TRA 6157 Logistics and Supply Chain Management

Introduction

The objective of the paper is to analyze the articles that are concerned with evaluating the government setting supply chain standards for enabling the better integration on the supply chain. The paper will use three different information sources and it will be demonstrate a detailed understanding on the overall supply chain integration along with its associated advantages. Moreover, the paper will also attempt to explain the supply chain standards, contribution of SAP in collaborating with the supply chain applications along with integration of front end and back end systems associated with supply chain integration along with better quality management.

Supply Chain Standards

The article “Supply chain standards up for federal funding” is evaluated in explaining that setting supply chain standards enhance supply chain management (Chaudhuri, 2015). From evaluation of the article it has been gathered that congress is considering legislation authoring $47 million that facilitates in developing standards of supply chain integration. The article has also explained that “The legislation, the Enterprise Integration Act of 2002” that has been approved by the United States that remains pending in the Senate (Wang et al., 2016). It does not have any apparent opposition and remains supported by industry groups. The article review explained that the objective of the supply chain standards is to enable integration all through the supply chain in order to speed up transactions along with decreasing delays and inventory (de Mattos & Barbin Laurindo, 2015). For example, if a large automaker alters any design specification within a bumper, its suppliers might easily and quickly observe the ways in which such new s[specifications impacts its components.

The article made it clear that the supply chain standards development initiatives is intended to move ahead with or without any congressional assistance. From review of this article it is clear that manufactures realize that there can be an increased opportunity to bring out cost from the supply chain (Gayialis et al., 2015). However, as per the views of the article, incentives for organizations to push for supply chain standards are not always apparent. Daniel Garretson, who is an analyst at Forrester Research Inc primarily, stated in the article that the savings remain confined within the supply chain (Wang et al., 2016). Moreover, it is a mismatch between the place of savings and the place where the manufacturers have their power. Supply chain process standards serves as a guide that offers a structure of processes that are observed to be involved in carrying out supply chain associated activities. Supply chain standards support in providing practitioners, consultants and educators with a reference tool to help its companies in realizing potential gaps all through a wide spectrum of their processes of supply chain (Hahn & Packowski, 2015).

SAP in Collaborating Supply Chain Applications

From review of the article “SAP plans apps to link plants, supply chains” it was gathered that SAP has a well developed team of developers that focuses on collaborative production along with supply chain applications which might work jointly as a single system. The effective product suite helps in integrating operations that ranges from procurement of raw materials to delivery of finalized products (Holley, 2002). The article also explained in collaborating supply chain, SAP provides opportunities of enhanced inventory turns, shorter manufacturing cycle period, superior quality management along with facilitating a decrease in total operating costs with needs of working capital. The article also explained that as supply chains are evolving within demand networks with highly dynamic, lean along with internationally dispersed assortment of external and internal partners, collaboration is turning out to be new strategic capability (Wang et al., 2016). Considering the same, SAP explained that cloud based innovations that increased the connectivity, society and Ariba Network insights that can help organizations become highly agile, intelligent along with collaborative supply chains for attaining success in the recent year’s global and networked economy (Mangan & Lalwani, 2016). The delivery of SAP supply chain orchestration indicated that SAP’s continuous commitment to the company’s supply chain strategy. Associated with the launch of such initiatives will alter supply chains to demand networks in the upcoming years that facilitates consumers to address new challenges within volatile marketplace which was clouded with complexities logistics.

With an established along with broader employed SAP Supply Network Collaboration application built in, organizations can collaborate with the supply chain network with the suppliers along with contract manufacturers that facilitates innovative along with advanced collaborative business process with capabilities that is sector specific (Ross, 2016). Collaborative supply chain applications offers organizations with increased visibility into supply chain trading partners along with an interface in order to manage the needs of advanced supply chain. Through easy integration to certain back-end system along with supplier on-boarding services organization might easily collaborate on confirmations, orders, scheduling agreement releases, financing along with VAT complaint invoices (Wang et al., 2016).

