Topic 3 Flashcards
What is a supply chain?
network of businesses, people, and activities involved in producing and delivering a product or service to the customer.
List four types of business that are usually part of a supply chain.
Suppliers, producers, distributors and retailers.
What does ‘procurement’ mean?
Procurement refers to the process of obtaining goods and services that a business needs to operate.
- Explain how effective procurement and logistics can improve the efficiency of a business.
Effective procurement and logistics improve business efficiency by reducing costs, ensuring timely deliveries, managing inventory effectively, and maintaining reliable suppliers. This helps businesses avoid delays, reduce waste, and operate smoothly, leading to better customer satisfaction and higher profits.
Explain how effective procurement and logistics can affect the unit cost of products.
Effective procurement and logistics reduce unit costs by lowering material and transport expenses, minimizing waste, and improving production efficiency. This helps businesses save money, offer competitive prices, and increase profits.
Explain why a good relationship with suppliers is a benefit of managing a supply chain effectively.
A good supplier relationship helps businesses by ensuring better prices, reliable deliveries, high-quality materials, and flexible support. This improves efficiency, reduces costs, and prevents delays.
Why is it important that a firm reduces waste and unnecessary costs in its supply chain?
Reducing waste and unnecessary costs improves profits, efficiency, competitiveness, and sustainability, helping a business stay profitable and competitive while operating smoothly.
What is meant by ‘job production’?
Job production is a method of manufacturing where individual, custom products are made one at a time, typically for specific customer orders. Each product is unique and produced according to the exact specifications of the customer.
Give an example of a product made by job production.
An example of a product made by job production is a bespoke wedding dress. Each dress is custom-made to the customer’s exact specifications, including design, fabric, and fit. The dress is unique and tailored to the individual, which makes it a good example of job production.
Give an example of a product made by flow production.
An example of a product made by flow production is a car. In flow production, cars are produced on a production line where each car moves through various stages of manufacturing, with standardized parts and processes. This allows for high volume, consistent quality, and faster production times.
Give one advantage of flow production over job production.
