Introduction
Supply chain basically refers to the flow of materials, information, and services between suppliers and producers or sellers and finally to consumers. Therefore, supply chain management (SCM) is the process of planning, organizing, and coordinating supply chain activities. Global supply chain resource planning and management apply to multinational companies that operate in various parts of the world. Global supply chain resource planning and management are mainly used by international companies to gain a competitive advantage in the intentional market while at the same time maximizing profits. The course objectives in this class have enabled me to learn a lot about global supply chain resource planning and management in the working world.
Course Objective One
The first course objective in the class was to mainly about demand planning and how to integrate a system of techniques to plan for future demand. The objective illustrates the importance of demand forces in the supply chains, including global supply chain planning and management. I have learned through the objective that demand forecast is one of the major uncertainties in the global supply chain planning and management. Importantly, to effectively implement global supply chain resource planning and management, multinational companies (MNCs) must involve accurate demand planning and forecasting, including market analysis to understand demand trends in the global market ( Patil, 2015) . I have realized that understanding demand is essential in the global supply chain resource planning and management because it significantly influences competition, prices, and customer behaviors. MNCs must be able to plan for future demand to effectively and strategically implement global supply chain resource planning and management.
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Course Objective Two
The second course objective is majorly about the application of sales and operation plan (S&OP) to enhance visibility in supply chain. S&OP is mainly about the alignment between key stakeholders in various business functions ( Patil, 2015) . Therefore, based on the second course objective, I have learned that MNCs must be able to effectively align and manage their supply chains for them to achieve strategic business success in the global market. At the same time, the business functions of global companies, especially those that relate to the supply chain, must be integrated with operations to enhance the opportunity for growth. Besides, to achieve effective and efficient global supply chain resource planning and management, MNCs must accurately apply the concept of S&OP in their operations. Hence, S&OP is vital in the global supply chain resource planning and management, especially for MNCs that operate in many international markets. S&OP helps in enhancing the visibility of global supply chain resource planning and management.
Course Objective Three
The objective has helped me in understanding the importance of integration departments and functions of companies, especially in large companies that are operating in a competitive environment. Specifically, integrated scheduling and planning system can be used can be used by both local and international companies to increase their productivity while at the same time improving customer satisfaction, leading to a competitive advantage in the market. Integrating systems such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) can help in the provision of a single interface in the global supply chain resource planning and management in the international companies ( Verwijmeren, 2004) .
ERP, for instance, helps in achieving greater product variety, leading to the emergence of dynamic global supply chain planning and management ( Verwijmeren, 2004) . At the same time, I have realized that ERP can assist in integrating global supply chain resource planning and management. Global supply chain management can only be effective when there is effective internal and external integration, which can easily be achieved through various integration systems. Therefore, integrated scheduling and planning system plays a vital role in determining the effectiveness of global supply chain resource planning and management.
Course Objective Four
The fourth objective mainly focused on the Master Production Scheduling (MPS) and Material Requirements Planning (MRP). Importantly, this objective has helped to understand the differences between MPS and MRP and how they can be applied in the local and international companies to achieve effective supply chain management that can assist in gaining competitive advantages. MPS, for instance, can be used by MNCs to conduct effective global supply chain resource planning and management for goods that have direct demand in the market ( Segerstedt, 2006) . Global supply chain resource management can effectively be implemented when a firm understands demand emanating directly from customers. Hence, MPS can assist direct demand, which may help in coming up with global supply chain planning and management techniques that are profitable and be used to gain a competitive advantage in the international market. At the same time, MRP can be used by international companies to implement global supply chain management, especially for products that have dependent demand ( Segerstedt, 2006) . The effectiveness of the global supply chain resource planning and management depends on the ability of MNCs to understand the type of demand in the market, which can be achieved through MPS and MRP.
Course Objective Five
The objective explored the distribution of products within the distribution networks. Unlike local supply chain management, the distribution of products through the use of global supply chain resource planning and management is a complex, mainly because it involves many suppliers, manufacturing sources, storage facilities, and different transportation providers ( Patil, 2015) . Therefore, based on what I have learned through what is contained in the objective, global supply chain resource planning and management is not easy because it involves coordination of many players. At the same time, I have learned that effective global supply chain resource planning and management requires an in-depth understanding of both costs and constraints. Some of the constraints that global supply chain managers must plan and manage include storage, handling, and transportation constraints. At the same time, they must manage transportation and opportunity costs. Therefore, distribution of products across the globe is not easy while at the same time it is complex, especially because of the many players involves, as well as numerous costs and constraints.
Course Objective Six
I have learned through the objective that many social and technical factors are likely to influence the global supply chain resource management. Cultural difference in various parts of the country is a factor that has a significant influence on global supply chain planning and managing ( Patil, 2015) . Therefore, people who manage the supply chain in MNCs must have high levels of cultural awareness and competence to come up with effective global supply chain resource planning and management. At the same time, global supply chain management requires appropriate organizational structure. I have learned that global supply chain planning and management requires the use of an organizational structure that can effectively facilitate supplier selection and negotiation, including direction setting. The organizational structure used should be able to create a useful and productive relationship with suppliers and other stakeholders in the supply chain process. As a result, the global supply chain resource planning and management are influenced by many factors.
Course Objective Seven
The seventh objective was about improving the effectiveness of supply chain while at the same time increasing customer responses time and services levels. Importantly, I have learned that customer satisfaction is one of the major objectives of supply chain management. Supply chain management can only be effective when it meets specific needs of the customer ( Patil, 2015) . Therefore, global supply chain resource planning and management should also be aimed at achieving this objective. Timely delivery of orders products is one of the strategies that can be used to enhance the quality of customer services, leading to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty. Planning and management of global supply chain should be customer-centric.
Course Objective Eight
Finally, I learned that effective inventory management is vital in the supply chain management. Effective global supply chain management requires the minimization of cost while at the same time maximizing returns. Minimizing the cost of carrying inventories is one of the strategies that can be used to enhance the effectiveness of the global supply chain resource planning and management. Specifically, global supply chain resource management requires minimization of capital costs, storage costs, risk costs, and service costs ( Vrat, 2014) . Besides, to enhance customer service, global supply chain management should be aimed at minimizing ordering costs, which is always incurred by clients. The cost of ordering products should be affordable to all clients in various parts of the world that is served by a given company.
Conclusion
The class was beneficial because it involved discussion of various supply chain concepts and issues that can be applied in the global market. The eight objectives contain a lot of useful information that can assist in proving the effectiveness of global supply chain resource planning and management. However, unlike local supply chain management, planning and managing supply change in the global market is complex and it requires a lot of skills and experience. Also, customers play an important role in determining the effectiveness and success of supply chain management at all levels.
References
Patil, M. (2015). Challenges for Supply Chain Management in Today’s Global Competitive Environment. European Journal of Business and Management , 7 (10).
Segerstedt, A. (2006). Master production scheduling and comparison of material requirements planning and cover-time planning. International journal of production research , 44 (18- 19), 3585-3606.
Verwijmeren, M. (2004). Software component architecture in supply chain management. Computers in industry , 53 (2), 165-178.
Vrat, P. (2014). Basic concepts in inventory management. In Materials Management . Springer, New Delhi.
