BVM 4213 SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

GROUP A
INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT
(ARTICLE SUMMARY)

NAME AINUL MARDZIAH BINTI MOHD RAFIE

NO MATRIC M101809712
LECTURER MUHAMMAD AIZAT BIN MD SIN
DUE DATE 19 MAY 2020
1. Peter Baker (2004), ‘Aligning Distribution Centre Operations to Supply Chain
Strategy’, International Journal of Logistics Management, Vol. 15 (1) pp. 111-123.

The research results indicate that there is an increasing take-up of large distribution
centres in the U.K and that these are still fulfilling the traditional role of warehouses, namely
holding inventory and breaking bulk for customer orders. The levels of cross docking activity
appear to be fairly low. However, most of the distribution centres surveyed do provide a rapid
response to customer orders. Most also provide some form of added value activities but these
services tend to relate to finalising the presentation of the goods, such as labelling, pricing
and tagging. Some production postponement, in the form of final assembly, is undertaken,
although, on the whole, relatively little floor area appears to be given over to added value
activities. This picture tends to fit with such concepts as decoupling points, whereby there are
strategic inventory holdings in supply chains from which agile responses can be given to the
market place. As indicated in the literature, this may be due to the need to manage volatility
in local markets along with global supply chains. In fact, such factors as global sourcing and
product proliferation may well be counteracting the application of contemporary supply chain
concepts as reflected in the constant national inventory ratios during the past few years. The
relatively low use of production postponement and cross docking in many of the distribution
centres surveyed may indicate that many companies are still driven by inventory based
thinking (e.g. economic batch quantities and replenishment points) rather than by the use of
information based concepts (e.g. Efficient Consumer Response, and Collaborative Planning
Forecasting and Replenishment). However, it may be that these concepts are only fully
applicable in a limited range of circumstances. Further research is needed to understand the
precise relationships observed. For example, it might be that agile strategies would not
involve large distribution centres such as the type surveyed. However, the increasing take-up
of such sites does tend to indicate that such centres still play a major role in modern supply
chains. Research is therefore needed to investigate how agile, and other, strategies can be
implemented and what type of facilities are required. On the basis that the major challenge
foreseen by the distribution centre managers over the next three years is to reduce customer
lead times, the issue becomes one of defining the exact role of distribution centres within
supply chains and the implications for their design.
2. D.M. Sezhiyan, Tom Page, and Paivi Iskanius (2011), ‘The impact of supply effort
management, logistics capability, and supply chain management strategies on firm
performance’, International Journal Electronic Transport, Vol. 1, No. 1.

This research is designed to investigate the association of firm performance with the
supply chain and logistics context. The theorised model fits data well and supports all the five
hypotheses. The results strongly indicate that the firm performance is influenced by SCM
strategies that in turn are influenced by supply chain effort management and logistics
capabilities as well. Moreover, this research studies the direct effect and indirect effect of
SCMS, supply chain effort management and logistics capabilities on the firm’s performance.
Thus, the result designates that a SCM strategy mediates the link between supply effort
management, logistics capability and firm performance. Managers of manufacturing sectors
need to concentrate and deploy their managerial efforts in SCM activities across the cross-
functional areas such as business partnering relationship management, enforcing lean aspect
in business model and bringing quality across firm. Successful adaptation of SCM strategies
depends on both the tasks related to how managers execute the core activities of supply chain
and how companies develop their logistics capabilities. Managers should consider the
implications for the overall SCM strategies when making decisions related to two aspects.
First, managing the supply chain (supplier selection, supplier relationship, supplier
integration, frequent communication with suppliers). Second, logistics capabilities (pre and
post sales services, market coverage, prompt delivery, and low cost distribution). The
theoretical proposition is that success of the SCM strategy depends on the success of efforts
made in managing the supply chain efforts and logistics capabilities at the functional level.
Moreover, the firm performance depends on how the SCMSs are formulated and executed.
This overall result is consistent with previous findings by Carr and Pearson (1999), and Chen
et al. (2004) who have confirmed that supplier effort management has a positive effect on
business performance. This study has reconfirmed (Carr and Pearson, 1999) argument that if
firms make an investment (in-terms of time and effort) in building their relationships with
their suppliers, firm’s can see an improvement in their own financial performance. To
conclude, this paper provides a comprehensive review of the SCM literature, and fills a very
crucial gap in the body of SCM literature with respect to the interrelationship between
supplier effort management, logistics capability, SCMS, firm performance via the use of
conceptual theory building to develop theoretically-based propositions, which are then
empirically validated.
3. Keely L. Croxton, Sebastián J. García-Dastugue and Douglas M. Lambert (2001),
‘The Supply Chain Management Processes’, The International Journal of Logistics
Management, Volume 12, Number 12.

Supply chain management is increasingly being recognized as the integration of key

business processes across the supply chain. The Global Supply Chain Forum identified eight
key processes that make up the core of supply chain management, there are Customer
Relationship Management, Customer Service Management, Demand Management, Order
Fulfillment, Manufacturing Flow Management, Procurement, Product Development and
Commercialization and lastly is Returns. Since the concept of supply chain management was
introduced, there has been a great deal of confusion about what it actually involves. While
some managers and researchers continue to use supply chain management interchangeably
with logistics, there is an increasing understanding that it is much more than logistics. In
recent years, many authors have stressed the importance of implementing supply chain
management as part of a process orientation to management. However, most of what is
written about supply chain management advocates business process reengineering and
integration without specifying the processes that are to be included in these efforts. It would
be much easier for management to implement a process orientation within their firm if there
were clear guidelines as to what the processes ought to be, what sub-processes and activities
are included, and how the processes interact with each other and with the traditional
functional silos. The members of The Global Supply Chain Forum identified eight business
processes that must be implemented within a firm and then linked up, as appropriate, with
key supply chain members. In this paper, they provide strategic and operational descriptions
of each of these processes. Their goal is to provide, first, companies with a common structure
for implementing supply chain management, second, instructors with material that can be
used in teaching supply chain management, and third, researchers with fertile groundwork for
delving more deeply into the issues within each process and with their integration between
companies.