Effective Supply Chain Planning and Control Issues

Question: Discuss about the Effective Supply Chain Planning and Control Issues. Answer: Introduction Supply Chain Planning is a plan by the help of which an organization is able to select their business partners or stakeholders, select a suitable location, and identify the workload capacity of their employees and to determine specific transportation mode for delivering their products to the different retail outlets through supply chain process. It is a strategy, by the help of which an organization is able to manage the demand and supply of their services and products and also maintain a balance between them. For this purpose, there are several software tools. The supply chain planning is done depending on several aspects of the entire supply chain process of that particular organization. At the time of making supply chain planning, the organization utilizes the tools for sales, production, and inventory. By the help of supply chain planning, the organizational owners are able to make a network and connect with their business partners and the stakeholders of that organization throug h a single chain. In this research study, the researchers identify and analyze the supply chain planning and control issues of Sheng Siong Company. Sheng Siong is a supermarket retailing chain who supplies fresh food and grocery item throughout the Singapore. It is one of the largest retailers in Singapore. Sheng Siong Group Ltd is actually an investment holding company in Singapore. Supermarket supply chain operation is their subsidiary business. The company mainly operates their business under the provision of segments of supermarket operation and supermarket supplies. They operate their grocery chain through more than 34 numbers of retail stores throughout Singapore. The suppliers of this company are also certified under Hazard and Critical Control Point (HACCP) for supplying fresh seafood, fish, meat, vegetables and dairy products. Their main mission is to supply quality products at a reasonable price which create value in front of their customers. Discussion According to (Bozarth and Handfield, 2015), Introduction to Operations and Supply Chain Management is an inclusive and incorporated topic about the introduction of operations and supply chain management. In a chapter of Fourth Edition of Introduction to Operations and Supply Chain Management, the author gives a clear explanation of the techniques and those analytical tools which are utilized for making any supply chain planning for that particular organization. The researchers of this research study keep their entire focus to identify and analyze the supply chain planning and control issues of the Sheng Siong Company. The Sheng Siong Company deals a business which is related to the retail of food items and grocery items within the supermarket segment in Singapore. The Sheng Siong Company is the third largest grocery chain in Singapore. They supply dry and wet both types of food items to their consumers (Fernie Sparks, 2014). They deal with more than 400 different types of products through 33 numbers of retail outlets all over the Singapore. By the help of an effective supply chain planning, the Sheng Siong Company is able to build a strong brand image and hold the Superbrand' status for the last 5 years. The business owner of the Sheng Siong Company makes an effective and efficient supply chain planning for expanding their business and to provide quality service to their consumers. By the help of an effective supply chain planning, the Sheng Siong Company is able to establish a supplier network which is consist of over 1000 number of suppliers and also maintain a strong relationship with them. The Sheng Siong always tries to supply quality products to their consumers at a competitive price. The main strategic issue of the Sheng Siong Company is potential growth rate is low. For this reason saturation of the target market takes place which also influences the competitors within the market. At the time of making supply chain planning, they are not able to expand their business because most of the places or regions have already covered by the organization (Dyckhoff et al., 2013). There also have tough competition within the industry of supermarket. Their main competitors are FairPrice, Cold Storage, Prime, and Giant. The researchers found that in the recent days the market share of the Sheng Siong Company is get decreased than NTUC FairPrice Company. The supply chain planning of the Sheng Siong Company is also get influenced by the rate of increase of labor cost. Nearly 31% of the employees in the Sheng Siong Company are foreigners. To maintain the sustainability of the business of the Sheng Siong Company, the business owner should expand their share through e-commerce (Dekker et al., 2013). They should establish several numbers of malls and supermarkets and also provide a good public transportation system that they can able to reach their outlets easily. However, the shopping through online websites cannot able to provide the facility of touch and feel. The Company also needs to overcome the concern of their consumers about the quality of their grocery products and the spoilage occurs at the time of delivery. The people who have low-middle income do not prefer online shopping (atay et al., 2014). Most of the times the consumers visit the retail outlets, supermarkets, and the malls to purchase food items and grocery items. However, this has a negative impact on the online shopping and has a positive impact on the retail outlets. They also learn several techniques from their competitors. The Sheng Siong Company a lso expands their home delivery facility to maintain the sustainability of their supply chain. There is an excellent benefit for the online shoppers that they have to pay a low rate of labor cost and rent cost of their products (Heizer et al., 2016). The Sheng Siong Company should think about the expanding of their business outside Singapore that is throughout the Malaysia. By expanding their business the Sheng Siong Company is able to maintain the sustainability within their supply chain process. Most of the employees and suppliers of the Sheng Siong Company is Malaysian. For this reason, they are familiar with the local language and culture, which helps them to get more success and more sustainability (Ivanov Sokolov, 2013). The Sheng Siong Company also implements several innovative techniques into their supply chain process to provide best quality service and products to their customers. By the help of an effective supply chain planning, the Sheng Siong Company is able to establ ish a supplier network (Ivanov et al., 2012). By considering those factors the Sheng Siong Company is able to make an effective and efficient supply chain planning which provide a sustainable growth to the organization in future within the industry of supermarket. Analysis There are certain issues related to the supply chain management activities of Sheng Siong, which is one of the fastest growing supermarket chains throughout Singapore. The business strategy adopted by the firm is to maximize the profits with improved services and product quality (Jacobs and Chase, 2013). The business practices along with the supply management activities of the firm need to be improved to a large extent. The primary issues found in the supply chain management systems are of the delivering of the products with great quality without damaging it in moving from one place to another. The distribution network and the supply of the products should with great ease as it helps in keeping the products safe while reaching to the respective customers (Kenne et al., 2012). The firm has