Question:Critically discuss whether you agree with the following statement:  “Information flows within supply chains (and between supply chain stakeholders) should be suppressed as much as possible

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Information Flow within a Supply Chain

Commerce has been growing rapidly over the past few years with everyone trying to be innovative as per the technological advancement. Supply chain and its management serve a major role in quite a number of industries that produce different commodities or rather products. A supply chain is said to be a group of suppliers who are who are supposed to come up with a certain type of products for a firm. A chain may be composed of a link between collections of manufacturers, processors, the storage places like warehouses to the final destination where consumers are able to get access to the products. There is an addition of cost in each of connection, an involvement of labour and transportation takes place in a supply chain. A supply chain management widens the consideration of the combined results of the different firms in the goods and service production.

It is of great importance when the products which have been added value to get to reach the consumer at their uniqueness so that they may gain more preference by the many different consumers who will like their taste. The value flow in this matter is of great importance in a supply chain management (Gotorna 17). In order for an added value product to be provided, there is a series of value creation process in a whole chain of supply. The retailers may not have the capability to change the product in any way but they still provide an added value by ensuring that the products reach out to the consumers and make the product available at the most convenient places and are small lots that are affordable for each and every one of them. Such kind may only be possible if there was a proper flow of information on the number of commodities that are needed and where they are needed by the retailers this information will be needed by the producers in the same chain, the retailer will as well need to know how long the order may take and the number of commodities the producer can offer and when they may be supplied.

Prevent the information concerning the added value of products from the publication for different purposes in favour of your specific supply chain are of substantial importance. When the information is made confidential the product reaches out to the consumers with a completely unexpected different unique outlook that tends to capture their attention and through this, the firm may be able to make a good sale on the first appearance in the market. Suppose the product attracts a good number of consumers and becomes their preference then it would definitely outdo the competitors on basis of innovation (Li et al 1472). Confidentiality of information is also important because the competitors will have no idea about whatever the firm is about to execute and for this matter it manages to keep the firm’s products consumer’s most preferred commodity. Through this, a firm is able to earn more from their products and gain more market in a competitive environment with different firms producing the same commodity.

Information flow on the value added to products should as well be confidential and only known to the stakeholders within a supply chain because there is need to maintain a quality product production to sustain the customer’s taste and preference. The objective of every successful firm is to keep the customers they already have and attract even more consumers. Due to this, it would be very important to have stakeholders who are loyal to the supply chain and keep all the information within the supply chain to themselves since they will be the ones to gain from the success of the sales and also be sure of a ready market within the competitive environment. The other reason as to why keeping the information confident is even more important is because there has to be a continuous production of added value products that matches the taste and preference of the consumers (Wu et al 127). Supply chain management may be efficient at this instance due to the fact that it involves monitoring, designing and altering supply chain. All these are some of the reasons why information flow should be kept confidential and only known to the stakeholders within the supply chain.

There are three very important aspects that are of great concern to a supply chain that when they are carefully looked at and the information flow suppressed then an automatic success is witnessed. The factors are quality, time, cost and flexibility, these aspects are the once that trigger making of profit in a competitive market. The firms are under an obligation to produce quality products since it is the most visible aspect as it has to attract the consumer at the first place. Quality may as well be measured by consumers through the kind of services they are being offered by a firm other than the quality of commodities, if they are impressed it is automatic that they will make the firm their preferred. Time is another important factor that has to be put into consideration because any competent firm has in mind that a lot of consumer needs orders that are responded to with immediate effect and would pay anything just to get what in a timely manner.

When the firm through a supply chain operates focusing on delivering commodities to the consumers within a specific time then they tend to gain the trust and loyalty of the customers. The other most important factor is the cost at which the firm sells the commodity, in as much as a good number of consumers prefer quality products they consider the costs being offered by firms. The supply chain has to choose the most appropriate chain of supply that would enable them to sell the commodities at affordable prices and still gain profit. The supply chain has to be flexible enough to quickly respond to threats and also opportunities, in addition, they need to be able to change with the change in the market (Patnayakuni et al 39). Such factor can work effectively for the firm if it is known to the stakeholders within the supply chain and the workers in the firms so as to pose a unique taste to the consumers and make them even more likely to try out.

