Improving the Supply Chain Cycle Through E-commerce

1. Improving the Supply Chain Cycle
Through E-commerce
Nestor M. Lim
Doctor in Information Technology Student
St Paul University Philippines
limnestor@consultant.com

2. Agenda
• Definition of Terms
• Overview of the present situation
• Identifying opportunities for improvement
• Addressing through e-commerce
• Conclusions and Recommendations
• Questions
• References

3. DEFINITION OF TERMS

4. Supply Chain Management
• Supply Chain Management is “the active
management of supply chain activities to
maximize customer value and achieve a
sustainable competitive advantage. It represents
a conscious effort by the supply chain firms to
develop and run supply chains in the most
effective & efficient ways possible. Supply chain
activities cover everything from product
development, sourcing, production, and logistics,
as well as the information systems needed to
coordinate these activities” (Dr Robert Handfield)

5. Supply Chain Cycle

6. OVERVIEW OF THE PRESENT
SITUATION

7. Present Scenario
• Our company provides BPO-IT services and
consulting work to local and foreign
customers.
• Since our company is not a manufacturing
company, it wears the hat of the customer
most of the time in the supply chain cycle
• The company source out the items it needs for
operation from various suppliers

8. Present Scenario
• Among the items that the company acquires
regularly includes office supplies, computing
hardware and software, furnitures, office
appliances, and administrative and general
services.
• The services that we provide our customers
include software development, infrastructure,
database administration, and technical
support.

9. Present Scenario
• As a customer, the company has relationship
with various suppliers or vendors such as
Integrated Computer Systems (ICS), Office
Warehouse, etc.
• Communication with suppliers are done via
email, phone and fax of purchase orders.

10. Present Scenario
• Product delivery from our suppliers is through
the suppliers own distribution team or via
third party carriers such as LBC, 2GO, and
others

11. Present Scenario
• The company deliver its services to the
customers through the public cloud or
internet.

12. IDENTIFYING OPPORTUNITIES FOR
IMPROVEMENT

13. Opportunities for Improvement
• Having a facility where we know how much a
particular product to order at any point in
time will make our supply chain process a lot
smarter

14. Opportunities for Improvement
• Getting real time quotes from more suppliers
of a specific category of products would help
the company get the best price value during
purchasing.

15. Opportunities for Improvement
• Getting notified of new suppliers in the
market for hard to find product category
would mitigate the risk of us running out of
supplies.

16. ADDRESSING THROUGH E-
COMMERCE

17. Enterprise Resource Planning
• Using an online enterprise resource planning
software in order to do forecasting and
planning of stocks to purchase from suppliers
and automating the purchasing process would
greatly reduce over stocking or running out of
supplies

18. Supplier Portals
• An e-commerce system that interconnects the
various suppliers that provides the items that
we need and having a facility for these
suppliers to provide real time quotes on items
would ensure a smarter supply chain process

19. Supplier Portals
• The online supplier portal can also serve as a
place where new players or suppliers can
make proposals and hence mitigate the risk of
under stocking hard to find items.

20. CONCLUSIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS

21. Conclusions
• Having a comprehensive e-commerce system
that supports ERP systems and supplier
portals would definitely make the supply chain
cycle of the company a lot smarter and this
means that we would be able to mitigate
supply chain risks as well as get the best value
for our money.
• This will give the company a strategic edge
over its competitors.

22. Recommendations
• Present to top management the importance
of e-commerce on planning purchases and
interconnecting suppliers via the portal.
• Plan out how this can be achieved in the next
few months.
• Identify other opportunities to improvement
along the way of implementing the proposed
changes above.

23. QUESTIONS?

24. References
• Handfield, R. (2011, Jan 11) What is Supply Chain
Management? The SCRC Articles Library. Retrieved from
http://scm.ncsu.edu/scm-articles/article/what-is-supply-
chain-management
• Supply Chain Cycle. Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXxCPgJ75QY&feature
=related
• The Smarter Supply Chain of the Future. Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FY6tgqEc1qo&NR=1
• Global Value Chain. Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=y3NbdwnKWIM

25. Thank You