Procurement Logistic and Supply Chain Management - British Coursework - 1

Procurement Logistic and Supply Chain Management - British Consolidated Agricultural Machinery - Coursework Example BCAM is headed by James Irvine, Managing Director holding 40% of the shares while Tom Irvine is the Production Director with 25% shares in the company. The company was established 100 years ago by the Irvine family which came into existence during the mass industrialization of UK agricultural sector manufacturing tractors and a wide range of associated agricultural equipment like harvesters, balers, mowers and sprayers. Over these years, BCAM was able to build a good reputation in the market but lacked innovation and neglected both product and market development failing which the company was not able to react to the demand and had to face stiff competition, mainly from Europe, USA and the Far East. As supply chain management and procurement logistics are important in efficient, smooth and continuous functioning of the company, this paper critically analyses the supply chain management process of British Consolidated Agricultural Machinery (BCAM), its consequences on the operation and management of the company and evaluating different approaches of supply chain management to benefit the company in terms of improved procurement and supply chain management. According to Mentzer (2001) supply chain management is the systematic, strategic coordination of the traditional business functions within a particular company and across businesses within the supply chain for the purposes of improving the long-term performance of the individual companies and supply chain as a whole. Further Hugos (2006) states that supply chain management is the coordination of production, inventory, location and transportation among the participants in a supply chain to achieve the best mix of responsiveness and efficiency for the market being served† Various definitions from different authors concentrate mainly on the flow of goods and materials within the company for timely production, cost-effective  operations and better customer service which is not evident or persistent in the supply chain process of BCAM. The supply chain process at BCAM did not meet any of the essential criterions as suggested by several authors in Mentzer (2001).