STUDENTS' CORNER - 156
You must have the information required
for decision-making and you must examine it before you begin to use it.
Popular saying goes that information is power. The implication of the sentence is very
significant in every field, in general life itself. Power is authority to
decide; and to decide, one needs information to decide. It is very true of any
business organization, of any business activity. Supply chain is a coordinated
series of business activities with the singular focus on successful sustained
enterprise. At every link of the chain, some decisions need to be taken to
further the process of business. And to
decide you need details, the information without which it will not be a
decision but random conjecture.
Exchange of vital information among the units of
supply chain coordinates all the essential activities of the company. Without the correct and required information,
effective decisions cannot be made. In a way, business is critical decision-making
at every level of administration.
The manager must know what the customer wants; the
inventory manager must know the details of inventory now available and needed
in time; the marketing personnel must know whether the products have been shipped
right in time and in quantity. When all
important people know all important information, the supply chain functions
smoothly as well as efficiently.
The information, it must be borne in mind, must be
accurate and relevant; it must be accessible whenever required which means the
information must be shareable. If all these features are fulfilled, no doubt,
the information becomes an effective and necessary tool for business promotion.
If such information flow is not there, it will end in
serious negative consequences to the interests of the business. The company
will produce things not required or produce things in excess of demand; the
inventory will be defective in the sense it will not have enough materials for
production when required. Ultimately, the business will be trouble in all
possible ways; it tends to lose its customers and what greater harm can be
there for the business than the loss of a customer who is a definite source of
revenue.
In our next session, we shall consider Distribution and
Supply Chain.