Firms like Coca-Cola Company are some of the best examples of firms that have made it through always coming up with unique commodities and is now consumed everywhere around the globe. It is evident that they have always added value to their products and through the various supply chains, they have brought a stiff competition to the competitors. Coca-Cola Company has a variety of different brands of drinks that no other company of its calibre has managed to beat it. The supremacy of Coca-Cola Company has been managed due to the fact that the firm has a well-managed supply chain and suppressed information; these are due to the fact that we as the consumer always find the new products in the markets or in advertisement after the product has been launched. The other firm is that is successful is the Wal – Mart Stores which have invested on the information system they use which ensured that the information flow was only between the supply chain and the stakeholders within the chain of supply process. Wal- Mart is one of the most successful retail stores and the most competitive compared to the other companies that are competing with it.

The products add value when they move from one place to another such an occasion is said to be a value-added chain. In other words, value chain can be said to be a series of activities that are meant to change products in a completely different concept of production through a collaboration of some services and physical transformation in the products that are to be changed and afterwards delivered to the final consumers in the same chain of supply. The consideration is taken with a chain of suppliers in terms of, manufactures, wholesalers, retailers and then to the consumer. The satisfaction of consumers becomes the aim and through this management is strategized in terms of products and logistics, network in the delivering of goods to consumers in terms of networking and supply chain (Stevens et al 27). The main aim of every supply chain is to make sure that all the consumers get to receive the right product at the right time and at a fair price and most especially the exact location where they need it. All this are just plans that are made by the many different suppliers before execution but they rarely manage to achieve this obligation without a proper information flow management, it is only through a proper plan and strategy on the information flow right from the manufactures to the suppliers that they manage to deliver the best service to the consumer.

Research has it that information is one of the key factors in supply and most especially a supply chain for that matter. Whenever the supply managers intend to make any kind of decision concerning the chain of supply to use, they highly consider the information at stake. A critical analysis of information is carried out by the managers to determine the best supply chain they may use for a successful supply of the commodities at hand. It is only through information that a supply manager gets to know the much products they have in store or even the amount of products they need to produce or transport to the customers, where and when they are expected to have shipped the commodities. The managers may only know their performance through information and know where they are needed to improve or rather maintain doing the same thing. When the information is given in a timely manner, accurately issued out, properly managed and carefully shared then it becomes very powerful and effective and automatically brings about the success of the supply chain.

I disagree to some extent with the statement that information flow within supply chain should be suppressed so as to maximize the added value of products whenever they are moving along the supply chain, this is because a supply chain is only successful through sharing of information across the different supply chain entities. The flow of money and material will depend on how the information flow is managed for there to be a properly managed information flow within the supply chain. Information flow within a supply chain allows for the stakeholders within the chain to be updated with the going of the whole process even some of them are far from the exact location. Information as well allows for proper planning before execution and has been witnessed in different successful organizations around the globe. When it comes to strategizing the supply chain of any kind of organization the stakeholders tend to focus mostly on strengthening the information flow in the supply chain, these ensure the security of the commodities that are being supplied because there would be a close monitoring and also correct information issued out concerning the whole package.

Basing my example on one of the most successful retail stores in the world the Wal-Mart Stores which has significantly managed to beat is the competitor from time to time and maintains a high profile in term of its operation. The secret behind this supremacy of Wal-Mart is actually proper has been proved to a proper organization of the information flow in is supply. They have made use of a point of sale bar code to feed into a certain system of information that connects the retailer, vendor and the centre at which the commodities are distributed. Due to the fact that Walmart Stores have made a partnership with some suppliers which has initiated them into a VMI system which is Vendor managed inventory in full. In such collaboration, they are required to share information about the retail outlet one on one with the suppliers. Some organisation although fear sharing their information in this regard with a negative thought that it may be used by the competitors to gain power that may come to beat their own. Since there is a partnership then the suppliers are allowed to have a brief history about the transactions that the partner had with the buyers and gain an idea on how they plan to sale or even improve when they sell their own commodities within the premises of their partners.

Wal – Mart in this regard can be used as the best example since it partnered up with the suppliers and had to share quite a lot of information but did not experience any kind of loss instead the profit was maximized and its supremacy still stands. As a matter of fact, it has facilitated the saving of a huge some amount of resource that would have been spent for managerial purposes. Whenever an organization finds it wise to partner up with any kind of supply firms then transparency in issuing out the flow of information ought to be accurate and very sincere so that it may facilitate profit generation and a fruitful partnership that benefits all the stakeholders in equal measures(Kanda et al 324). The partnership has proved that there are quite a lot of benefit that is in line with sharing of information in supply chain management, for instance, we could notice that there were some benefits related to product; there is a better understanding when the two are planning to improve on product production by may be using the technological advancement or whichever method they agree on as partners. There is as a benefit that is related to sales because through a distinctive sharing of information the supply chain can be shortened when the information is shared and the marketing link is reduced to some extent and through this it would be very easy to make the sales with the shortest time possible and to a good number of buyers. Sharing of information between Wal – Mart Stores’ and its supplier’s partnership has as well driven a benefit based on inventory in that; there has been a great reduction in storage costs, inventory costs, out of stock costs among others. In a very clear elaboration, we can witness the benefit of sharing information in a supply chain.

