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供应链管理可以被定义为“无缝的设计和管理,它属于一个增值过程，跨越组织边界以满足客户的真正需求”(学会(Institute of Supply management),2005年,发现Gundlach等,2006)。据沃勒(2002)“供应链是一个网络系统,有形的商品包括原材料采购、生产、装配和销售”在过去的二十年中，供应链管理(SCM)开发了管理理念，现在国际公司已经在他们的组织应用中采取了这一概念。著名组织采用了沃尔玛供应链的概念,如思科、耐克、戴尔、宝洁(Procter & Gamble)和Zara(Jespersen Skjott-Larsen,2008)。供应链管理中的一个重要领域是库存管理,库存管理强调优化供应链的重要性。根据会员和琼斯(1996)库存被认为是七个“废物”的供应链,它应该尽可能减少。库存持有财务价值和会计目的被认为是短期资产,也代表了公司的营运资本。库存持有财务价值和会计目的被认为是短期资产,也代表了公司的营运资金。毫无疑问,高库存水平可以提高产品的可用性和客户满意度但同时增加伤害的风险,损失和高资本参与。而企业的竞争压力迫使他们在不增加成本的基础上提高客户的服务(Gattorna等,2003)。 Supply chain management can be defined as “The design and management of seamless, value-added processes across organizational boundaries to meet the real needs of the end customer” (Institute of Supply Management, 2005, sighted in Gundlach et al, 2006). According to Waller (2002) “Supply chain is a network that for tangible goods covers purchasing of raw materials, manufacturing, assembly and distribution of finished goods to the client” During the last two decades Supply Chain Management (SCM) has developed as a management concept and now international companies have adopted this concept in their organisation. Famous organisations that adopted the concept of supply chain are Wal-Mart, Cisco, Nike, Dell, Procter & Gamble and Zara (Jespersen and Skjott-Larsen, 2008). An important area in the supply chain management is inventory management. The inventory management highlights the importance of optimising the supply chain. According to Womack and Jones (1996) inventory is regarded as one of the seven “wastes” in the supply chain and it is considered as something to be reduced as much as possible. Inventory holds a financial value and for accounting purposes is regarded a short term asset and also represents parts of the working capital of the firm. There is no doubt that high inventories level can increase the product availability and customer satisfaction but at the same time adds the risks of damage, losses and high capital involvement. While the competitive pressures on the companies force them to improve customer service without adding cost (Gattorna et al, 2003). Recognising the important role of efficient inventory in the supply chain has launched a variety of industry wide initiatives for its management. A lot more concepts were introduced in the supply chain to reduce inventory to an optimum level. These include efficient food service response (EFR) and efficient consumer response (ECR) in the food and grocery industry, quick response (QR) in the textile industry, continuous flow manufacturing (CFM) in electronics manufacturing and just in time (JIT) in auto manufacturing (Frazelle, 2001). To record accurate information about the inventory in the supply chain and to remain cost effective at every stage an effort was made to minimize the human contribution and increase the role of information system. In analysis the literature some possible question arises which need to be answers. To identify and evaluate the challenges in inventory management in the FMCG supply chain How digital information can improve optimal level of inventory and reduce the cost? In order to answer these questions both secondary and primary research can be taken. For Secondary research i will use university resources, internet , journals, newspaper where as primary research will be done through sending questionnaire to retailers, distributors and suppliers. Gundlach, G., Bolumole, Y., Eltantawy, R. and Frankel, R. (2006), ‘The changing landscape of supply chain management, marketing channels of distribution, logistics and purchasing’, Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, Vol. 21, No. 7, pp. 428–438, USA, Emerald Group Publishing Limited The questions that will need to answer in the dissertation is how digital information can reduce the cost of FMCG supply chain for inventory management in UK retail sector? The purpose of selecting the topic ‘The use of Information Technology in the FMCG supply chain for Inventory Management’ is for the reason that inventory is the most valuable assets in FMCG sector. So therefore to stay competitive and cost effective its management is necessary across the supply chain. Inventory management is all about operations and information technology is all about innovation. The FMCG sector is the most competitive segment whose products are easily available every where. Therefore to remain in the market it is necessary to keep high level of customer satisfaction, neither only dependent on operation management nor only dependent on innovation but it is a combination of implementing excellent technologies and adopting best operation practices by providing best training to their employees. Both secondary and primary data will be collecting to reach to conclusions. Secondary data will be collecting from academics research, internet, magazines and from relevant retails websites whereas primary data will be collected by sending questionnaire to retailers, distributers, suppliers and wholesalers. Charts , tables and graphs will be used to make the dissertation more understandable and attractive. The products involved in FMCG sector has short life cycle and much more variety while the customers are more and more informed. So the companies needs more focus on material design and management and product distribution function to excel in this competitive environment. Studies show that uncertainty inherent in procurement, manufacture and distribution which makes management of these activities very complex. In spite of massive development in communications and informational technology still more than 