Different size companies have employees in various positions in order to make sure everything gets done to keep the business running. Throughout these positions are many that relate to supply chain planning. This is an important function and any business that sells a product needs to have the people in place to make it happen effectively. Without them in place, there can be disastrous consequences that cause product delivery delays, increase needs for customer service, and can cost the company money.
Purchasing is a primary function for any business. If you're just selling products or making them, this position is critical to many parts of the business. The factory will need the materials to make the product, assemblers will need the parts to put it together, and customer service will need their tools in place to do their jobs well.
If you manufacture the product, you will need raw materials. If you assemble premade products, you need to be sure they are available as well. If the products cannot be made or put together, they cannot be sold and shipped. This part of the process is the second of the critical functions.
Managing inventory ensures you know how much you have. It seems trivial, but it is also critical. If you sell too many products and cannot ship them, you have to refund the money. This is lost money and will develop a bad reputation. Those customers may not come back and may prevent others from becoming customers. Inventory needs to be counted both manually and digitally at least monthly to keep up with the changing numbers. The manual count ensures the tracking system is keeping an accurate count.
The warehouse manager works with the inventory. Not only will they know how much of anything they have, but will be able to easily locate it. Much like a store knows which shelves products are on, the warehouse staff will know the same information about raw materials and parts for assembly. This will get the needed materials to the factory quickly and efficiently, saving time and money.
Transportation is a key function. If you can ship the product through a regular company, you need to be able to track each shipment. For those companies that have their own transportation, they will need to know when and where each truck is and needs to be. Even if your employees are not the ones driving, you still need a shipping and transportation manager to make sure the products get to their destination.
Customer service provides the customers with information and uses the systems in place to do this. The tracking and ordering systems need to be accessible to the customer representatives so they can quickly provide status updates to customers and work to resolve problems.
Demand planning encompasses many of the other functions. This position is one that helps keep the costs down by only having the needed amount of product on hand to meet the demand. Too much product will sit and age in the warehouse waiting for a sale and cost the company too much ahead of time. Running out of product costs the company in lost sales. This position requires analysis of sales and demand to carefully plan what is needed and when.
Getting the product from the raw material to the customer takes a concerted effort of many different positions. Even if the same person fills many positions, the work of each one is critical to making sure customers are happy, the company is profitable, and the product gets from one end of the chain to the other.
Purchasing is a primary function for any business. If you're just selling products or making them, this position is critical to many parts of the business. The factory will need the materials to make the product, assemblers will need the parts to put it together, and customer service will need their tools in place to do their jobs well.
If you manufacture the product, you will need raw materials. If you assemble premade products, you need to be sure they are available as well. If the products cannot be made or put together, they cannot be sold and shipped. This part of the process is the second of the critical functions.
Managing inventory ensures you know how much you have. It seems trivial, but it is also critical. If you sell too many products and cannot ship them, you have to refund the money. This is lost money and will develop a bad reputation. Those customers may not come back and may prevent others from becoming customers. Inventory needs to be counted both manually and digitally at least monthly to keep up with the changing numbers. The manual count ensures the tracking system is keeping an accurate count.
The warehouse manager works with the inventory. Not only will they know how much of anything they have, but will be able to easily locate it. Much like a store knows which shelves products are on, the warehouse staff will know the same information about raw materials and parts for assembly. This will get the needed materials to the factory quickly and efficiently, saving time and money.
Transportation is a key function. If you can ship the product through a regular company, you need to be able to track each shipment. For those companies that have their own transportation, they will need to know when and where each truck is and needs to be. Even if your employees are not the ones driving, you still need a shipping and transportation manager to make sure the products get to their destination.
Customer service provides the customers with information and uses the systems in place to do this. The tracking and ordering systems need to be accessible to the customer representatives so they can quickly provide status updates to customers and work to resolve problems.
Demand planning encompasses many of the other functions. This position is one that helps keep the costs down by only having the needed amount of product on hand to meet the demand. Too much product will sit and age in the warehouse waiting for a sale and cost the company too much ahead of time. Running out of product costs the company in lost sales. This position requires analysis of sales and demand to carefully plan what is needed and when.
Getting the product from the raw material to the customer takes a concerted effort of many different positions. Even if the same person fills many positions, the work of each one is critical to making sure customers are happy, the company is profitable, and the product gets from one end of the chain to the other.
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You can find a summary of the advantages you get when you use professional supply chain planning services at http://www.adexa.com/solutions/supply-chain-planning right now.
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