Question

The flow of material in the supply chain, and (b) the flow of information in the supply chain

Where does the flow of materials come from and Where does the information flow come from and

Which of them do you think is more critical??

2 paragraphs please .

Thanks

Answer 1

Flow of material is the transportation of raw material, semi-finished products, minute components, etc from one location to another and finally integrated to form a specific product. It is typically from a supplier to the consumer. The path includes supplier, manufacturer, distributor, wholesaler, retailer and consumer. Thus the flow is forward in nature i.e. from point of origin to point of use.

On the other hand, information flow is bidirectional in nature. Information such as invoices, product description, product designs, bill of requirement, inventory levels, delivery schedules, etc are in the forward direction. Whereas information such as purchase order, feedback, complaints, suggestion, payments are in reverse direction. There are certain other document flows which are bi-directional in fashion. The strength of the supply chain lies in effectiveness of information flow. This means in order for the system to be highly agile and responsive, information flow must be consistent. Information flow facilitates material flow as in case of Pull-based system where the market demand influences the supply. Hence flow of information is more critical than flow of material.