To talk about the supply chain, we must talk about communication. Because there is no supply chain without information that is fast, precise, and understandable to all participants in the chain. Information is a key element of the entire process. I dare say, the most important one.
In current times, business relies increasingly on precise and fast information, unified in form from the source to the final recipient. Information is the most important feature of the supply chain and the most important process. It seems that the physical flow of materials, semi-finished products, products, and goods is starting to be a secondary issue… I cannot agree with that. In my opinion, it is the fast flow of information that is meant to accelerate the physical flow of goods, and this is the main goal of integrating suppliers and final customers.
A very important matter in the process of unifying and connecting these sub-chains are issues related to costs. It must be remembered that business is meant to generate a stream of financial resources and multiply the value of the owner’s invested capital. Any actions aimed at unification or optimization that generate additional useless costs, if they do not serve some other non-quantifiable goals of the entity (quality improvement, etc.), make no sense and should be abandoned.
For the purposes of the discussion on the supply chain in the further part of this article, I will focus on the company Fresenius Medical Care and its operations, viewed from the perspective of the supply chain.
The article comes from the magazine “Logistyka” 5/2004.