Sample Assignment on Supply Chain Quality and Performance Management

Although the systems Cyber Logic Systems installed were primarily software, often new hardware was required to support the software. Rhonda understood that its cur­ rent distribution network was insufficient. It needed to redesign and build a more

self-sustaining distribution network in order to ensure timely product delivery. It truly needed to move from the mind-set of a regional distribution system to a global supply chain. This requirement would mean sourcing from suppliers who were close to the customers. When a customer has a cyber security issue, time is the enemy. The new systems must be in place as quickly as possible to avoid further damage to the custom­ er's databases and to enable them to continue operating.

Rhonda believed she had identified the key elements that must be improved before they could move forward with the expansion. The last hurdle was how to guarantee that the three foundation elements-supply, operations, and logistics-worked as one smooth global supply chain and not as disjointed parts. This was the biggest challenge of all. If Cyber Logic Systems didn't solve this issue, the chance of failure was high.

Rhonda reflected on her studies in operations and supply chain management. The answer to the issue was process integration. She knew that it had a challenge ahead. The company must convince each supply chain partner that this supply chain manage­ ment structure must be part of everyone's strategic planning process. Only then could it ensure that the individual pieces, purchasing, inventory, operations, logistics, quality, etc., would work together as a single well-oiled machine. Rhonda was ready to outline her plan to Elmer and the other members of his senior staff.

Discussion Questions

1. When analyzing the supply chain management foundation element "supply:' what are some of the specific issues Cyber Logic Systems must address?
2. When analyzing the supply chain management foundation element "operations:' what are some of the specific issues Cyber Logic Systems must address?
3. When analyzing the supply chain management foundation element "logistics:' what are some of the specific issues Cyber Logic Systems must address?
4. When working on process integration, what type of issues must a company overcome for true integration to be achieved?

Answer

Executive Summary

The purpose of this report is to learn about the supply chain quality and its management in the context of cyber logistic system analysis. The supply chain of a product depends upon the various factors. For a good about of profit for a company it is very important to produce the product well, manage the transportation of the product, store the product at a good place and at last distribute it properly to the customers. Management of the supplies in efficient way can alternatively contribute in higher efficient product and smooth management of the entire business process. There are many factors linked with the supply chain management that affect the production negatively. This report is an analysis over the cyber logic system’s supply chain and the approach is to identify the problems in the system and introduce the best services to them.

Introduction

The supply chain represents a group of suppliers doing a single work for the production of a specific product. There is a link between each and every individual who is connected together and doing a single task. Each and every supplier has a specific task to do for the better production of the product. A good product is due to its suppliers. A product is good due to its suppliers and suppliers are good due to his/her good products. It means that a supplier and a product are interlinked with each other.

A supply chain consists of a number of suppliers who are working with the same motive and for the development and production of the same product. A supply chain also consists of a no of elements like a proper place for the manufacture of a product, a good place or warehouse where we can store the product, an effective and efficient distribution system for the distribution of the product and at last a store from where the customers can purchase the product.

A supply chain is very important because it connects one link to the other. It provides a path to interlink one supplier to the other. For every product to be produced in a company there is a supply chain that helps the company to produce an effective product and by this, they can earn profit in the market. The profit of a company depends on its supply chain. If the chain is good then the company can get a good amount of profit and if the chain is not good then the company has to suffer a lot due to its supply chain (Quang at al. 2016).

Now, if we talk about a supply chain then we must also talk about its management. As the name suggests, a supply chain management is the proper optimization and handling of a supply chain which contains all the necessary elements of a supply chain and manages all the simple and complicated steps. As it is a big task to produce an effective product, so supply chain management should always remain active to check all the steps and to find all the related issues with the production. The supply chain management manages all the things like the time required to produce the product, the number of suppliers required in the supply chain, the amount required to produce the product and many more.

So, from the above discussion, we can say that both a good supply chain as well as a good supply chain management is required to produce an effective and efficient product which will help the company to increase its profit and value in the market. In this report, we will more discuss the supply chain and its management and many factors related to the production of a product.

