Hypothesis
Supply chain and operations management system, is an essential element for DEWA to ensure the purchasing of efficient equipment and contracting effective maintenance contractors with overall efficient cost management and enhancements of the assets life cycles.
Literature Review
Supply chain management involves the flow and storage of raw materials and services from the producer to the point of consumption. According to Harvey, Heineke, and Lewis (2016), many philosophers, scholars, professors, merchants, business personnel, and managers attest that supply chain management is a process that involves, designing, planning, executing, monitoring, and controlling the supply chain activities with a specific goal of achieving the net value, leveraging the global logistics, building a competitive infrastructure, synchronizing customer demand and quantify performance across the world.
It is until when people get to have a deeper understanding of the complexities that companies face in today’s global economy when they complete the supply chain management specialization. Moreover, this approach enables managers to appreciate their daily challenges and understand how the global economy is linked to the flow of information, products, and financial issues to the nation, continent, and the world at large.
In line with the aforementioned information, this paper will cover vital entities surrounding the chain management system in DEWA, an electricity and water authority in Dubai. The entities include asset management, cost efficiency, information technology system, equipment selection process, contractor management, internal management procedure, cost efficiency, and purchasing procedures.
Cost Management
According to Greeff and Ghoshal (2014), the provision of relevant and sufficient knowledge about energy distribution is important for supporting logistics management decisions and cost. Thus, information on the provision of water and electricity services from DEWA to the consumers should be clearly defined. Individuals can manage both logistics costs and services without supply chain management. However, they refer to the size and supply chain member’s position. Often, small and medium-sized organizations have inadequate basic cost accounting methods that are necessary for the management of DEWA’s service centers and logistics cost.
Asset Management
Shen (2014) defines asset management as a critical process in maintaining the efficient and effective utilization of organizational resources. In DEWA, the supply chain management policy and the public finical management act are observed to ensure that investments are properly managed, controlled, and recorded efficiently (Shen 2014). Therefore, the role of supply chain management is to establish what items to be procured, the procurement strategies, solicit bids, evaluate them, award the contract, and confirm the required items for the administration of works related to the power distribution company. Asset management, on the other hand, ensures compliance with the asset management policies, supply chain management policy, and supervise asset management (Gestring 2017). Moreover, asset management maintains the asset recording of the organization, provides monthly reports, and conduct regular capital assets stock takes.
Power Company
According to Iritani et al. (2015), SCM is concerned with the flow of information and products from one chain member of the other. The recent discovery, implementation, and advances in technology have led to a smooth flow of information on their premises. The technology has helped in the coordination of the activities necessary for the supply chain. The cost of data has dramatically decreased because of the significant increase in technology and technological users (Iritani et al. 2015). This situation has put more pressure on the supply and distribution of electricity by DEWA.
According to the integrated supply chain management model, it is crystal clear that information technology is not all about computers, but also data recognition equipment, factory automation, communication technology, and many more service provider’s machines.
Stadtler and Kilger (2015) reveal that the flow of information from one functional area to the other was conveyed through paper-based before the 1980s. This process was slow then. Information was observed as a critical competitive resource since its significance in the supply chain management was not understood. Information communication technology capabilities offer a competitive business position, an initiative such as implementation reduction of the cycle time, and implementing redesigned cross-functional procedures (Gestring 2017). Many companies involved in the supply chain that have information technology encounters have three things in common; a corporate obsession with customer satisfaction, and have both efficient and effective customer service (Mackelprang et al. 2014).
Secondly, through information technology, managers can reduce human resource requirements and inventories to a competent level. Lastly, the information within the company flows smoothly; hence, giving the company an efficient and easy way for strategic planning. All the organizations that accept supply chain management initiatives have a specific role to play.
Meredith (2016) asserts that power is a central issue in the supply chain. For instance, for the last two decades, there has been a shift of power from manufactures to retailers. Due to technology, retailers have gained prominent positions in the market. Both hardware and software must be addressed when developing and maintaining supply chain management. The hardware, in this case, includes the storage media and computer input and output devices. On the other hand, the software entails components such as the application programs and the entire system used in processing, controlling, strategic planning, decision making, and transaction management.
Supplier Selection Process
Ndiaye (2012) reveals that the selection of equipment involves more than a series of scanning the required items’ prices. The selection depends on an extensive range of factors, including the reliability, quality, and value for money and the services. However, the selection of these items solidly depends on business priorities and services. Furthermore, the strategic approaches applied in the supply chain and product lifecycle are important in helping the managers to understand the purchasing decisions of the target customers.
Operations Management
As stated by Shah and Singh (2013), effective supply chain procedure has become a paramount aspect of consideration in today’s organization, not only in ensuring the overall supply chain management process but also in propelling the organizational performance and in attaining the competitive advantage. Ayers and Odegaard (2013) state that supply chain activities have three macro-management processes which involve the relationship among the suppliers, customers, and internal supply procedures.