50 percent of retailers have major inaccuracies in inventory (Sari, 2008). An unmanaged and less information technology based inventory can result in under stocking of the inventory, low product availability, difficult to differentiate between slow moving and fast moving stocks. In such an environment it is difficult to manage waste and forecast inventory demand for special events. Similarly managing inventory across the supply chain i.e. form the point of production to the point of sale. And eventually because of unmanaged inventory the logistics and transportation cost would be high. This form is designed to help students and staff complete an ethical scrutiny of their proposed research. It also enables the University and Faculty to keep a record of research conducted that has been subjected to ethical scrutiny. While it is not possible to provide definitive guidelines, by answering the questions below will help decide whether your research proposal requires ethical review by the Faculty Research Ethics Committee (FREC). In cases of uncertainty members of the FREC can be approached for advice, alternatively students and staff can refer to the O&M Research Ethics Policy. The large majority of research proposals will not need further scrutiny after completion of this form. This form should be completed by the principal investigator for staff research. For student projects it may be completed by the student or the supervisor. In all cases it should be counter signed by the supervisor and kept as a record that ethical scrutiny has occurred and a full review by the FREC is unnecessary. Please note it may still be necessary to conduct a risk assessment for proposal, for information contact the Faculty Safety Co-ordinator. *If the research may have a number of phases where the full methodology or research subjects are not clear at the outset, a separate ethical approval is needed for each phase. In this case, the research title must make clear if approval is only being sought for an initial phase of work – e.g. "XYZ Study – Phase 1 – Initial exploration". Does the research require approval from any external ethics com-mittee, e.g. the NHS? For NHS research, this includes any work using NHS Patients (incl tissues, organs, or data), NHS staff, volunteers, carers, NHS premises or facilities. If the answer to question 6 is YES then the research proposal must be submitted to the relevant external body. For NHS Research Ethics If the research proposal does not require submission to either the FREC or an NHS REC then standard approval applies. If the research proposal requires submission to the FREC please refer to the Faculty Research Ethics Policy, or contact a member of the committee for more information. Approval awaited applies until the proposal has been considered by the FREC. *If the research falls under a category/programme of research that has already received category approval then the proposal does not need to be referred to the FREC. Inventory is the main business asset of all retailers. It’s the storage of materials which are then sold and the business makes a profit or loss. Today in the market when the banks are tightening or discouraging the enterprises by offering high interest loans then it is the real time to thing about this inventory management as it covers almost 50% to 70% enterprise assets. The importance of inventory in not only vital at the store level but it is equally important at source, procurement, distribution and eventually at the store/customer service level. Just take the example of crude oil, the importance of its inventory management is vital from the point of source to the point of sale i.e. in the whole supply chain. Inappropriate management of inventory can result in over ordering of stock, under ordering of stock, lost, become waste, out of date, expired etc. on the same end if you are running a big retail company then proper supply chain management is also very significant. To maintain best economic order quantity of inventory best supply chain practices are to be implement an efficient inventory is important because it’s timely availability serves the customer demands and also add more profit to the business similarly a more or less stock is loss to business and loss of potential customer. It is also important to know the flow of internal merchandise and link it with the whole supply chain operation. Information Technology is a major area that retailers are now using to track and improve inventory and supply chain performance. Retailers are hopeful that by using information technology they can exchange more accurate, timely and complete information. Information Technology has helped in improved and efficient logistics operations for retailers. The aim of this research is to highlight the challenges concerning with the unmanaged inventory across the supply chain and to conceive a remedy for it in the by using all possible sources specially information technology. An unmanaged and less information technology based inventory can result in under stocking of the inventory, low product availability, difficult to differentiate between slow moving and fast moving stocks. In such an environment it is difficult to manage waste and forecast inventory demand for special events. Similarly managing inventory across the supply chain i.e. form the point of production to the point of sale. And eventually because of unmanaged inventory the logistics and transportation cost would be high. An unmanaged inventory can make a conflict between inventory manager and marketing manger as the marketing manager wants more but the inventory manager insisting on