Supply chains are made from combinations of four entities, and the interactions between those entities are what drive supply chain operations. The four entities are:
1. Products— things in demand at various facilities
2. Facilities— places where products are made, stored, sold or consumed
3. Vehicles— mechanisms to move products between facilities to meet demand
4. Routes— paths taken by vehicles to move products between facilities
With SCM Globe you define these entities, and drag/drop their entity icons to place them on a digital map (like Google Maps). Zoom in and turn on the satellite view to place real facilities where they really are. Or put new facilities exactly where you really want them to be. Then assign vehicles to move products on routes between those facilities as needed to meet demand.
While you define and position your supply chain icons on a digital map, you are also creating a rigorous mathematical model of the supply chain without having to deal directly with the math. You can run this model in simulations and see how well it works. And make adjustments based on what you see, and run more simulations, and keep improving the performance. What works well in the simulations will also work well in the real world. So using supply chain simulations is a great way to explore real-world options, and find out which ones work best.
Map-Based, Geospatial User Interface (UI)
The SCM Globe User Interface provides an easy to understand geospatial context in which to model and simulate supply chains, without being overwhelmed and confused by all the related details. The map-based UI lets you see the “big picture” and analyze the details. Analyze and understand detailed operations and financial data within the organizing context provided by the map and satellite views of a supply chain.
[See more about our supply chain modeling and simulation logic.]
Create Entities – Place Them on a Map
In the Edit Screen you define the four types of entities. As you define an entity like a factory, store, or warehouse, its icon pops up on the screen, and you drag/drop it to place that facility on a digital map (like Google Maps). Place facilitates where they actually are in real supply chains, or put them where you want them to be in new supply chains. Define vehicles to move products on routes between facilities (see icons and blue route lines in screenshots below). This creates a mathematically rigorous model without you doing the math, or having to draw abstract flow diagrams. You can run this model in simulations to see how well it works — just click the “Simulation” button in the upper right corner of the Edit screen.
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Run Simulations – See How the Supply Chain Works
The Simulate Screen opens in a new browser tab when you click on the “Simulation” button. In the Simulate screen click the “Play” button to play a simulation of your supply chain. Vehicles move on their routes, and onscreen displays show graphic and numeric readouts as the simulation runs. You can speed up, slow down, pause, and replay simulations as needed. You can also download simulation data and create Profit & Loss Reports with Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). The reports provide an objective basis for comparing different supply chain designs.
We are glad to provide afree evaluation accountto instructors, students and supply chain professionals interested in exploring SCM Globe simulations — click here to request an account —Get Your Free Trial Demo
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Produce P&L Reports and KPIs from Simulation Data
Download and Analyze Simulation Data – When you get your simulation to run for 30+ days you can download the simulation data to a reporting template and produce monthly Profit & Loss reports plus key performance indicators (KPIs) such as the example shown below (see). These reports help you spot areas for improvement in your supply chain, and serve as an objective measure to compare the effectiveness of different supply chain designs. The reports help you find opportunities to adjust the four entities to get the best performance from your supply chain.
Be Ready to Go in 15 – 30 Minutes
Getting Started is easy – go through a few short videos and tutorials. In 15 – 30 minutes you’ll be ready to start modeling supply chains and running simulations.
FAQs
What are the 4 main elements on the supply chain? ›
Integration, operations, purchasing and distribution are the four elements of the supply chain that work together to establish a path to competition that is both cost-effective and competitive.
What are the entities of supply chain? ›The entities involved in the supply chain include producers, vendors, warehouses, transportation companies, distribution centers, and retailers.
How many entities are there in a supply chain? ›The supply chain exists in many different forms, but the most common structure contains four separate entities: Suppliers. These entities provide the materials needed to create the product, whether they're raw materials or individual parts to a finished product.
What are the 4 supply chain drivers? ›Five supply chain drivers, Production, Inventory, Location, Transportation, and Information, influence the performance of the supply chain.
What were the four basic supply chain functions quizlet? ›Second, companies can develop these partnerships and use their partners' expertise potentially to improve their own product. The underlying foundation of supply chain management consists of four functional, elemental areas: operations management, supply management, logistics management, and integration.
Do all supply chains have 4 levels? ›Do all supply chains have 4 levels? The four modern supply chain levels that businesses and companies need and put in use today to run their operations are retailer, wholesaler, manufacturer, and service provider. Since every level of supply chain has it own long list of unique job descriptions.
What are three entities and four flows of supply chain? ›There are three types of main flows that happen in any supply chains: flow of materials/goods, flow of money/cash, and flow of information.
What is the meaning of global supply chain? ›A global supply chain covers all the steps involved in manufacturing and delivering a product or service when those steps take place in more than one country.
What are the main types of supply chain? ›- Continuous Flow. This is one of the most traditional models on the list. ...
- Fast chain. The fast chain model is one of the new names in supply chain strategies. ...
- Efficient Chain. ...
- Agile. ...
- Custom-configured. ...
- Flexible.
There are four types of supply chain models depending on the nature of the business and business goals. This model tracks customer demand in real time, so that finished good inventory can be processed and restocked efficiently.
What are the 5 parts to a supply chain? ›
The Top-level of this model has five different processes which are also known as components of Supply Chain Management – Plan, Source, Make, Deliver and Return.
Which 4 of the following is cycle view of supply chain processes? ›All supply chain processes can be broken down into four process cycles that connect the five stages of the supply chain; the customer order cycle, the replenishment cycle, the manufacturing cycle, and the procurement cycle.
