Management Information and Communication System Essay - 1

Management Information and Communication System - Essay Example In order to achieve the constant supply of raw materials and the supply of goods and services to the consumers, a business firm should ensure that their supply chain management systems are effective. In this case, only an effective supply chain management system can enhance the firm’s responsiveness to its customers’ needs and utilisation of its resources. In effect, the supply chain management system enables a firm’s coordination during the processes of planning, production, and logistics with the suppliers. Business Benefits of Supply Chain Management Systems A business should be able to evaluate the status of its supplies and resources while maintaining an inventory system along the supply chain. Bowersox, Closs and Cooper (2010, p. 133) called this visibility, which is the ability of a business to track its resources and inventory along the supply chain while evaluating and managing any information regarding the resources and inventory. In effect, supply chai n management systems benefits a business by using the information in the supply chain to plan against any potential problems along the supply chain. Consequently, the evaluation of these problems enables businesses to manage any potential risks, which enhances the responsiveness of a business towards its consumers’ needs. ... In addition, a business will benefit by planning for the consumers’ constraints such as transportation and storage capacities, raw materials required, and the amount a firm should produce in order to meet the consumers’ demands. Supply Chain Management Systems and Coordination of Planning, Production, and Logistics with Suppliers As earlier indicated, one business benefit of supply chain management systems to a firm is the ability of a firm to remain responsive to its consumers’ demand. In effect, an effective system will enhance a firm’s planning of its production to meet the market demand, which is the process of demand management. Bowersox, Closs and Cooper (2010, p. 133) noted, â€Å"Demand management develops the forecast that drives anticipatory supply chain processes.† The importance of the â€Å"anticipatory supply chain processes† in a business firm is to establish the amount of products to produce and the raw materials required in t he production of the products. In effect, an organisation maintains a steady contact with the suppliers of raw materials based on the firm’s projections and stock available. A supply chain management system enables a business to identify the goods that require production in a firm. In this way, a firm will be able to balance between its ability in terms of resources available and the manufacturing stock. It is important to point out that these resources include the most significant resource of human capital. Bowersox, Closs, and Cooper (2010, p. 135) called this product planning and noted, â€Å"It uses the statement of requirements obtained from demand management in conjunction with