Supply Chain Logistics: Not Just Inbound or Out bound

Supply chain logistic is a part of the supply chain that deals with the effective and efficient flow of the products produced in the supply chain in the forward and reverse direction. It passes the information related to the service that is moving from the point of origin to the point of consumption. It means that it helps the company to connect with those customers who are buying their products (Prajogo at al. 2016).

There are various functions of a supply chain logistic. Some of them are:

Objective of Supply Chain Logistic

The main objective of the supply chain logistic is to get the proper information of the product that the customers are receiving the right product at their desired place at right time and at a right amount. The supply chain logistic provides a chain between the producer and the consumer of the product. For the determination of these activities this process is divided into two categories.

1. Inbound logistic
2. Outbound logistic

When we talk about the inbound logistic then we came to know about that it contains those activities that are concerned with the obtaining of material and after that various processes like handling of product, storing of product and transportation of the product.

The outbound logistics contains all those activities which concerned with the maintenance, collection and distribution of the product to all the customers (Soares at al. 2017).

The other activities like packaging and fulfilling of orders, managing the stock, warehousing and maintaining a balance between the demand and supply are also the factors of the logistic. The supply chain logistic contains all the necessary details and helps in the proper distribution of the final product.

Operational and engineering

Operational and engineering refers to the way of functioning of the supply chain and its management. The operation contains all those works in between the production of the product to the proper delivery of the product to the right customer and the engineering contains all those methodologies that are related to the production and its distribution. The supply chain contains many processes starting from the proper working of the suppliers to the proper delivery to the consumers (Heizer at al. 2017).

There are many operations present in the supply chain for the effective and efficient presentation of a product. Some of them are following:

Proper production- The proper production of the product is the important factor that leads to an increase or decrease in the profit of a product. If any product is properly produced then it will give the customers a feeling of satisfaction who is buying those products. A proper production leads to the proper selling of a product.

Proper transportation- proper transportation is also an important factor that leads to an increase or decrease in the profit of a product. If there is no proper transportation of the product then the product will damage and it will affect the product quality and the customers will deny purchasing that product and that will decrease the profit of the company.

Proper warehousing- the proper warehousing of the product is the proper storing of the product to a good place. If the product is not stored in a well and good place then there is a chance of the damage to the product and it will cause a loss for the company.

Proper distribution- The proper distribution of the product means to deliver the product to the right customer in proper time and with the proper condition of the product the proper distribution is very important as it is the final stage where we have to give the final product to the consumer (Swink at al. 2017).

Issues related to the proper operation of a supply chain:

There are always some issues present in all the sections of the management. Here are also some of the consequences present which break down the proper flow of the supply chain and it’s working. There are numerous types of problems that occur in an industry that leads to insufficient in the production or that decreases the rate of production. So there should be a regular check-up and management of these issues that lead to the proper production and proper management of the supply chain. The operation and engineering of the supply chain contain the issues as well as its remedies of the supply chain.

If we are talking about the issues then there are many ones. Some of them are improper production of the product, improper transportation of the product, improper warehousing of the product and improper distribution of the product. The factors that are written here can create a big problem and can cause a huge loss of a company.

Hybrid and Cross-Functional:

The concept of hybrid and cross-functional of a supply chain refers to the collection of all the necessary members or the combination of all the individuals who are combined to achieve the goal that could never be achieved without forming a team. An individual can't do the overall process of production and distribution alone. So, he/she should have to take the help of other persons to do these jobs together (Hong at al. 2019).

The cross-functional of a supply chain and its management interlinks one supplier to the other. To do a job effectively and efficiently it is very important for the supplier to do the job with the same mindset and complete it in the required amount of time. All the work has been distributed to all the suppliers and then all the suppliers do the work and complete it with the help of each other.

With the help of cross-functional, it is easy to do the work within a specific amount of time as many people combine to do the same work with the same motive. But there is also some issue with that as the mindset of all the peoples are not same so first of all, they have to bring their mindset to the same point and after that, they have to start their work.

