Supply Chain Management Quiz

Understanding and Managing Supply Chains: Key Considerations for Procurement Professionals

• The supply chain for bread starts at the wheat farm and ends with the consumer purchasing the bread.
• Each player in the supply chain relies on the output of the preceding organization as an input, making them dependent on one another.
• Procurement professionals need to engage and work with suppliers to ensure inputs are up to specification and avoid delays that could impact service delivery.
• Supply chains need to be optimized through addressing any supply chain risks and ensuring demand and supply are synchronized.
• Supply chain networks are extensions of supply chains, showing all parties involved in the process, including external suppliers, manufacturers, and logistics.
• Supply chain visibility is important to track every tier of the supply chain and avoid reputational risks from unethical practices.
• Supply chain resilience is crucial in responding to disruptions, as failing to meet consumer needs presents lost opportunities for the entire chain.
• Supply chain reliability refers to how predictable the outcome of the supply chain is, with more complex networks presenting higher risks.
• Value-adding relationships between supply chain partners are crucial to managing supply risk and require collaborative efforts.
• Supply chain tiering presents additional complexities from global supply chains with different partners exposed to different risks.
• Procurement professionals need to consider macro environmental risks such as social, economic, technological, ethical, environmental, legal, political, and demographic issues when developing sourcing strategies.
• A more complex supply chain results in a more complex supply network, with challenges ranging from logistics to geopolitical risks that need to be managed by procurement professionals.