IJRMEC

Volume2, Issue 11 (November- 2012)

ISSN: 2250-057X

IT ENABLED SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF OOPS TECHNOLOGY

S.M. Bakre MSETCL, Pune Sharad Dashaputre ISTM, Pune

ABSTRACT
Because of neck-to-neck competition , the suppliers have no other option than implementing automation in Supply Chain. The traditional supply chain comprises of only one path , that is flow of material. In the advent of Information Technology , the flow of information is also included in addition to the physical flow of material , thereby improving supply chain

performance. This paper discusses various IT tools that can be incorporated in SCM. The techniques like EDI , ERP , OOPS , RDBMS are also discussed in this paper. Keywords- SCM , eSCM, EDI , ERP OOPS , RDBMS, CRM

I.

INTRODUCTION

In the fast paced world with growing customer demand , local and global competition and increased pressure to remain profitable , there is a need to change from the old ways of working [1] Companies need to re-invent themselves so that the entire chain of sourcing and procurement , production , materials management , ordering delivery selling and customer care is integrated into a unified entity . For this the suppliers , manufacturers, distributors and resellers have to work together more closely and effectively to increase sales , reduce costs and make full use of resources . This is done by having smooth information flow along the entire life cycle of the product and by reducing redundancy of data stored in each point in the cycle. And not only there should be a close integration between the different steps the individual steps of chain should have more automation and easy access to the related information. IT applications are the tools which allow company to implement strategies. Broadly speaking ,the IT requirements of manufacturing organization can be broken into two parts First is related to the management of material right from when it enters the company in raw format to International Journal of Research in Management, Economics and Commerce www.indusedu.org

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when it leaves the shop floor

as a finished product. This entire chain of procurement

manufacturing and supply can be clubbed under the term SCM . The steps covered in SCM do not make a product successful . There are some more things left to be done such a marketing , sales and customer satisfaction . All these processes can be combined under CRM. SCM provides a platform on which the suppliers , manufacturers and distributors can talk to each other and analyze and decide what material is to be made available at which location and at what time. This reduces the problem of excess or shortage of staff which brings in inefficiencies and reduces profits. CRM is the multi-faced solution. It collects and analyses customers buying patterns , profile etc. It also equips the marketing people with the user data analysis to target their marketing campaigns . CRM also helps sales personnel by providing a single window of organizational data irrespective of their geographical locations. The supply chain in a business starts with the procurement of raw metrials at one end and ends with the delivery of finished products to customer on the other. Depending on the nature of business , managing supply chain can get quite challenging and complex. SCM includes business processes , info flow , info processing and closing loop between raw material and finished product. [2] SCM aims to increase sales , reduce costs and make full use of assets by streamlining the interaction and communication of all participants alongwith supply chain. This way , suppliers , distributors , manufacturers and retailers can work together more closely and effectively and it cuts down on data redundancy and improves efficiency allowing one to share timely information about the market demand , minimize inventory , enhance quality and increase profitability. Not only SCM enables collaboration with suppliers and customers , it also makes it possible for different functional departments within company to share and work on single set of data. The Seven benefits of IT in supply chain are Increased accuracy ,Greater economy ,Quicker, Visibility , Immediate accessibility , Customer focused , Higher level of productivity

II.

SCM SOFTWARE PACKAGES

The SCM software is available in 3 types supply chain planning software , supply chain execution software and specialized sourcing and planning software. Some products also

combine all these functions into an integrated solution. S.C. planning software used advanced mathematical modeling and forecasting methods for planning . The software takes into

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ISSN: 2250-057X

consideration , the five parts of supply chain buy- produce-move-store-sell. The supply chain execution software automates different steps along supply chain which will primarily include the manufacturing and distribution cycles . An SCM solution for manufacturing and distribution can connect through the internet in close conjunction with each other. This improves inventory control , raw material control and information flow in production , assembly and distribution units. How ERP Packages are helpful in SCM ? The main ERP [ Enterprise Resource Planning ] vendors are SAP AG , BAAN , Qad , IFS , Ramco Systems etc. the SCM designed is based on ERP Package. Today , the ERP Systems become enterprise wide transaction processing tools which capture data and reduce and customer

manual activities and tasks associated with processing of financial , inventory order information . ERP systems achieve high level of integration

by utilizing a single

data model. ERP systems utilize common database as a basis of communication within organization with individual information systems accessing data via any type of standard networking protocols. Electronic Commerce Initiatives :The following e-Commerce initiatives are bringing about a change in SCM : Evaluated receipting Activity costing Vendor Managed Inventory [ VMI ] Electronic Data Interchange [ EDI ] Barcoding Electronic Cash Register Electronic Catalogs Scanning Standard Numbering Consignment tracking Electronic POD [ Payment on delivery , proof of delivery , proof of deposit ] Vehicle routing Invoice less trading Quick response International Journal of Research in Management, Economics and Commerce www.indusedu.org

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Just in time [ JIT ]

III.