Suppliers and Customers

The suppliers and customers are the two important aspects of the proper production and proper distribution of the product. If the suppliers and the customers both are good then there will be effective production, warehousing, transportation and distribution of the product that takes place and that will give profit to both of them (Press 2019).

Suppliers are those peoples who produce the product and then distribute it to the needy people. It is the responsibility of the supplier to produce a good product and then distribute it properly with the help of other members to the customers.

Customers are those people who use the produced product and give feedback to the company. Customers are the main source for the testing of the product. Whether the product is right or whether the product is wrong, it is the customer who decides it. After deciding about the product they show their responsibility towards the customer and then the company came to know about the effectiveness of the product. By seeing the customers review, a company decides the profit margin of their product (Stevens at al. 2019).

It is the combination of both the suppliers as well as the customers who made the product popular. The supply chain management manages the combination of both the suppliers as well as the customers. The management of both is important for a proper supply chain.

Lean Supply Chain Management

It is the removal of unwanted processes and unwanted components from a supply chain. The unwanted components of a supply chain make it more complicated and disturb the process of the supply chain (Ciccullo at al. 2018).

For an effective and efficient supply chain, there should be no lean supply and this would lead to the proper production as well as the proper distribution of the product. This type of management process is generally used by the manufacturers so that they could eliminate the unwanted factors of production. It is not only feasible for the companies launching new product rather it best suits the organization those are willing to deploy the strategies of managing wastes and smoothening the entire business process.

Lean Time

Lean supply management is all about managing the wastes in the supply chain and contributing in improving the pace of the supplies and service deliveries. The wastes in the supply chain can be described as the extensive time consuming process, inventory wastes, or the wastage in cost for managing supplies. Lean principles can be applied for managing the time in an efficient and effective way assuring that the productions and the supplies being managed will meet the needs of the end consumers. Following are some of the vital steps those could be undertaken for making it happen:

Keeping the customer as priority can help in introducing the user-centric products and satisfying the customers. Using value stream mapping can be another solution for cyber logistic system for having better understanding over the journey of the product. Worth stream mapping is utilized to graph an item's voyage from crude materials to the end client, with the objective of wiping out waste. Organization can utilize generally a similar system to all the more productively oversee ventures that require your support, yet for which you are not exclusively dependable.

Watching out for the wasteful injury can be another option for the cyber logic while deploying lean management or lean time. Along comparative lines, cyber logic might burn through beneficial time on the grounds that your working style causes pointless torment, prompting downtime or potentially regular breaks during the day. Decrease of superfluous development is a typical Lean administration objective, for the most part focusing on shop floor representatives.

Macro and Micro

PESTLE can be used for analysing the macro environment of Cyber logics:

Political: The Company is operating from United States and thus, managing the international state laws and the regulations for daily supplies. The brand and longevity of the company contributed in establishing better relationship with the overseas.

Economic: Economically the company is well established and managing the internet resources in three different continents. The company has great base value and the better response from the customers helped in developing a great environment for the company and the team.

Social: Socially, the company has not any impact over the environment and well collaborate with the different companies those are the customers. Company supporting the different customers in restoring their security and hence, the social impact and socially company has an established condition.

Technological: technologically, the company is highly advanced and currently serving the cyber solutions for the company and hence, the technological support is very high.

Legal: Legally, the company is getting great support for the establishment and management of the contracts for legally managing the contracts and the operations of the company.

Environmental: There are not any environmental negative impact due to the operations being managed by the company. Environmentally, the company has established a better functioning environment for managing the daily operations.

COSMIC can be used for analysing the micro-environment of the company:

Competitors: digital world is expanding and there are many giant companies such as IBM, Google, and others those are in the race of being greater and managing the services as per the request of the customers.

Organization itself: the company is managing the cyber products and services in different continents and in managing the daily operations using the technology. The market position and customer base of the company is large and hence, can be a boon for the company in managing the processes.

Suppliers: the supplies being arranged and maintained by the company has several problems in the existing system that is causing serious issues for the company. As recommended in the case study to integrate the suppliers is necessary for smoothening the business cases and managing the daily operations accordingly.