less quantity of inventory. Initiating better communication between inventory manager and marketing manager and throughout the supply chain is another challenge. To resolve these challenges mentioned in the objectives I carried extended search in the library and on the internet. I found some material on Barcode technology in the library but I was not satisfied with its results. While probing on the internet I came about RFID. RFID stands for Radio Frequency Identification technology. RFID is the latest technology which helps in managing logistics and supply chain inventory problems faced by all companies. The RFID not only helps in solving the internal problems but it also contributes to improve information and material flows throughout the supply chain. Studies show that from 1999 to 2002 companies purchased software of $15 billion in supply chain to manage the flows of information, goods and cash among their customers and suppliers. However it is impossible for software to fix a broken system problem alone (Kanakamedala et. al, 2003). If processes are not linked, if managers do not use words like supply-chain partner or collaboration, and if these is not an essential level of trust among supply chain members, a software system cannot create the level of comfort required for the technology to move proprietary information among supply-chain members who have historical not trusted each other. The technology is merely a facilitator to overcome a failing set of processes or correct a basic misalignment among the objectives of different functional units in the organization. Similarly it cannot focus management attention on the importance of inventory management and the critical requirement of seamless information flows throughout the supply chain. Information is the blood for any business to work efficiently. RFID will help organizations to gain meaningful, up-to-date and on time information across the supply chain which will decrease inventory and transport costs. Taking the cost effectiveness of RFID technology Sainsbury has decided a trial and has estimated to invest £18 million to £24 million. They have projected total benefits of estimated £8.5 million yearly mainly through more efficient stocks control and rotation. So retailer will benefit from this technology as reduction in labour cost and a reduction in theft and out of stocks problem (Hingley et. al, 2007). Both secondary and primary data will be collecting to reach to conclusions. Secondary data will be collecting from academics research, internet, magazines and from relevant retails websites whereas primary data will be collected by sending questionnaire to retailers, distributers, suppliers and wholesalers. Charts, tables and graphs will be used to make the dissertation more understandable and attractive. This paper inspired me by the way that the products involved in (Fast Moving Consumers Goods) FMCG sector has short life cycle and much more variety while the customers are more and more informed. So the companies needs more focus on material design and management and product distribution function to excel in this competitive environment. This paper gave me the idea that that there are different techniques and process to control inventory and also that often mostly managers have no idea what are the right way to store inventory. This paper gave me the base to think broadly of different way to control inventory. Information is the blood for any business to work efficiently. RFID will help organizations to gain meaningful, up-to-date and on time information across the supply chain which will decrease inventory and transport costs. If processes are not linked, if managers do not use words like supply-chain partner or collaboration, and if these is not an essential level of trust among supply chain members, a software system cannot create the level of comfort required for the technology to move proprietary information among supply-chain members who have historical not trusted each other. The technology is merely a facilitator to overcome a failing set of processes or correct a basic misalignment among the objectives of different functional units in the organization. Similarly it cannot focus management attention on the importance of inventory management and the critical requirement of seamless information flows throughout the supply chain. If processes are not linked, if managers do not use words like supply-chain partner or collaboration, and if these is not an essential level of trust among supply chain members, a software system cannot create the level of comfort required for the technology to move proprietary information among supply-chain members who have historical not trusted each other. The technology is merely a facilitator to overcome a failing set of processes or correct a basic misalignment among the objectives of different functional units in the organization. Similarly it cannot focus management attention on the importance of inventory management and the critical requirement of seamless information flows throughout the supply chain. This paper gave me a possible question for the dissertation and especially the methodology I am using in my dissertation comes from this paper. A financial risk can some time be huge because of inventory costs due to obsolescence, markdowns and stock-outs. For example personal computers devalue by more than 1 percent per week. The retail markdowns comprise about 20 percent of total retail volumes in USA. Mismanaged supply chains leads to unnecessary or mismatched inventory and thus results in huge financial risks. The inventory management highlights the importance of