Logistics and Supply Chains Business Management

Question: Discuss about the Logistics and Supply Chains Business Management. Answer: Introduction The purpose of this report is to enumerate the four key flows in SCM, the make process, and the supply chain forecasting. The analysis of the report is also aimed to make recommendations for improvement by applying the theories and concepts found in SCM. Some of the important aspects of the discussion have been further shown in terms of popular drink manufacturing company based in Singapore named Yeo Hiap Seng. Yeo Hiap Seng Limited is public listed company in SGX: Y03. It is identified as a known for its services as an investmentholding companyas well as a drink manufacturer based in Singapore andMalaysia. The company is known to pursue continuous superiority towards the understanding of the needs and the trends of the consumers. It has been further known to develop a varied range of the products across the Asian market and globally. Some of the most noted beverages of the company have been identified in terms of Lychee drink, Lemon Barley Drink, Winter Melon Tea, Sugarcane Drink and Lemon Barley Drink (Asian Drinks, 2017). The key flows in supply chain It has been observed that in most instances the company is known to follow a uni-directional flow of the materials from the suppliers to the customers. It has been further discerned that the company is seen to outsource the different types of the warehousing and delivery needs of its products in Singapore to YCH Group. This has strengthened the overall business model of Yep Hiap Seng Limited (Staff, 2017). The effectiveness of the information flow has been mainly been depicted by the improvements observed in terms of significant factors responsible for the cost competence via accurate tracking of channel costs and a variable pricing method. The mechanism developed by the company has been further able to distributing products across all channels. Hence, it is able to allocate the resources to the respective customers. It has been further observed that the intrabulation mechanism of the IT department of Yep Hiap Seng Limited has been able to deliver a seamless flow of information and across the various types of the channel partners of the company, thereby ensuring that the company is able to deliver the most effective service for the information flow (Stadtler, 2015). Analysis of effectiveness of cash flow Based on the annual report of 2015, the effectiveness of the cash flow has been analyzed based on the consolidated statement of cash flows. It has been observed that it has been able to increase its Net cash facilitated by operating activities from $ 29166 Million in 2014 to $ 36897 in 2015. However, the downside in the cash flow statement has been seen in terms of the decreasing balance of Cash and cash equivalents from $ 130821 Million in 2014 to $ 112121 Million in 2015 (Yeos.com.sg, 2017). It has been also observed that in various occasions the return flow of the selected manufacturer has been mainly identified in terms of the various types of the advancements which is been to made by YCH Group. Hence, it is able to manage effectively its return logistics of the products due to defects or stock outs via this group (Dekker et al., 2013). The main recommendation of the company is seen to be made in form of improving the various types of the operations, which is seen to be related to improve the Cash and cash equivalents. The main form of the improvements has been further identified in form of increasing the Cash and cash equivalents at end of financial year. The make process The production planning of Yep Hiap Seng Limited has been identified in form of four stages ranging from Routing, Scheduling, Dispatching, and Follow Up. The first two relate toproduction planningwhile the later two relate to control.The process of planning and the scheduling of the activities are seen to be related to the time management and enhance the overall efficiency of the SCM modules. The Master Production Scheduling (MPS) maintains the overall effectiveness of production planning/scheduling process. This has been able to control effectively the individual commodities such as staffing and inventory requirements. The MPS has been able to ease the process of customer demand signal by decoupling it from the manufacturing process. It has been further able to provide accurate future delivery estimates and projecting the accurate lead times (Planettogether.com, 2017). Materials requirement planning process of Yep Hiap Seng Limited Being one of the leaders as a drink manufacturer the Material Requirement Planning (MPP) is maintained in SAP. This has been able to guarantee the availability of the raw materials at all time. The integration of the various types of the material requirement has been done in SAP software to ensure that the sourcing of the suppliers is done n an efficient manner. This has also able to provide the effective of the suppliers who are able to provide the best price available for the products (Snyder et al., 2016). The function of the MPP of the organization has been seen in terms of the tracking of the various types of the details related to the requirements taking into consideration the current stock in hand and meets the shortages. The different types of the effectiveness of the MRP has been further identified in form of thee The main purpose of MRP is to give assurance of material availability on time. MRP effectiveness has been seen in procuring necessary quantities on time for in- ho use rationale or for fulfilling customer demand (Heizer Barry, 2013). Recommendations for improvement by applying supply chain theories and concepts The main form of the recommendations has been seen with maintaining the Integrity of the data. This is due to the fact of various errors seen in terms of inventory data, the bill of materials data and the MPP. The minimization of these errors can be done by implementing using bar code scanning and pull systems. It has been further observed that the in various