TESCO and the JIT Philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

TESCO and the JIT Philosophy - Essay Example While it is not clear which supermarket pioneered this revolutionary supply chain model, which is now adopted by many in the industry and is considered as a standard of best practice, many attribute it to Tesco’s reforms set up late in the 1990s. This is a report on Tesco’s supply chain management practices, which is recognized to be designed after Toyota’s â€Å"just in time† (JIT) model. Specifically, this report will compare JIT principles to Tesco’s business practices and assess the latter’s efficacy in the navigation of the challenges Tesco faces amidst the internationalization of both suppliers and its market. II. Relevant Operational Theories and Principles Supply Chain Management Fundamentally, supply chain management is the framework by which processes, structures, managements elements in the value chain is integrated and coordinated. It is crucial in the drive for competitive advantage and concerns the alignment of management practices into what the requirements of the customers. Seuring (2003) outlined the basic characteristics of the concept: †¢ Supply chain management is primarily an integration-oriented logistics management concept, characterized by the strategic, cooperation-oriented and interorganizational initiatives; †¢ The task of the concept is to manage the supplier-buyer relationships, particularly streamlining the complex chain and network involved; The goal is to align all activities to satisfy the requirements and needs of customers and reduce costs and enable the organization to take advantage of opportunities; The focus is to realize efficiencies and the expansion of covered activities beyond logistics, including management components and information flows among the supply chain partners. (p169-168) Lambert was able to depict the framework in the following model: Supply Management Framework (Lambert, 2000, p70) SCM Tools Supply chain management tools are essentially systems and solutions that are designed to enhance it so that the processes produce value for customers either in facilitating, integrating, coordinating, controlling, optimizing and so forth. An excellent example is technology. Through this tool, SCM is able to automate order processing, warehousing, among other stages in the value chain and make centralization possible and more efficient. Tesco’s continuous replenishment system is a specific example. Th en, there is also the so-called electronic data interchange