Information technology has been used to ensure that the information flow within a supply chain is properly managed and in this regard efficient and reliable. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)and Electronic Product Code(EPC)technologies have been used to ensure that the information flow within a supply chain has been put are efficient. The two are the information technology used by different organizations and most especially supply firms in information flown. RFID, for instance, has different purposes which are; technology that uses waves from a radio to detect products in a different supply chain. It provides information throughout a supply process, retail firms around the globe such as the Wal- Mart, Metro, Target and Tesco among others have allocated a lot of money on this technology so as to have clear information on the supplying of commodities (Lee et al 81). EPC, on the other hand, has been used by different firms and provides information in a networking environment by making products unique and easy to identify. EPC provides information about the manufacture of a product the date of manufacturing and expiring date, size, category and final destination of commodities in a supply process within a supply chain. The advancement in technology has led to the improvement in supply chain management as per a report in 2005 where there was a significant drop in the number of lost goods and warehouse labour, there was an increase in availability of stock. RFID and EPC have played a major role in ensuring that the flow of information in a supply chain and most especially in the process of supplies bringing about the importance of Information Technology.

The flow of information has indeed facilitated a great achievement in supply chain management since it enhances a good and competitive performance compared to the other firms which have not yet made use of information or rather information technology in their supply chain processes. The actual reason why some firms cannot compete with firms which have put the information flow in supply a priority tend to make unnecessary losses that could be curbed by making use of information technology in giving updates of the commodities in the supply chain processes. Information flow integration when in a very high level acts as a determinant of firms being efficient and with the supply chain. Problems in Sharing of information are based on a logistic fact and are as well viewed primarily.

A good number of people may have heard about information sharing but do not have any idea of what it actually entails, this lack of knowledge triggers losses that are incurred by a number of firms in a supply process within a supply chain. Supply chain coordination is brought about by togetherness in a supply chain management and most especially the accuracy of the information being issued out. Information flow can be speeded up through the availability of data and sharing the information with the rest of the members in the supply chain stakeholders. Visibility as well needs to be is added or rather increase by the increase in information flow across a supply chain. The supply chain in this concept requires a proper supply process without an effect on bullwhip can be reduced through better information flow.

To sum up I have come to the conclusion that information flow within a supply chain is both important and also has some negative effects on a supply chain in the supply chain process. What matters is how the supply chain is managed and the kind of information techniques that are used in this regard. I have clearly seen the relevance of information in terms of how it facilitates important information that is used by the supply chain in ensuring a proper operation when working for instance information of the number of commodities needed where and when they are needed as well. I have as well noted that it is very important to keep the information about the added value in products within the stakeholders in a supply chain so as to ensure that the competitors may not have any idea as to what this specific firm has in store for the market and consumers at large. Information technology has played a major role in ensuring that the supply chain process is made as easy and efficient as possible, it has as well enhanced secrecy in the information flow within the supply chain that was only accessed by the stakeholders within the supply chain.

Reference

Gattorna, John. "Introduction." Strategic supply chain alignment. Routledge, 2017. 15-21.

Li, Lode, and Hongtao Zhang. "Confidentiality and information sharing in supply chain coordination." Management science54.8 (2008): 1467-1481.

Stevens, Graham C., and Mark Johnson. "Integrating the supply chain… 25 years on." International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management 46.1 (2016): 19-42.

Wu, Long, Cheng-Hung Chuang, and Chien-Hua Hsu. "Information sharing and collaborative behaviors in enabling supply chain performance: A social exchange perspective." International Journal of Production Economics 148 (2014): 122-132.

Lee, Hau L., and Seungjin Whang. "Information sharing in a supply chain." International Journal of Manufacturing Technology and Management 1.1 (2000): 79-93.

Patnayakuni, Ravi, Arun Rai, and Nainika Seth. "Relational antecedents of information flow integration for supply chain coordination." Journal of Management Information Systems23.1 (2006): 13-49.

Kanda, Arun, and S. G. Deshmukh. "Supply chain coordination: perspectives, empirical studies and research directions." International journal of production Economics115.2 (2008): 316-335.