Core Elements of the Supply Chain?

Core Elements of Supply Chain
Martin Wambua, Strategy Consultant, Kenya, Member
Coordination, sourcing, production, warehousing, distribution, feedback.

Core Elements of Supply Chain
SANJAY KUMAR JENA, Student (MBA), India, Member
1. waste: should be minimum
2. coordination: in each department
3. production: should be just in time
4. production line: efficient and few errors
5. raw material: should be available in righ amount when required
6. warehouse: should be minimized
7. information: proper flow of 2-way information
8. relationship: with suppliers must be good
9. distribution: should be canban type.

Core Elements of the Supply Chain
David Matwa Nyabwari
Another perspective is to see as core elements of supply chain:
1. Transport and/or distribution
2. Warehousing
3. Customer service
4. Inventory planning and management
5. Supply planning.

Quintessential Components for an Effective Supply Chain
C.L. Kappagomtula, Professor, Malaysia, Member
When one thinks about Supply Chain (SC), two things come to the mind:
- Efficiency (linked to the cost component), and
- Responsiveness (linked to the reaction time)
These 2 are typically at an inverse relation to each other.
Maximizing the effectiveness of either of them can be possible only when the 'drivers', which are the essential elements of a SC, are well structured and managed.
The 6 essential drivers for any effective supply chain are:
1. Facilities
2. Transport
3. Inventory
(which are tangible entities)
4. Sourcing
5. Pricing
6. Information Systems
(which are cross-functional in nature and are intangible).
The challenging task is to harness the synergy out of these six drivers to keep the supply chain going strong and effective. Because the stakeholders in the system viz. customers, channel distributors, facility managers and suppliers all want to get benefits from it.