Course Reflection Rondeeda Magby 11/27/17

I started this journey with a background in manufacturing as a production worker, accounts payable clerk,
shipping sr, group leader, fleet manager (back up), continuous improvement manger, as well as human
resource manager for a large window manufacturing company that held 7 locations throughout the United
States. I thought I had a general ideal about supply chain management but what I really had was a little
knowledge of purchasing.

What Ive learned, is the act of purchasing starts with a process. Most companies have procedures in place on
how to request items needed, or replenish normal stock. Purchasing is a functional group that is in charge of
selecting, evaluating, and negotiating, the buying of goods and services to maximize the value of the
organization. There are 5 rights to purchasing. 1) Getting the right quality. 2) Getting the right quantity, 3) At the
right time. 4) For the right price. 5) From the right source.

The Fundamentals of Procurement and Supply Chain Management course has taught me that you need to start
with a business strategy. You need to have a strategic approach for planning and acquiring organizational
needs through effective management of the supply base. It defines the requirements of its internal customer
(engineering, marketing, etc.) and how to acquire those requirements. SCM is effective with the help of cross-
functional teams to achieve organizational goals. Defining value-based outcomes through a supply chain
strategy, will build supporting cross-functional metrics to view the business holistically, and then define the
supporting processes. Effective supply chain processes can improve economies, minimize environmental
impact, and improve the overall satisfaction of employees. The costs alone associated with poor management
or no management of the supply chain can kill a business.

Through this course I have also learned of the importance of managing the value chain and that there is a
difference in value chain and supply chain. A supply chain consists of activities in which a product or material is
simply transferred from a starting point to an end point. It is three or more organizations linked by upstream or
downstream product flows, and is composed of internal and external interrelated activities. A value chain is
composed of primary and support activities that lead to a competitive advantage. All personnel are part of the
value chain and extended value chains include suppliers and customers. Adding value is when a process, or
packaging, or anything that changes the shape or form of the product, is added to the product. Anything adding
value to the product is in the value chain. Adding Value is anything the customer is willing to pay for.

Activities that are part of supply chain management are 1. Planning 2. Procurement 3. Logistics. An important
part of supplier management involves continuous measurement, evaluation, and analysis. Ive learned that
businesses need an effective measurement system, a system to collect and provide information to measure,
rate, or rank, supplier performance on an on-going basis. Ive learned that things to measure are delivery
performance, quality performance, and cost reduction, and that types of measurement systems can be
categorical, weighted, or cost based.

Ive also learned that there are significant advantages to supply chain management. Effectively managing the
supply chain should result in real improvements in cost, quality, delivery, and information sharing between the
buyer and the seller as shown below.

Buying from a World Class Supplier choosing and maintaining only the best suppliers supports
higher performance throughout the supply chain.
Use of Full Service Supplier Capable of offering a broader range of value adding services.
Reduction of Supply Base Risk Careful selection of suppliers can result in reduced supply base
risk. The risks can be as minor as a missing certificate of conformance, a late shipment, or as
significant as lost sources due to supplier business closures and fraud.
Lower Supply Base Administrative Costs Buyers routinely interact with their supplier about design
and material specifications, quality and performance, negotiating contracts, visiting and auditing
supplier process, and providing feedback on supplier performance.
Lower Total Cost Supply base rationalization and optimization provides the opportunity to achieve
lower total product costs by awarding larger volumes to fewer, more capable suppliers.
Having a written procurement policy will help the business define what their procurement goals are, and help the
business create a roadmap to reach those goals. There are many choices a business will have to make during
the strategic sourcing like buying environmentally friendly goods and services, and buying from environmentally
responsible suppliers, as well as determining what they are really trying to achieve in strategic sourcing. If it is
about cost reduction, price transparency and low bidder approach will achieve that. If their goal is bringing value
to the business and their customers, they may try to achieve a view that understands price and total value.

This course has been an eye opener for me terms of all the ways there are to manage the supply chain, and not
only manage the supply chain, but to create value in the supply chain, as well as being socially and
environmentally responsible.

I never gave much thought about where some of our products may come from until this course. Seeing the
videos of heparin being made from pig intestines that are hung in Chinese farmers kitchens was shocking to
me. Its a hard thing for me to understand when we live in America! The United States has so many regulations
and Federal agencies that inspect food and drugs, so this stuck with me. I also gained a new understanding on
child labor. I didnt realize to what extent conditions existed for child labor or labor in general, in foreign
factories. I have a newfound respect for companies that refuse to do business with suppliers who are not
socially and environmentally responsible.

Lastly, I want to mention the special event I attended with speaker Richard Pennington. Richard is a very
interesting individual who has a very special gift of telling of real life experiences with visual aids and hands on
learning, making it a fast two hour event. The first thing Richard talked about after his introduction was about
our strengths and weakness. Richard used pictures of different scopes for us to use to identify a scope that
might represent our strength, and one that might identify our weakness. There are the cinemascope, periscope,
telescope, kaleidoscope, microscope, stethoscope, horoscope, oscilloscope, and radarscope. The pictures of
the scopes surrounded the gyroscope. The gyroscope rotates until it slows down and then falls down. If we dont
continue to improve, we will fall.

I picked the kaleidoscope as my strength. I saw the kaleidoscope as an ever changing environment. I feel I
have an ability to adapt well with change and with different personalities. The definition Mr. Pennington had for
the kaleidoscope was, Step to their side often. Help mold and promote the team. I enjoy working with teams.
I chose the microscope as my weakness because attention to detail is a struggle for me. The definition Mr.
Pennington gave for the microscope was, First ask how, then ask why, then decide. He said that if you try to
change some ones system of buying, or anything for that matter, and you havent talked with them to find out
how and why they do what they do, then you will have a great resistance and people will feel threatened. I agree
with that statement one hundred percent.

Mr. Pennington also talked about: 1. Defining the scope and to continually evaluate policies. 2. Using a team to
do the work. 3. Do an appreciative inquiry. Be more positive. 4. Manage change and do after action reviews
asking the following questions: 1. What did we expect to happen? 2. What actually happened? 3. What are the
reasons for the differences? 4. What did we learn that can be used in the future? Mr. Pennington asked the
group, How do you know if you succeeded? Creating a team and defining the scope are to me the most
important steps. A team can set a realistic goal and then measurements for success can be made.

At this point, I try to imagine myself as a supply chain specialist and I know I am not ready yet. I have learned
about many tools and techniques that can be used to effectively manage the supply chain such as managing
risk and creating a world class supply base. We also learned about centralizing the spend and the P Card
system in the good practice example of Babson College, and how to make a decision to insource/outsource as
in the FlexCon piston decision. I am looking forward to taking the rest of the courses in Procurement and
Supply Chain Management and getting more familiar with the tools available for procurement specialists. I also
enjoyed getting to meet some of my classmates and our instructors who were very attentive and helpful.