staff away. When talking about the low-skilled work, will senior management actually find other uses for employees whose former jobs were to count inventory? Could VMI systems lead to layoffs and …