What is logistics and supply chain management?

How NowBrown Cow?

Meet daisyShe lives on a 500-hectare farm in South Africa.

Meet daisyHer typical day starts off being walked to the sheds to be milked and spends the rest of her day grazing in the fields.

And takes the milk to be pasteurized.Farmer Brown then hops in his truck

Simple?NO!

What does happen?Have you heard of the supply chain?

There is a whole process that happens at Farmer Brown’s farm and outside it!

This process is called the supply chain!

The Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals defines Supply Chain Management as: “The planning and management of all activities involved in sourcing and procurement, conversion, and all logistics management activities. Importantly, it also includes coordination and collaboration with channel partners, which can be suppliers, intermediaries, third-party service providers, and customers.”

What is supply chain management?

What does that mean?The entire process from Daisy all the way to the milk bottle in your fridge is the supply chain.

CSCMP defines logistics as: “That part of supply chain management that plans, implements, and controls the efficient, effective forward and reverse flow and storage of goods, services, and related information between the point of origin and the point of consumption in order to meet customers' requirements.”

What is logistics?

What does that mean?That will be all the work Farmer Brown does on his farm.

The difference between supply chain and logisticsSupply chain management is an integrating function, integrating all business functions and business processes within and across company boundaries. The supply chain, therefore, extends beyond a company’s borders to include supplier and customer relations, as well as other possible supply chain partners such as 3rd party logistics providers.

Logistics forms part of the supply chain and coordinates and optimises all logistics activities within a company’s borders in order to satisfy customer requirements.

As you can see that there are a lot of people involved in this process, even people orchestrating how things are done.

Did you know that there are areas of trade in supply chain and logistics you can specialise in?

Be sure to check out eduKazi for courses specializing in the supply

chain industry!