Logistics and Supply Chain Management for Silversurf Beachwear

Question: Discuss about theLogistics and Supply Chain Management for Silversurf Beachwear. Answer: Introduction This report focuses on the supply chain management of fashion Retail Company named Silversurf Beachwear. From the case study, it is observed that the company is doing well in the Australian market and now it is planning to expand its business in more countries. For this manner, there is the need to implement proper supply chain management plan in the business activities. Company wants to expand the business in USA, Asia, South America, China and Europe and there is the need to utilize cheaper manufacturing and distribution strategies to get success in these markets. But it must be noted that doing production in other country like China can be risk and difficult (Lashen, 2012). Inventory management and strategic planning For Silversurf Beachwear, inventory management is the most important part of the supply chain. Effective inventory management has a positive impact in the business operations by which Silversurf Beachwear will be able to produce best quality of clothing products. There should be effective inventory management to establish strong relations with the suppliers and the customers. Inventory management will be helpful to control unnecessary cost and review the planning in the development process. It will also monitor the economic value of the company (Arndt, 2008). SCM in globalized world Supply chain management at the global level can cover various functions in Silversurf Beachwear such as managing production of companys products and services, storage, inventories, monitoring, coordination with the suppliers and distribution of the products on time etc. To operate on the global level, company will focus on the five important components i.e. plan, source, make, deliver and return. In the supply chain, company will also focus on the three flows i.e. cash, information and product within the chain. By these components, Silversurf Beachwear will be able to manage the supply chain on global level. Along with this, on the global level of supply chain, there will be continuous exchange of information material and finance within the members of the production. By adopting these supply chain strategies, Silversurf Beachwear will be able to expand in the most challenging country China. In China, the garments industry is one of highly contributory economic sector so, Silversurf B eachwear will focus on implementing various innovations to operate successfully (Lysons Farrington, 2012). Sustainable practices in SCM By adopting sustainable practices of supply chain, company will be able to reduce the investment risk, decrease cost, improve time to market, improve profitability and generate more cash. By the supply chain management, company can improve its production by distribution and manufacturing process. Good production can bring effective balance in the product, inventory investment and improve customer service (Waller Esper, 2014). For the effective supply chain, there are some practices which will be used by the company: There will be automated data collection method for the inventory management process. This system will automatically collect the data regarding the required products. There will be transaction based movements for the supply chain to maintain the records of the flow of the raw material and inventories. Company will have all the information related to available inventories for the production of the clothes. Team of inventory management will update the important documents in the proper manner on time to time as there is the need of proper data for maintaining adequate inventory. Company will maintain proper level of inventory as excess level of inventory can be the reason of space and money. It will include the re-order point along with arrangements of safety stock of the inventory (Hussey, 2007). Managing inventories The concept of inventory management and control has the positive impact on the business operations of the company. Proper inventory management is the key factor in the business operations. Managing inventory such as raw material, work in progress, finished goods and partner inventories is important to achieve success in the market. In case of Silversurf Beachwear, there are some concepts of inventory management and control that would be helpful for the company to increase its efficiency in the international market. A company can be competitive when the inventory management practices are effectively implemented by the company. For Silversurf Beachwear, there are some points which should be focused by the company managing inventory (Mihm, 2010). For getting competitive advantage, company should not maintain too much inventory for the production of clothing products. Along with this, company should not store unnecessary stock as it will take additional operating cost for whole year. Company should focus and observe the inventory items in the proper manner. For this manner, company should use inventory tracking software or bar codes to ensure that there are no counting errors in the inventory storage. At the time of placing of the order of inventory, the inventory management software should be there to manage the inventory. Along with this, the order of the inventory should be placed before the ending of stock to prevent the production from the shortage of raw material. There should be a backup plan in the business that can be used at the time of failure of the system. This will be helpful in keeping the storage cost low, proper use of money and offering the product on time (Toomey, 2012). Impact of information technology For the effective supply chain, use of information technology will be helpful for Silversurf Beachwear. The company will implement many information technology solutions with the supply chain management i.e. material requirement planning (MRP), e-commerce, warehousing, and e-tailing. The goal of the supply chain is to make information processing, product distribution and order processing in the efficient manner. For this manner, company will implement some information technology software i.e. Enterprise resource planning (ERP), Build to order (BTO), and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). These systems will be helpful in various supply chain activities like inventory management, order processing, effective production, distribution of the products on the time (Macchion et al, 2015). References Arndt, H., (2008), Supply Chain Management, Germany: Gabler Verlag Hussey, D.E., (2007), Strategic Management: From Theory to Implementation, UK: Taylor Francis Lashen, M., (2012), Supply Chain Management in Fast Fashion, accessed on 27th August 2017 from https://www.theseus.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/57383/MiraLashen_Thesis.pdf?sequence=1 Lysons, K. and Farrington, B. (2012), Purchasing and supply chain management, Harlow, Essex: Pearson Financial Times Macchion, L., Moretto, A., Caniato, F., Caridi, M., Danese, P. Vinelli, A., (2015), Production and supply network strategies within the fashion industry: International Journal of Production Economics, 163, pp.173-188 Mihm, (2010), Fast Fashion in a Flat World: Global Sourcing Strategies. International Business Economics Research Journal, 9 (6) pp 55-63 Toomey, J., (2012), Inventory Management: Principles, Concepts and Techniques, Germany: Springer Science Business Media Waller, M. A., Esper, T.L., (2014), Introduction to Inventory Management: Principles and Strategies for the Efficient Flow of Inventory across the Supply Chain, accessed on 27th August 2017 from https://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=2192703seqNum=2