Ask the Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) Expert: Scheduling Assistance
 Asked on Apr 18 2005 4:03:56:000PM | Q | I am a senior level HR executive who would like to better understand what supply chain management is all about. What is a good resource to better help me totally understand "suppy chain management" and its value to manufacturing companies. Thom , Memphis, TN |
| A | Generally speaking, supply chain management (SCM) is a prism for viewing the various operations companies deploy -- in concert with their customers and suppliers -- to design, maintain and execute processes that drive products or services to the market. While some measure the extent of this "chain" to stretch from the customer's customer to the supplier's supplier, SCM reach is defined by a company's SCM range. For the savvy SCM practitioner, this can go very far up or downstream; for the SCM-challenged, the opposite. In short, each company is unique, and so is its role in a supply chain and its approach to managing that role. And since companies most likely participate in or manage a number of chains that are becoming increasingly more dynamic, the concept is probably more aptly described as a network, rather than "chain." Traditionally, supply chain management has focused on functional areas that include purchasing, engineering, production, logistics, warehouse management and distribution. However, companies are increasingly taking a larger view of the operations that add value to product and service flow, which requires informational and operational integration from areas of the organization that include finance, marketing, sales, customer service, and yes, human resources (the hiring, training and deployment of personnel to bring products to market and service them is critical to successful SCM). There are a number of good books out on the subject. My recommendation as a primer on the subject is "Handbook of Supply Chain Management" by James B. Ayers. |
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