Supply chain management, it sounds important but what is it?? That’s a good question and one all successful entrepreneurs must have an answer for. Simply put, it is the process by which a business moves its product to market.

You've got a great idea for a product, and you find the funding to make your idea a reality. You've even created a marketing campaign to introduce your product to the world. So that’s it then, your work is done and you can sit back and watch the profits roll in right? Well not quite. Your product won’t be a success until you can get it to the consumer at a price that makes sense. This where supply chain management become essential to your products success.

Suppliers

It all starts with your supplier. To make the best widget, at the most profitable price, you need an adequate supply of components to be available at a price that fits within you budget. The suppliers provide you with the raw materials which you in turn use to create the world’s greatest widget.

A business could, if it so chose, becomes its own raw materials supplier. In most cases, this would be cost prohibitive. Mining for raw materials is normally a labor intensive, expensive proposition.

For example, in order to make a tablet computer (finished product) you need crude oil to produce plastic granulate, which in turn is used to create the plastic body of the tablet. However, as a maker of tablet computer you have no need for the vast amounts for crude oil which would need to be extracted in order for such a venture to be profitable. Besides, as a maker of tablet computers you have no interest in getting into such an industry. This is why we have suppliers. They can provide you with the raw materials required for your finished product. As long as they can do so  at a price that make senses, everybody wins.

Production Process

This is where you come in. You've found a good group of suppliers to provide you with all the raw materials you need to make your widget at a price that’s reasonable. So now you have the funding in place to develop your product and you have the supply of raw materials needed to make your product a reality.

The next step is to put your production plan in motion. You develop as assembly process and you are producing widgets at a rapid rate. Everything seems fantastic! Now the profits have to start piling up! Not yet. You still have to get your finished product to market. Where your market I relation to your production facilities, will have a lot to do with how you get it there.

Shipping

For a lot of entrepreneurs this is where they get lost. How on earth do I get my product to market? There are many ways of doing this and, as mentioned above, this will depend on where your market is. The methods available include ocean, air, rail and road.

With supply chain management, we can go in right direction to implement Demand Planning, Sales and Operations Planning (s&op), Inventory Planning on time to generate more revenue. Adexa is dedicated to delivering solutions with measurable results at the lowest cost of ownership.