Purchasing management

It is a service company however, the hardware is required for managing the operations and new services as required by the customers. The introduced services will be needing the purchase from the other countries, and hence, outsourcing of the hardware resources will be considerable for the management of the services. The purchasing must be done and integrated within the system as quickly as much possible so that it does not impact the business processes.

When analysing the supply chain management foundation element “supply” what are some of the specific issues Cyber Logic Systems must address?

In the supply chain management foundation element “Supply” is the main link which coordinates the supply of different materials in the day-to-day operations of the company. Supply plans the output of the company which enables the management of the company to maximize the output at a large scale. This uses supply to keep an eye on the forecasting of the business process which predicts the need for the supply at a specific period and maintains the marketing as well as the effectiveness of the product. The Cyber logic system company wants to expand the business in Europe and South America but they don’t have the capacity to expand the business due to non-availability of various resources and the supply as per the requirements. Some of the specific issues Cyber Logic System must address are the supply of the actual resources which may support the operations of the business of the company as going through detailed evaluation of the suppliers, some of the suppliers are able to meet the demands of the cyber management of the South America but some of them are able to meet the demands of the Europe.

Other issues related to supply was that to meet the different standards framed by the government related to the cyber security. As the Cyber Logic System was going to expand the business the system needs to get the system developed which can meet the different systems framed by the government of Europe and the South America. This will help in execution of the business process of the company in efficient manner after expansion of the business. Other issues Cyber Logic System may be the supplier certification. The Supplier certification is required as they should meet the requirements of the regulatory of both the countries. Certification of the supplier will enable the Cyber Logic System to manage the work in efficient manner. In Supply chain management the foundation element Supply is the primary part to run any business. As it is related to the expansion of the business in Europe and the South America, it needs the proper supply of the elements which is directly linked to expansion.

As proper supply will help in execution of the business. In expansion of the business the company needs to expand the business while getting the various supply which should lower the cost of the execution of the various business process of the company. As the Cyber Security has become an important factor in the all the countries and it is one of the important issues in the field of the security, the supply of different requirements of the business which may meet all the requirement. This will not help the business is development of the cyber security but all also getting a better market expansion in Europe and the South America. Supply of all requirements which is required of expansion of the business will help in development of cyber security of both the countries by Cyber Logic System.

When analysing the supply chain management foundation element “operations” what are some of the specific issues Cyber Logic Systems must address?

Cyber Logic Systems has primary software for the day-to-day operations of the business which needs to be modified in the expansion of the business. The software of the systems is required to be modified as per the requirement of the operations which is to execute in Europe and South America. For advanced software to carry out various operations of the business hardware expansion is also required. The distribution network of the company is also insufficient to carry out various operations and transfer of data in the network speedily. To ensure the delivery of the product timely various changes are required in which the most important is the development of a type of distribution network which is self-sustaining. For the various operation of the in the cybersecurity, the time plays a key role. The Customer database needs to be protected for which advanced software are needs developed which have a quick action in the action making. In Supply chain management for a cybersecurity company, the connectivity rush is an important part as different types of connectivity complications are being made. The technology of security should be made advanced before the expansion of the business.

In the Operation of the business, the trained staff who are well aware of the cyber-related issues are to be appointed, as the untrained staff who do not have the good information about the cyber-related procedure may lead to creating a risk for various customers. Planning of various process is also an issue which may be addressed by the company. AS many times it has been noticed that the company has more potential networks face cyber-attack. While establishing a new business in Europe and South America proper panning about the establishing network should be made. Proper planning of all related issues may be made so that the network has fewer chances of in the operations. Different security practices are required to be followed while operating the business. This will not only enhance the security of the operations which are being carried out by the company but also reduce the chances of attacks. One of the issues related to operations is security checks. Different security checks need to be carried out while establishing the new network with the staff who is completely aware of all types of cybersecurity-related matters.