Effective collaboration and integration of the above-stated macro-processes are required for the organization to compete successfully (Wang et al. 2015). Internal management procedures do not only focus on reducing the overhead cost but also force all the business units within the organization to become more innovative in fulfilling the demands and the satisfaction of the customers.
Annotated Bibliography
Gestring, I 2017, ‘Life cycle and supply chain management for sustainable bins’, Procedia Engineering, vol. 192, no. 1, pp. 237-242.
Aim
This article aims to evaluate the importance of efficient life cycle and supply chain management practices in modern organizations. Gestring (2017) asserts that in today’s business world, supply chain management and logistics are among the most challenging and contemporary concepts. The distribution of electricity has increased tremendously due to an upsurge of global business demands. DEWA utilizes supply chain management to reduce the cost and continuously develop new strategies to meet customer demand and achieve competitive advantages.
Summary
Supply chain management primarily entails the act of having the products at the recommended time in the right measure and quality. SCM ensures the management of outbound and inbound logistics processes and integrates it from procurement of the item, manufacturers, suppliers, warehouse, transportation, and the storage of items to meet the demands of the customer (Gestring 2017).
Consumers have a variety of choices and demands, especially with the increasing competition in the global market. For instance, most technological devices depend on electricity for their functionality. This underpinning implies that the power company should satisfy customer demands by ensuring constant supply and sufficient distribution of electricity. The primary role of the supply chain management in such a process is to identify the right time at which certain services are highly demanded by the consumers. The power company has to understand the dynamics in the end-user environment to facilitate the supply of items such as meter boxes, transformers, and other requirements for the installation and distribution of electricity.
Evaluation
In the past, the scenario was different. The manufacturers were the determinants of the supply chain since they strived to achieve the demands of their consumers at a rapid pace. However, things took a tremendous turn in recent years. The consumers are now the supply chain determinants for long-term competitive advantages. For instance, an analysis of the usage of electricity in the last few years shows an increased number of consumers. Although this position may be attributed to the ever-increasing population, the pace of technology and the proliferation of energy-consuming gadgets have tripled the use of electricity. This situation has raised a need to involve more contractors in the establishment of more infrastructures to supply energy to the consumers.
Conclusion
Supply chain management is a significant practice necessary in the determination of the inflow of products for the identification, procurement, transportation, and delivery of products and services to the target consumers. It also enables managers to determine the specific time from which more certain products are required and the market. Furthermore, supply chain management provides the organization with a framework for reducing the cost of the procured items by enhancing the storage and utilization of the products acquired. More so, the manager can measure the consumption rate of the items.
Finally, it is through this practice that top officials get to understand the increased demand for their products and services. Firms that uphold efficient supply chain and life cycle management programs are deemed to promote their business transactions.
Reference List
Ayers, J & Odegaard, M 2013, Retail supply chain management, Auerbach Publications, Boca Raton, FL.
Gestring, I 2017, ‘Life cycle and supply chain management for sustainable bins’, Procedia Engineering, vol. 192, no. 1, pp. 237-242.
Greeff, G & Ghoshal, R 2014, Practical E-manufacturing and supply chain management, Newnes, Oxford.
Harvey, J, Heineke, J & Lewis, M 2016, ‘Professional service operations management (PSOM)’, Journal of Operations Management, vol. 42, no. 1, pp. 4-8.
Iritani, D, Silva, D, Saavedra, Y, Grael, P & Ometto, A 2015, ‘Sustainable strategies analysis through life cycle assessment: a case study in a furniture industry’, Journal of Cleaner Production, vol. 96, no, 1 , pp. 308-318.
Mackelprang, A, Robinson, J, Bernardes, E & Webb, G 2014, ‘The relationship between strategic supply chain integration and performance: a meta‐analytic evaluation and implications for supply chain management research’, Journal of Business Logistics, vol. 35, no. 1, pp. 71-96.
Meredith, J 2016, ‘Hopes for the future of operations management’, Journal of Operations Management, vol. 19, no. 4, pp. 397-402.
Ndiaye, M 2012, ‘Material Selection and process design optimization framework under closed-loop supply chain’, Advanced Materials Research, vol. 445, no. 1 , pp. 601-606.
Shah, J & Singh, N 2013, ‘Benchmarking Internal supply chain performance: Development of a framework. The Journal of Supply Chain Management, vol. 37, no. 1, pp. 37-47.
Shen, B 2014, ‘Sustainable fashion supply chain: lessons from H&M’, Sustainability, vol. 6, no. 9, pp. 6236-6249.
Stadtler, H & Kilger, C 2015, Supply chain management and advanced planning, Springer, Berlin.
Wang, Y, Wallace, S, Shen, B & Choi, T 2015, ‘Service supply chain management: a review of operational models’, European Journal of Operational Research, vol. 247, no. 3, pp. 685-698.