What is Supply Chain Management? Supply Chains and Information Technology

What does supply chain management have to do with information technology?

In a word, “everything.”

One of the reasons I chose to build a career in SCM was that the supply chain, or logistics practitioner occupies a unique position within most firms: we touch and interact with virtually every other discipline within the company. We walk the path daily with our partners in finance, sales, marketing, quality control, retail operations, and the executive team. Our perspective on the business is necessarily holistic.

One of the most productive relationships that we can forge is with those who work and manage information technology.

IT is the Great Enabler. It allows our business to be nimble and agile. Technology facilitates (or impedes) the rapid and unambiguous exchange of data between functional areas. It speeds transaction processing. It enhances visibility into operations that in the past were considered by many to be The Black Box. Properly designed, and well maintained, information systems can be a blessing; poorly managed and shoddy construction can turn the system into a nightmare, capable of bringing the strongest of corporations to its knees.

In the final installment of its excellent 12-part series called “What is Supply Chain Management,” the W.P. Carey School of Business presents its perspective on the bond between Supply Chains and Information Technology.

I was particularly drawn to the mention of four key areas that can be addressed by a strong SCM / IT partnership:

• Sustainability
• Consumer Safety
• Supply Chain Security
• Legal and Ethical Behaviours

It is through these four issues that I believe SCM to hold great promise as a key player in enhancing quality of life around the globe.

ASU to Offer Bachelor of Science Degree (Logistics)

The video link is shown below. Before we go there, in a related news story, ASU’s W.P. Carey School has recently announced that it will soon offer a Bachelor of Science degree with a focus on logistics at Arizona State University’s West Campus.

With this announcement, ASU solidifies its position as one of the world leaders as a provider of SCM and Logistics education.

I salute the visionaries at ASU for the following announcement made Feb. 1, 2013:

The West Valley outside Phoenix has emerged as an important center for warehousing and distribution in recent years. Some of the largest companies in the United States — Amazon, Wal-Mart, Target, Home Depot, Macy’s — have opened facilities in the area, capitalizing on Arizona’s business-friendly environment and an advantageous location on the U.S. transportation network.

This year, the W. P. Carey School’s Department of Supply Chain Management will join in the growth of this vibrant commercial cluster by offering a Bachelor of Science degree with an emphasis in logistics at Arizona State University’s West Campus. Students in the program will provide a valuable talent pool for area businesses, which have been scrambling to find skilled employees.

“The West Valley is home to many big warehouses and some very large trucking companies,” said Arnold Maltz, an associate professor of supply chain management at the W. P. Carey School. “In addition, we have a growing number of manufacturers there who are big users of logistics. It makes sense for us to have a program in logistics located on the West Campus.”

This initiative will include a new advanced logistics course for undergraduates in supply chain management. A capstone supply chain management course for students at the West Campus also is being redesigned to be oriented more toward logistics. And to support the department’s new logistics emphasis, plans are under way to recruit two new faculty members who are experts in logistics.(Read more…)

I recently wrote that one of the very encouraging aspects of being a supply chain professional is being secure in the knowledge that our role has a bright future. It is a vindication of the efforts of so many of us who are more “mature” in the field that we are leaving a strong legacy for young practitioners and students. SCM is experiencing a renaissance in world commercial and social affairs.

In a January 2013 publication about PwC’s 16th Annual Global CEO Survey, Patrick Burnson, Executive Editor of Logistics Management Magazine reported that “…supply chain management is working its way up the command ladder in corporate America.“C-level executives everywhere are viewing this discipline as a strategic asset,” he said. “It’s completely in keeping with a trend to focus resources on continuing improvement.”

Praise indeed. Executives are beginning to understand the real value of SCM. I was confident that it could be so!

Our task has only just begun. We have so very much more to offer.

Please enjoy the video.

Part 12 of 12 Modern day supply chains are tasked with responding at lightning speed. Like our central nervous system helps us make good decisions, perform physical feats, and communicate effectively and efficiently with those around us, information technology is required to help our supply chains efficiently perform at peak levels. This module illustrates how our uses of technology mirror those of the supply chains use of modern information technology systems.

This is the 12th installment in Arizona State University’s twelve-part introduction to supply chain management video series developed by Eddie Davila, Jeff Hough, Randy Cates, Dawn Feldman, Dan Ichikawa, Ian Schmoel, and Matt Hardy. ASU, the W. P. Carey School of Business, and the Supply Chain Management Department are proud and happy to share this video series with supply chain management departments, supply chain instructors, career specialists in high schools and universities, as well as industry leaders in an effort to inspire a new generation of supply chain management professionals across the country and around the world.

For more information, visit W. P. Carey’s SCM Web site athttp://wpcarey.asu.edu/scm or send an e-mail to wpcarey.scm@asu.edu.

Sumber : http://supplychainalmanac.com