optimising the supply chain. The reason is that because inefficiencies in the supply chain leads to higher inventories at all points of the chain. Supply chain management is the latest step in succession of highly visible improvement efforts. Today organisations are taking more interests in developing their own supply chain then ever because of the high efficiency of cost by adopting this system. I had been involved in the research method group presentation for up to four weeks and learnt many skills of how to find literature, how to write literature and how to work in a team, now by the end of this experience, I can look back into it and provide a critical view of what I have learnt and how I have learnt .The group evaluation and self appraisal of this experience is structured on Kolb’s learning cycle in the following figure.the task assigns to us requires great experience and considerable efforts. We need to do researches for the topic given to us by our tutor and at the end a brief presentation of what we had done. In addition we had to manage the time limit and group members. Indeed these were huge challenges. Although these challenges were true, we overcame these challenges with the time and they became bearable and even interesting. Indeed attending the lectures helped us a lot, in additions the group work , meetings , communication in group and sharing our thought and ideas with each other were the scope of effective learning combined with the sort of fun that made it more interesting and understandable each task. I admit that I gain a lot from this new experience with sessions/ meetings and working in team and have changed my thoughts now to approach in different way to study and research. I agree with Tew (2001) as he highlighted that working in teams cannot be efficient without effective role played by tutors or supervisors. I really appreciated the unique efforts made by our tutors by making the group of their own choice from different cultures and background. Initially I had a hidden feeling that we were on the verge of a very tough task and felt that we will be facing difficulties because we all were from different cultures and had different attitudes to collective work and study. Despite the fact there were some awkwardness with related to communicating within the team due to the different languages amongst the members , we tried very hard to do our best to contact with each other and draw the outlines of our strategies and plans as team . As we came to understand each other, and each member became more familiar, we started thinking logically about our task and how to obtain and reach our objectives. We began to allocate the work as we split the task into bits and each member was asked to undertake a part. We emphasised that this allocation had to be done in such democratic and optional way, so no one felt oppressed Despite the little inaction of the members sometimes, the overall performance was excellent. There was a bit of laziness of few members i.e., who were often not on time, however most of team individuals were highly punctual and responsible for the task. These tasks generally include communication with the team members, conducting the research, analysing the findings, and delivering the presentation at the end. We were keen on doing all these tasks in an atmosphere of consultation, cooperation and integration along with deep discussion to spot any potential mistakes and correct them in the right time. We kept an eye on our goals at the same time we were operating the skills of individuals to drive the whole process towards our set objectives. Eventually our great effort as a group and individuals has been fairly rewarded as we obtained very good results and we conduct this work successfully and achieved our tutor’s satisfaction .For my own experience my first expectation and attitude of working as a group has turned from extremely against to gradually for ,in other words working in teams is beneficial and interesting as long as individuals realise the importance of using their strengths and skills for the unit of the group and work together to achieve team’s aims. The experience we have learned can be tested by its implications represented by the self-satisfaction and also by the supervisor’s notes and feedbacks. From this we can say it was very useful task curried by fruitful experience which can be developed in the future. Theoretical models such as Kolb learning cycles (Businessballs 2009) have taught us that people have different ways to interpret and understand what going around them; also they have the ability to develop a new ways or to shift from one to another. Most of us according to Kolb’s models were before this experience in favour of accommodating style as we were individuals who prefer to feel and do as an ideal method to experience things .However as soon as we participated such project bit by bit we started paying attention to watch and observe how people think ,analyse and deal with things before feeling ,interacting and involving personally in these experiences . In other words we have become more diverged than accommodated. I have learned a lot from this group task which I know will help me in future to carry out such projects. To be honest the topic I selected was already in my mind but this group presentation and group meeting gave me a lot of help to look for literature and how to select the important points with in the paper. At the end I would like to say that such projects are very helpful for the students and tutors should give more preferences to group works. |
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