Supply chains are ruled by uncertainty. Their performance is largely unpredictable- Goods may be damaged during transit, shipments may be held up causing delays, and sales may be nowhere near forecast. And organizations spend days or even months reacting to these uncertainties and managing the after-effects. In volatile economic markets the impact of such uncertainties can be huge. And this makes it all the more essential for organizations to adopt a strategic model that can help overcome challenges and create a seamless supply chain. Such a strategic model ideally involves these stages: Stage 1- Analyzing the Business Strategy: The foremost step in developing a strategic supply chain is to understand the objectives of the business, and how the organization chooses to compete in the market. This forms the foundation of the supply chain model and helps in designing the supply chain to serve the competitive goals of the business rather than just the operational goals. Stage 2- Evaluating the Existing Model: Assessing the current supply chain model is an essential step to identifying problem areas and weak links which have been affecting the performance of the supply chain. This step also helps identifying the risks involved in the supply chain, based on which the organization can take measures to mitigate these risks and enable better performance. Stage 3- Developing the Strategic Model: Once the problem areas and risks have been identified, there is a clear picture about the setbacks that have to be overcome by the new model. At this stage, all stakeholders in the supply chain have to participate and give their inputs. There are several considerations to be made at this stage including the cost, resources that may be required, whether or not supply chain outsourcing is appropriate for the business, are there any creative logistics solutions which may be adopted for better performance, etc. The supply chain management responsibilities are assigned, an implementation plan is created, and status tracking capabilities are developed. Stage 4- Executing the New Model: Based on the implementation plan developed in the previous stage, the new model is rolled-out. Performance management plays a key role here. The success of the supply chain greatly depends on how the performance in managed during and after the implementation. This is followed by tracking performance. Analyzing the performance metrics gives a clear picture of how the new supply chain model has been working and whether it requires any further improvement.

Spending and activity are on the upswing as companies are increasingly using their supply chain to gain market share. This has lead to a paradigm shift in how companies view their supply chain. Ideally Supply chain management aims at essentially reducing inventory, increasing the speed of transactions with real-time exchange and increasing by efficiently fulfilling customer demands. It does not only involve the movement of a physical product through the chain, but also includes any data that goes along with the product like an order status information, payment schedules, and the actual entities that handle the product from stage to stage of the supply chain. Most organizations are just beginning to recognize the benefits and problems that go together with an integrated supply chain, making the practice of supply chain management a fairly recent phenomenon. Some of the trends that are changing the supply chain management are as follows: Demand Planning The key to input to the larger Sales and Operations Planning process, demand planning has a significantly positive impact on new product introductions, inventory planning and management, customer service, supply planning efficiency and sourcing strategies. The demand-driven approach facilitates companies to create a more customer-focused mindset, without sacrificing operational efficiency. It consequently improves the management efforts greatly, and helps the overall costs and customer service efforts. Advanced demand planning systems and appropriate tactics can also help discover data and identify trends that may be buried in a company's information systems. Companies need to be committed to demand planning and forecasting efforts to yield the best results. Increase in competition An increase in competition invariably leads to price pressure. Companies need to look at the supply chain management to offset this trend. It therefore becomes necessary to reduce cost and create a more efficient value chain to remain cost competitive and provide value-added services to meet the demands of customers. By streamlining processes with better design, better collaboration across networks and new services can help the company stay competitive and strengthen relationships with customers. Short Product life cycle To meet the needs of both customers and consumers, companies need an efficient product lifecycle management process, which includes grave emphasis on managing new product introduction, product discontinuation, and leveraging across their entire product and infrastructure characteristics. The end result isn’t predictable without a formalized product lifecycle process. Product lifecycle management Technology and processes can ensure that products being produced for specific markets are well-managed and are compliant. Outsourcing Outsourcing all or part of your supply chain operation can bring about significant economic benefits. Although without the right systems, processes, or organizational management structure the risk to success can increase to frightening levels. When outsourcing supply chain , the need for information controls and excellence from the “information worker” becomes a high priority. There also is a need for information systems to connect and coordinate the supply chain as seamlessly as possible in such a scenario. If not managed efficiently, it can result to a breakdown in the entire supply chain. An inefficient and poorly functioning supply chain services can have a negative impact on almost every aspect of an organization, thus jeopardizing the long-term performance and success of a business. To remain successful, companies need best-of-breed Supply Chain Management.