Business Operations and Logistics - Tescos Empire Essay

Business Operations and Logistics - Tescos Empire - Essay Example Supply chain management is a broader concept and which has been defined as it consists of the planning and management of procurement, conversion, and all logistics management activities including manufacturing operations, processes and activities related to product design, sales, marketing, finance and information technology (Council of Supply Chain Management, 2013, p. 187). In this regard, Fisher (1997) states that supply chain management includes both internal and external logistics activities between companies. And this has been illustrated by the graph 1 representing the internal supply chain. This graph depicts that the process of supply chain begins from suppliers, which is external entity entering into logistics dealings with the company. In other words, the companies are required to ensure the external flow of logistics in which communication, delivery of supply, rates, designs; type and quantity are those important factors that are considered before going to the physical flow of goods or products. This graph 2 clearly highlights different aspects of logistics and supply chain management. Each aspect has its own influence on different logistics activities as the business world has become highly connected and reliant on business dealings and relationships and these dealings are mainly reflected through logistics and supply chain management as mutual business interests The graph 3 represents Tesco’s internal supply chain. The company’s internal supply chain consists of six stages and each stage has its own functions. For example, in the first stage, dairy source, the process of collecting dairy milk takes place. In this stage, the company affiliates interact with the dairy owners and from company’s own farm houses; from the company’s own farmhouses, milk is directly forwarded to dairy factory whereas milk is collected from the independent dairy owners at a pre-determined time.