电子商务英语 第二版 unit7.docVIP

Unit 7 Supply Chain Management 学习指导： 本章将介绍： 什么是供应链管理 供应链中的价值创造 提高供应链的效率 物料跟踪技术、EDI和电子商务 在供应链中实现最终消费者导向 7.1 What is the Supply Chain Management When companies integrate their supply management and logistics activities across multiple participants in a particular products supply chain, the job of managing that integration is called supply chain management. The ultimate goal of supply chain management is to achieve a higher-quality or lower-cost product at the end of the chain. Supply chain management is about opting business processes and business value in every corner of the extended enterprise from your supplier’s supplier to your customer’s customer. Supply chain management can use e-business concepts and web technologies to manage beyond the organization , upstream and downstream . It is the strategic approach that unites all steps in the business cycle from initial product design and the procurement of raw materials, through production, shipping distribution, and warehousing until a finished product is delivered to a customer. 7.2 Value Creation in the Supply Chain Supply chain management was originally developed as a way to reduce costs. It focused on very specific elements in the supply chain and tried to identify opportunities for process efficiency. Today, supply chain management is used to add value in the form of benefits to the ultimate consumer at the end of the supply chain. This requires a more holistic view of the entire supply chain than had been common in the early days of supply chain management. Businesses that engage in supply chain management work to establish long-term relationships with a small number of very capable suppliers. These suppliers, called tier one suppliers, in turn develop long-term relationships with a larger number of suppliers that provide components and raw materials to them. These tier two suppliers manage relationships with the next level of suppliers, called tier three suppliers, that provide them with components an