instances manufacturer is having factories in different countries. Hence the ERP system should be organized in such a manner that it is able to address the needs by individual factory and inter-communicate the requirements in order to enable each factory to restructure components to serve the on the whole enterprise requirements. This calls for the need of other systems to work effectively for the overall efficiency in both MPP and MRP (Fahimnia et al., 2015). Reviewing the different forecasting models Forecasting of the different models based on the demand has been identified in terms of meeting the global requirements of the consumers. The different types of the forecasting method have been discerned with the moving average techniques. In this technique, the oldest sale values and adding newer figures for making the average move over time. The important model of the inventory has been seen in term of incorporation of the exponential smoothing seek to smooth out demand to permit for seasonality changes in the outcome. Some of the important models of the supply chain forecasting have been stated below as follows: Quantitative Forecasting Technique This approach of the forecasting technique has been seen in terms of using historical data for depicting the future demand of the items. In this model of the forecasting both, the intrinsic analysis has been incorporated to get a holistic view on the forecasting of the items. Qualitative Forecasting Technique This approach off the forecasting has been mainly based on the judgmental techniques when the availability of the data is scarce. In general this method of SCM forecasting has been seen in terms of plotting the information based on personal insight, Delphi method, panel consensus, market research, visionary forecasting, and sales force estimates. The main use of this technique has been seen for introducing new product line and developing long-range projections. Graphical forecasting methods The graphical method of the forecasting method has been identified as visual plotting of the prediction of sales patterns and plotting information in a graphical form. In this method, the different types of the Trends and patterns of data are easier to mark, and extrapolation of preceding demand and the information can be further used to forecast potential demands (Fleischmann et al., 2015). Trend Method of Forecasting The various methods of the trends involved in the forecasting method has been seen in the various types of the trends depicting the definite upward or downward pattern, which exists in the forecasting method. Some of the noted methods has been identified in terms of models of exponential smoothing, regression, and triple smoothing (Ramanathan, 2014). Recommendation by applying supply chain theories and concepts In a drinks manufacturing company such as Yep Hiap Seng Limited it is important to consider the various types off the information which are done to get a holistic view on the estimating the demand. It has been further estimated that due to the large number of orders in the company SCM forecasting is conducive in estimating Shortage of Inventory and get a better insight in facilitating the different types of the forecasting and measuring the supply chain activates. This is mainly done by synchronizing the supply and demand cycle with real-time information. The most appropriate forecasting method has been identified in form of the trend method of forecasting, this has been mainly been identified in form of the estimating the previous trend of the sales of the products and estimate the future demand. This forecasting method has been mainly identified in form of the using SCM software to monitor its inventories and in assigning an electronic order to anticipate the suppliers and the chan ges in demand (Smallbusiness.chron.com, 2017). The demand forecasting done by the SCM software has been seen with using software such as Conga Novatus Contract Management, Fishbowl Inventory, Oracle SCM Cloud and Slingshot Enterprise Business Suite (Christopher, 2016). Conclusion The report has been able to emphasize on the important products of Yeo Hiap Seng Limited. The effectiveness of the company in terms of the key flows in supply chain products flow has been depicted in form of uni-directional flow of the materials from the suppliers to the customers. The various types of the effectiveness of the company has been further identified in form of outsourcing of the management of its delivery and warehousing needs of its products in Singapore to YCH Group. The main form of the information flow has been discerned in form of intrabulation mechanism of the IT department of Yep Hiap Seng Limited. It has been able to deliver a seamless flow of information and across the various types of the channel partners of the company, thereby ensuring that the company is able to deliver the most effective service for the information flow. The augment in the Net cash provided by operating activities from $ 29166 Million in 2014 to $ 36897 in 2015 has been observed as a positi ve side. However, there has been several scope of improvement, which the company can consider, is seen to be related to estimating the previous trend of the sales of the products and estimate the future demand for ensuring most effective SCM strategy. Reference List Asian Drinks. (2017).Yeos.com.sg. Retrieved 17 March 2017, from https://www.yeos.com.sg/asian_drinks.php# Christopher, M. (2016).Logistics supply chain management. Pearson UK. Dekker, R., Fleischmann, M., Inderfurth, K., van Wassenhove, L. N. (Eds.). (2013).Reverse logistics: quantitative models for closed-loop supply chains. Springer Science Business Media. Fahimnia, B., Tang, C. S., Davarzani, H., Sarkis, J. (2015). Quantitative models for managing supply chain risks: a review.European Journal of Operational Research,247(1), 1-15. Heizer, R., Barry, R. (2013).Operation Management, Sustainability and Supply Chain management(Vol. 11). Pearson, UK. Help.sap.com. (2017). 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