Integration of Front-end and Back-end Systems

From review of the article “The urge to merge: Integrating front- and back-end systems” it was gathered that within the supply chain management of companies, integration between the back and front-end systems considering overall integration of supply chain might facilitate in improving consumer service, enhance productivity along with offering ultimate considerable investment returns (Songini, 2002). Holley, in the article expressed a view that devoid of such integration back-end systems such as finance, human resource along with ERP application stays un-utilized. Moreover, the front-end systems such as sales, marketing, consumer service with support applications and consumer relationship management (CRM) remains relegated to a common contact, order processing functions along with account management. From analyzing the article it was gathered that a basic challenge can be disparate and proprietary technologies prepared by several vendors which run the back as well as front-end systems. In addition, the expense of anticipating the accurate points of interface among systems along with developing custom interfaces for such points are generally increased than the aspects for which several companies are willing to pay (Thibodeau, 2002). The article offered a good instance that the emerging standards associated with web services are making integration quite simpler. The article review explained that component inventories are regularly supervised all through the supply chain and any deviations from the plan, the sales force can attract consumers through discounts. For such reasons, timely information is used in order to use the front as well as back ends of the supply chain consecutively. The article also explained that the supply chain integration process needs disciplined management skills application of the supply chain processes, management skills along with technologies to collaborate key functions along with capabilities of the supply chain (Wang et al., 2016). Collaborated supply chain can be explained as linked with consumers and suppliers through employing management techniques that works together in optimizing through effective performance in distribution, creation and end product support.

Conclusion

The objective of the paper is to analyze the articles that are concerned with evaluating the government setting supply chain standards for enabling the better integration on the supply chain. The paper will use three different information sources and it will be demonstrate a detailed understanding on the overall supply chain integration along with its associated advantages. The paper revealed that supply chain process standards serves as a guide that offers a structure of processes that are observed to be involved in carrying out supply chain associated activities. Supply chain standards support in providing practitioners, consultants and educators with a reference tool to help its companies in realizing potential gaps all through a wide spectrum of their processes of supply chain.

References

Chaudhuri, S. (2015). Application of Supply Chain Management through SAP in Agriculture of SAARC Nations. In Strategic Infrastructure Development for Economic Growth and Social Change (pp. 347-359). IGI Global.

de Mattos, C. A., & Barbin Laurindo, F. J. (2015). Collaborative platforms for supply chain integration: Trajectory, assimilation of platforms and results. Journal of technology management & innovation, 10(2), 79-92.

Gayialis, S. P., Ponis, S. T., Panayiotou, N. A., & Tatsiopoulos, I. P. (2015). Managing Demand in supply chain: the business process modeling approach. In 4th international symposium and 26th national conference on operational research, Chania, Greece (pp. 73-79).

Hahn, G. J., & Packowski, J. (2015). A perspective on applications of in-memory analytics in supply chain management. Decision Support Systems, 76, 45-52.

Holley, C. J. (2002). The urge to merge: Integrating front- and back-end systems.  Customer Inter@ction Solutions, 21(3), 38-41. Retrieved on December 9, 2014, from ProQuest. (ProQuest doc ID 208160220)

Mangan, J., & Lalwani, C. (2016). Global logistics and supply chain management. John Wiley & Sons.

Ross, D. F. (2016). Introduction to supply chain management technologies. CRC Press.

Songini, M.L. (2002). SAP plans apps to link plants, supply chains. Computerworld, 36(45), 20.Retrieved on December 9, 2014, from ProQuest. (EBSCO Accession Number 7887672)

Thibodeau, P., (2002). Supply chain standards up for federal funding. Computerworld, 36(42).Retrieved on December 9, 2014, from ProQuest. (EBSCO Accession Number 7587647)

Wang, G., Gunasekaran, A., Ngai, E. W., & Papadopoulos, T. (2016). Big data analytics in logistics and supply chain management: Certain investigations for research and applications. International Journal of Production Economics, 176, 98-110.