Integrated Supply Chain
Supply Chain Integration
Supply chain is the process, which integrates, co-ordinated and controls the movement of goods, materials and information for a supplier to a customer to the final consumer. A supply chain is how a product is made and delivering the product to the consumer. In a supply chain there are many parts such as purchasing the raw materials, manufacturing the product and distributing the products to the customer. Supply chain integration is when all of the departments in the supply chain all work very closely together to deliver a product to the best standards.
There are various levels of integration for a supply chain, such as higher and lower. An integrated supply chain has many advantages such as it improves efficiency across the whole supply chain. An integrated supply chain has lot costs, meaning the overall profit will increase. It is a very fast process; therefore it is ahead of all of the other competitors.
However, there are also disadvantages of integration in a supply chain, such as relying on a supplier too heavily because if the supplier doesn’t give the goods then no products can be made. They also have to worry about transport and security because the products may not get to the store or the customer on time.
In my opinion, I think that retailers such as Mark and Spencer’s and Primark are integrated supply chains because they only sell their own brands. The products from Marks and Spencer’s are all from one supplier, this is the same as Primark. Both Marks and Spencer’s and Primark sell a variety of clothing for different target markets such as children, men and women, however all of the products are very similar in each company. I also believe that both of these brands are integrated supply chains because both of the companies own the suppliers.
Non-Integrated Supply Chain
A non-integrated supply chain is the complete opposite to an integrated supply chain. External integration supplies the products and services that make a company. Non-integrated supply chains don’t have a flow in the supply chain. They are not aware of anything that the customer wants; none of the items are tracked so they do not know when they will be delivered. Companies that use external integration use delivery companies such as Hermes and DHL. To add, companies that also use external integration do not own the