1. TOPIC
DISCUSS THE CASE STUDY OF DELL,
WHEN SHOULD A FIRM LIKE DELL
TAKE INTO ACCOUNT TOTAL SUPPLY
CHAIN PROFITABILITY WHEN
MAKING DECISION

2. Introduction
If your company makes a product from parts purchased from
suppliers, and those products are sold to customers, then
you have a supply chain. Some supply chains are simple,
while others are rather complicated. The complexity of the
supply chain will vary with the size of the business and the
intricacy and numbers of items that are manufactured.

3. Elements of the Supply Chain
 CUSTOMER
 PURCHASING
 PLANNING
 INVENTORY
 PRODUCTION
 TRANSPORTATION

4. Supply Chain Management
To ensure that the supply chain is operating
as efficient as possible and generating the
highest level of customer satisfaction at the
lowest cost, companies have adopted Supply
Chain Management processes and associated
technology. Supply Chain Management has
three levels of activities that different parts of
the company will focus on: strategic; tactical;
and operational.

5. Supply Chain Management Technology
If a company expects to achieve benefits from their supply
chain management process, they will require some level of
investment in technology. The backbone for many large
companies has been the vastly expensive Enterprise
Resource Planning (ERP) suites, such as SAP and Oracle.
These enterprise software implementations will encompass
a company’s entire supply chain, from purchasing of raw
materials to warranty service of items sold.
Since the wide adoption of Internet technologies, all
businesses can take advantage of Web-based software and
Internet communications. Instant communication between
vendors and customers allows for timely updates of
information, which is key in management of the supply
chain.

6. The five steps of supply chain
management
Supply chain management - when you put the words together, a vague
definition emerges, but the reality of this business process is far more
complicated than it seems. According to Six Sigma Online, managing an
effective and reliable supply chain solution essentially involves five key steps.
The first stage, planning, is fairly self-explanatory. Company executives and
managers develop strategies to manage resources for timely product delivery.
Metrics should be developed to monitor progress and compliance.
Choosing your suppliers is the next step. Managers are responsible for
developing a system for pricing, delivery and payment. Then there's
manufacturing
the
third
phase.
"During this step, the manager schedules activities necessary for production,
testing, packaging and preparation for delivery of goods or services to
customers," the source explains. "The manufacturing process is very intense;
worker productivity, level of quality and product output are monitored at this
stage."
Delivery, or logistics, is the fourth stage of supply chain management.
Managers coordinate order receipts, develop a network of warehouses and
choose
their
carriers.
Finally, there is the defect and excess stage, which is likely the most difficult to
handle effectively. Here, managers need to review their system of supporting
customers who have problems with product delivery.

7. A five-point plan for meeting your goals
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Don't leave the story of your life to chance. If you want to achieve
professional and personal success, following this simple plan will
help you get where you want to go.
Everything we do in our jobs and in daily life—making breakfast, pulling
and pushing inventory through the supply chain, solving math problems—
involves ordering the steps of a process. Each step must follow a
particular, and sometimes peculiar, order if the process is to achieve the
desired result.
This is especially important for young supply chain professionals. A
strategic career and personal plan provides a framework for achieving the
success we envision for ourselves, and it helps us ensure that the steps in
that process are in the right order. Creating such a strategic plan involves
a five-step process:
Determine an overall vision
Create a purpose statement
Develop goals for each area of life
Measure progress
Take action

8. Steps Involved In Supply Chain
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Step 1: Determine an overall vision
Your vision reflects what you truly want to achieve in life. Think of it as the
desired result of your career or life process—the ultimate goal you can set for
yourself. This vision should reflect a long-term view and remind you of where
you want to be, personally and professionally, in the future. In addition, it
allows others to understand the direction you are heading and what drives you
every day.
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Step 2: Create a purpose statement
Businesses often create a mission statement that identifies their objectives,
their stakeholders, and how they will provide value. Similarly, young
professionals need a personal "purpose statement" that summarizes their
skills, identifies their stakeholders, and explains how they will provide value.
Essentially, this statement tells others how you will achieve the vision you
created in Step 1.
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Step 3: Develop goals for each area of life
Goals are the steps that will move you closer to making your overall vision a
reality. Accordingly, each goal, whether short-term or long-term, needs to align
with your vision. You can use your purpose statement to help you validate
whether your goals are aligned with that vision and will move you closer to
achieving it.
Develop your goals to be "SMART," balanced, and aligned. SMART means
Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Relevant, and Timely. As you set goals, be
clear about the outcome you want to achieve.

9. 
Step 4: Measure progress
The only way to ensure you are accomplishing your goals, and thus are
on track to achieving your vision, is to measure your performance. Being
able to see your progress will encourage you to continue working toward
your goals or to take action if you are missing them.
For goals that are easily quantifiable, measuring success using
percentages can be effective. For example, if one of your goals is to work
out 20 times per month and you do that only 15 times in a month, then
your performance is 75 percent.
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Step 5: Take action
At this point, you've set your overall vision and created a personal
purpose statement. You've outlined your goals and the steps necessary to
achieve them. You are tracking your performance, so you will know which
goals you will achieve and which you are at risk of missing. The final step
is to create a plan of action, such as a weekly schedule for working on the
goals in each life area. (See Figure 3 for an example in the
career/business area.)
This plan of action will be especially important when you are failing to
make sufficient progress toward any of your goals. If you miss a goal, ask
yourself why you missed it, and then outline the specific steps you will
take to achieve that goal and get yourself back on track.

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Using the plan over time :
Your strategic plan is more than just a list of your vision, purpose, and
goals. It's an effective system for evaluating future decisions, whether
personal or professional, that will affect your life. It provides a basis for
understanding how each future decision could impact your ability to
achieve your dreams and desires. In addition, it provides a way to
proactively manage your progress because it requires you to develop a
plan of action for when you miss goals.
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Wishes can come true :
I first wrote down my goals for life in high school. In my junior year, one
of my teachers gave an assignment to write down 25 things we students
wished to achieve by our 10-year high school class reunion. The
descriptions of our wishes had to be very detailed and specific. Instead of
"I wish for a Lamborghini," we had to write something like "I wish for a
bright, candy-apple-red 2009 Gallardo LP560-4 with tan leather interior
and a thing dangling from the rearview mirror that tells time." Naturally,
some of my teenaged wishes were fanciful and not realistic.

11. Profitability
The service-profit chain establishes relationships between profitability,
customer loyalty, and employee satisfaction, loyalty, and productivity. The
links in the chain (which should be regarded as propositions) are as
follows: Profit and growth are stimulated primarily by customer loyalty.
Loyalty is a direct result of customer satisfaction. Satisfaction is largely
influenced by the value of services provided to customers. Value is
created by satisfied, loyal, and productive employees. Employee
satisfaction, in turn, results primarily from high-quality support services
and policies that enable employees to deliver results to customers.
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Profitability and Revenue Growth
Customer loyalty
Customer satisfaction
External Service Value
Employee productivity