successfully created its brand reputation throughout the concerned market areas of Singapore. It has become more important for the firm to reduce the issues coming between the delivering of the good quality of products to all its customers. A few of the safety issues regarding the movement of the products significantly affects the execution of the business procedures. The pressure on the manufacturers has increased as to make the products more reliable so that they do not get hampered or damaged while traveling (Monczka et al., 2015). This has become a challenge for the entire firm along with the manufacturers to enhance the effectiveness of the supply chain management systems with the improvement in the reliability and quality of the products concerned. It has been seen that the rise in the complaints from the customers of Sheng Siong critically affects the brand image of the firm and thus, the safety management practices are of more important for the maintaining the quality of the products. Moreover, the customer management strategies needed to be improved as it helps in enhancing the satisfaction level of the customers (Pahl and Vo, 2014). There are some other issues relate d to the supply management systems, such as the slower delivery rate, delay in the delivery and the return cases due to bad handling of the respective products. Moreover, the slower rate of delivery lowers down the satisfaction level of the customers of Sheng Siong and this is one of the major issues that can hamper the business processes on a large scale. The product's safety is one of the major concerns for the supply management team and the distribution network should be of top quality. The return cases are other issues that have eventually affected the business processes of Sheng Siong to some extent. There are some of the customers who critically return the products due to irregular handling and shipping of the products as this sometimes damage the products (Ross, 2015). On the other hand, irregular communication between the team members, employees, and the customers affects the execution of the supply chain management activities. There requires the use of the single database e which can record and produce data automatically in order to enhance the effectiveness of the supply chain management processes to a large extent (Rushton et al., 2014). The lack of the skills and the knowledge of the employees regarding the handling and the safety of the products while delivering it to the customers affect the quality of the products and th is have affected the business practices of Sheng Siong to a large extent. As per the increase in the number of the supermarkets, the cases of the returning of the products have increased due to irregular handling of the products. Sheng Siong needs to understand the quality check methods and the importance of the safety management practices as to improve the overall work processes of the entire firm concerned (Schnsleben, 2016). Moreover, the increase in the cost prices or the extra expense of the shipping of the products to the different customers lowers down the overall profits but the primary aim of Sheng Siong is to maximize the profits. Therefore, there needs to be effective implementation of the strategies as to reduce the overall extra costs, which will enhance the effectiveness of the entire business processes. Recommendation The improvements need to be made in the supply chain management system of Sheng Siong as there are some of the critical issues which can be rectified using the desired effective strategies. The employees are considered to be the vital assets for any of the firms and therefore they must be provided with desired training in order to assist the customers as well as to maintain the effectiveness of the product handling (Slack et al., 2013). It has been evaluated that many of the issues arose because of the irregular handling of the products and thus, the products offered to the customers needs to be managed properly as it enhances the overall satisfaction of the customers. The return cases have significantly increased the issues regarding the quality of the products. The firm needs to implement effective strategies in order to reduce the extra costs that occur due to returning of the products from the customers (Stadtler, 2015). It has been analyzed that the reason for the returning of t he products is due to the damaging of the quality of the products and therefore, the handling and the delivery of the products offered by Sheng Siong needs to be enhanced to the top most level. These measures will help in increasing the efficiency and the effectiveness of the business processes to a great extent (Tayur et al., 2012). Moreover, there needs to be the formation of the four to five members of the team which will help in monitoring the desired quality of the goods delivered to the customers as this will help in lowering down the extra expenses to some extent. Furthermore, the employees need to be fully trained regarding the carrying and the handling of the products to the customers as this will increase the profits of the firm to a great extent. The database management system is one of the major areas that need to be looked upon as this helps in managing the effectiveness and efficiency of the entire work processes. Implementation of the latest innovative techniques along with the innovative tools will help in increasing the effectiveness of the entire supply management system (Yinan et al., 2014). This will help in checking the products with desired quality, moreover, the packaging of the products is one of the most significant areas that needs to be of great quality s this will help in keeping the products safe. The safety of the products delivered to the customers will increase the reliability and durability of the products as well as it will enhance the satisfaction level of the clients regarding the products delivered by the firm (Jo hnson, 2014). The product management and supply chain management strategies needed to be enhanced with great effectiveness as this will help in maximizing the desired profits of the organization throughout the concerned competitive market segments. The distribution system and the network connectivity need to be improved as this will help in the faster delivery of the products to the wide area of the customers. On the other hand, the managing of the desired metrics is a vital point which should be analyzed and improved properly. The different IT solutions provide a vast number of the facilities to enhance the effectiveness of the database management system and this can be used strongly to improve the overall execution of the business processes concerned. Thus, the management team of Sheng Siong needs to implement desired strategies in order to reduce the extra expenses and the damaging of the product quality before giving the products to the customers. the delivery of the top quality of the products with faster services will increase the number of the customers towards the firm. Conclusion In this research paper, the supply chain planning of the Sheng Siong Company has been reflected with the help of different supply chin concepts. The researchers also give an explanation about how the Sheng Siong Company should control the issues related to the supply chain planning and maintain the sustainability of their business process. The customer management strategies needed to be improved as it helps in enhancing the satisfaction level of the customers. The firm needs to implement effective strategies in order to reduce the extra costs that occur due to returning of the products from the customers. References Bozarth, C. and Handfield, R. 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