ELECTRONIC DATA INTERCHANGE [EDI]

It is electronic exchange of business transaction documents over computer network. Purchase orders , bills , invoices , PO acceptance , shortage/excess of supply etc can be communicated through EDI at a high speed and lesser cost. The formats used for EDI are standard. If not , the software is available that translates companys format into EDI format. EDI services are provided by companies like GE Information services , IBM adventies , Sterling Softwares etc. Transaction Management With EDI The significant features of transaction management with EDI are as follows Reduced paperwork Accuracy due to reduced manual processing Quick transaction of orders and other data Reduced clerical job work Proactive contribution from employees due to reduced clerical work Improved information availability Reduced workload due to easy linkage with bar codes and electronic fund transfer usage. Reduced placement and processing and handling order codes. Reduced inventories due to improved accuracy and reduced order time. Saves time

EDI requires the use of various Data acquisition equipment in order to maintain accurate inventory , trace product flow , maintain stocks at warehouses track orders etc. Barcodes , Radio Frequency Identification [ RFID ] , Voice Technology , Optical Character Recognition [ OCR ]

IV.

BUSINESS TELECOMMUNICATION

There are four types of telecommunication networks internet , extranet , intranet , client/server network and other networks . There are three systems for establishing communication :Enterprise collaboration systems , E- Commerce systems and internal business systems . The features of these systems are as follows :International Journal of Research in Management, Economics and Commerce www.indusedu.org

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Enterprise Collaboration Systems : E mail Voice mail Discussion forums Data conferencing Video conferencing Voice conferencing Electronic meeting system E Commerce Systems:On line POS [ point of sale ] transaction processing Web retailing and wholeselling EDI Electronic funds transfer Electronic banking Interactive marketing Supply chain management

Internal business systems :Internal transaction processing Enquiry processing Web publicity Workflow systems Activity monitoring Process control Management support systems

V.

eSCM ( ELECTRONIC SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT )

eSCM systems are used in large scale organizations like Tata motors , Asian Paints , TISCO etc. The advanced software packages such as Oracle , SAP are provided for storage of data. The general layout of eSCM system is shown in the functional block diagram. Refer Figure 1.

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Flow measures quantity of material that passes through the given network per unit of time. The goal is continuous and synchronous flow . continuous means without interruption and no unnecessary accumulation of inventory . Synchronous means parts and components are

delivered on line in all process sequence as per requirements. The third part quality checkers may be employed at various stages of material.

VI.

IMPLEMENTTION OF OOPS TECHNOLOGY

The Object Oriented Programming System ( OOPS ) technology can be effectively applied to the electronic supply chain. The object is an entity having attributes and functionality[3]. Object is the instance of class. We can create classes such as supplier class , manufacturer class , wholeseller class , retailer class and customer class. The objects are instantiated

corresponding to these classes. These objects communicate with each other over entire supply chain. These objects process and transfer information . The objects are web enabled . The RDBMS package is used as a back end tool for storage of data [4].

VII.

CONCLUSION

In order to meet competitive advantage , it is essential for a supplier to make value addition in existing traditional supply chain. Both , flow of material and flow of information should go hand in hand. The IT based management tools such as EDI , ERP , RFID , Bar Coding help improve supply chain performance. The Supply Chain would be made more effective by

implementing OOPS at front and RDBMS at back end.

REFERENCES [1] David Simchi , Levi & Philip Kiminski Designing and Managing the Supply Chain McGraw Hill Compnies Inc. [2] Bowersox, Closs , Cooper Supply Chain Logistics ManagementMc-Graw Hill Publishing [3] S.M. Bakre Object Oriented Design SCDL Press , Pune [4] S.M. Bakre Object Oriented Programming and Core Java Everest Publishing House, Pune

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Volume2, Issue 11 (November- 2012)

ISSN: 2250-057X

Figure 1 - Electronic Supply Chain Management

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