7045ENG-: GLOBAL LOGISTICS & SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT - Essay Example

. the positioning of resource at the right time, in the right place, at the right cost, at the right quality” (Khan et al., 2010, p. 1). The topic of logistics and supply chain management has acquired greater significance because of internationalisation of business processes. All industry segments need to invest especial resources to benefit from improvised supply chain management procedures for becoming cost-effective and attaining better performance. Similarly, it has increased the importance of supply chain management theories and their application in all industry segments (Rushton et al., 2006). Supply chains help firms complete their business requirements and procedures.

Supply chains help business to pull through and flourish. Each business is a segment of the supply chain fulfilling the given function. A multi-level supply chain includes different flows i.e. financial flow, Information flow and material flow. Third party logistics (TPL) services providers control and fulfil particular logistic activities for other companies through inward and outward logistic procedures of the suppliers or proprietors (Khan et al., 2010). The term “supply chain management” is defined variously.

Chopra and Meindl, as cited by Khan et al. (2010, p. 1) define it: “A supply chain consists of all stages involved, directly or indirectly, in fulfilling a customer request. The supply chain not only includes the manufacturer and suppliers, but also transporters, warehouses, retailers, and customers themselves”. Thus, supply chain management (SCM) is done by adhering to a set of methods to robustly integrate suppliers, producers, stock-keeping units (SKUs) and customers to produce required quantity and transport it to the given place at the right time to control system wide expenses while meeting service level requirements.

The general view on SCM is that it assists in attaining the final objective of reducing