Tamper proofing of the products are needed to be done which will avoid the tampering of the database in connection of all procedure, this will help in the management of the supply chain in large scale. Cyber logic systems will not only help in maintaining the database by adopting different security checks but also it will help in performing different security checks. As many cybersecurity providers all around the world are struggling with keeping the various database secure and they are investing enough to avoid any risk in the field of security

When analysing the supply chain management foundation element “logistics” what are some of the specific issues Cyber Logic Systems must address?

In the supply chain management foundation element “Supply” is the main link which coordinates the supply of different materials in the day-to-day operations of the company. Supply plans the output of the company which enables the management of the company to maximize the output at a large scale. This uses supply to keep an eye on the forecasting of the business process which predicts the need for the supply at a specific period and maintains the marketing as well as the effectiveness of the product. The Cyber logic system company wants to expand the business in Europe and South America but they can't expand the business due to non-availability of various resources and the supply as per the requirements. Some of the specific issues Cyber Logic System must address are the supply of the actual resources which may support the operations of the business of the company as going through detailed evaluation of the suppliers, some of the suppliers are able to meet the demands of the cyber management of the South America but some of them are able to meet the demands of the Europe. Other issues related to supply was that to meet the different standards framed by the government related to the cyber security.

As the Cyber Logic System was going to expand the business the system needs to get the system developed which can meet the different systems framed by the government of Europe and the South America. This will help in execution of the business process of the company efficiently after expansion of the business. Other issues Cyber Logic System may be the supplier certification. The Supplier certification is required as they should meet the requirements of the regulatory of both the countries. Certification of the supplier will enable the Cyber Logic System to manage the work efficiently. In Supply chain management the foundation element Supply is the primary part to run any business. As it is related to the expansion of the business in Europe and the South America, it needs the proper supply of the elements which is directly linked to expansion. As proper supply will help in execution of the business. In expansion of the business the company needs to expand the business while getting the various supply which should lower the cost of the execution of the various business process of the company.

As the Cyber Security has become an important factor in the all the countries and it is one of the important issues in the field of the security, the supply of different requirements of the business which may meet all the requirement. This will not help the business is development of the cyber security but all also getting a better market expansion in Europe and the South America. Supply of all requirements which is required of expansion of the business will help in development of cyber security of both the countries by Cyber Logic System.

When working on process integration, what type of issues must a company overcome for true integration to be achieved?

When working on process integration, there are various issues which a company must overcome for true integration to be achieved the process involves various process such as purchasing of items, inventory management quality assessment, etc. this all is to manage in a way that all the management should be done an efficient way. All the planning process should be performed in such a way that the process can be implemented efficiently. To achieve the integration of the business, process the supply of the items which is linked with the business process should be made in a way that it is developed and can be utilized in every process of the business. Every supply should meet the internal and external requirements process. To achieve a company must overcome the loopholes by which the company is lacking behind as in the competitive market if the supply doesn’t meet the customer demand it can lead to great loss. As in the Cyber Logic System, the company to Overcome for true integration the supply of the systems should be developed as per the latest software. This will not only achieve the best cybersecurity but also achieve consumer demand by saving the databases. The software will be able to save various databases from cyber-attacks. To achieve integration security practices must be developed.

The company must have a close look over the practices of the security which is being followed by the employees of the company so that there are fewer chances of a cyber-attack which will prevent loss of database. The company logistics and warehouses are to maintain to be maintained to get the expansion of the business in a low get which will help in the generation of the business output. As different countries have different types of rules related to cyber security framed by their government, every security measure should be taken into consideration as per the rules so that it can be implemented in the process of the business efficiently. Proper Planning of all the process before implementation plays a key role in achieving the true integration, as all the process of the business should be planned in such a manner that it can be implemented by the management in due Assignment of time and takin the demands, rules, and regulations of the country. This were the issues which a company must overcome to achieve a true integration so that company can setup the business in proper manner and the effective way that it can implement the business in effective and efficient way so that the company can achieve the goal easily which will not give a high output at low cost but it will generate a good image of the company which will increase the demand of the customer.

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