What is the 4th step in supply process? ›The fourth stage is the delivery stage. Here the products are delivered to the customer at the destined location by the supplier. This stage is basically the logistics phase, where customer orders are accepted and delivery of the goods is planned.
What are the four 4 primary reasons that companies hold inventory supply chain quizlet? ›What are the primary reasons for holding inventory? (1) to take advantage of price discounts, (2) to take advantage of economic lot sizes, (3) to provide a certain level of customer service, and (4) because production requires some in-process inventory.
What are the four 4 variations in quantitative forecasting? ›While there are a wide range of frequently used quantitative budget forecasting tools, in this article we focus on four main methods: (1) straight-line, (2) moving average, (3) simple linear regression and (4) multiple linear regression.
What is the fourth principle of supply chain management? ›Principle 4: Differentiate product closer to the customer and speed conversation across the supply chain. Principle 5: Manage sources of supply strategically to reduce the total cost of owning materials and services.
What are the 4 types of supply chain strategies? ›Types. The main four types of supply chain strategies are client-centric, predictive business, visibility and smart automation.
What are the global dimensions of supply chains? ›Supply chains have three structural dimensions: horizontal, vertical, and the horizontal position of the focal company within the end points of the supply chain.
What are the types of global supply chain management? ›Global supply-chain management has six main areas of concentration: logistics management, competitor orientation, customer orientation, supply-chain coordination, supply management, and operations management.
What are the three entities in the product? ›Each product entity would have name, price, and product ID attributes. This is shown in the ER diagram in Figure 4-3.
What are the 3 global supply chain issues? ›
the three critical challenges facing global supply chains: labor shortages, equipment availability, and the ripple effect of global bottlenecks.
What are the 6 components of the global supply chain? ›CIO, the business magazine from Boston's International Data group, have identified six core components of good SCM: Planning, Sourcing, Making, Delivering, Returning, and Enabling.
What are the three stages of the global supply chain? ›The best way to understand the various stages of supply chain management and their influence on one another is to take a look at the three levels of supply chain management: the strategic level, the tactical level, and the operational level.
What are the 4 main functions of SCM? ›- Purchasing. The first function of supply chain management is purchasing. ...
- Operations. ...
- Logistics. ...
- Resource Management. ...
- Information Workflow.
Market supply, short-term supply, long-term supply, joint supply, and composite supply are five types of supply.
What are the 4 components of supply chain management Mcq? ›- INTEGRATION. Integration starts at your strategic planning phase and is critical throughout your communications and information sharing and data analysis and storage. ...
- OPERATIONS. ...
- PURCHASING. ...
- DISTRIBUTION.
Generally the key aspects of Supply Chain management are Purchasing (sourcing), Planning (scheduling) and Logistics (delivery). Sometimes logistics is separate, and procurement may be included with Purchasing, depending upon how location specific the procurement activities are.
What are the four 4 specific activities that are inter related in supply chain management? ›There are four major elements of supply chain management: integration, operations, purchasing and distribution. Each relies on the others to provide a seamless path from plan to completion as affordably as possible.
What are the stages of supply chain? ›- Original sourcing or extraction of raw materials.
- Refining or manufacturing materials into basic parts.
- Assembling basic parts into finished products.
- Selling finished products to end users.
- Delivering finished products to end users or consumers.
Stage 4: Demand-Supply Network Collaboration.
Cooperative interaction and proactive behavior based on critical information that flows freely and simultaneously throughout the supply network. It is sometimes referred to as the glass pipe.
What is step 4 in the 5 step procurement process? ›
Step 4: Evaluation and contract
Once a vendor is selected, the contract negotiation and signing are completed, and the purchase order is then forwarded to the vendor.
Element One: Integration
“Integration is at the heart of the supply chain and is considered as the brains and heart of the supply chain process.” says Rachael. “As with any project, planning is essential to long-term success.
- Pillar 1 – Vulnerability. ...
- Pillar 2 – Management Culture. ...
- Pillar 3 – Procurement. ...
- Pillar 4 – Operations. ...
- Pillar 5 – Demand & Visibility.
Types. The main four types of supply chain strategies are client-centric, predictive business, visibility and smart automation.
What are the 4 stages of supply chain evolution? ›Stages of this evolution include ad hoc, organized, integrated, and extended. At this stage, supply chain practices and processes are unstructured and ill-defined with few, if any, metrics in place for performance measurement.
What are the stages of global supply chain? ›The traditional global supply chain comprises four critical stages: supplier, manufacturer, retailer, and end-user.
What are the supply chain stages? ›- Original sourcing or extraction of raw materials.
- Refining or manufacturing materials into basic parts.
- Assembling basic parts into finished products.
- Selling finished products to end users.
- Delivering finished products to end users or consumers.
What Are the 5 Elements of Supply Chain Management? Supply chain management has five key elements—planning, sourcing raw materials, manufacturing, delivery, and returns.
What are the supply chain basic concepts? ›A supply chain is the network of all the individuals, organizations, resources, activities and technology involved in the creation and sale of a product. A supply chain encompasses everything from the delivery of source materials from the supplier to the manufacturer through to its eventual delivery to the end user.
What are the 4 pillars of public procurement? ›The Principles are anchored in four pillars: transparency, good management, prevention of misconduct, accountability and control in order to enhance integrity in public procurement.