Supply Chain Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 7

Supply Chain Management - Essay Example Zara. Zara is an international fashion company which designs, manufactures, and markets the products of fashion industry. Although the company has set up its marketing units in the Asian markets, it seems to be reluctant to shift its focus from the European market with the purpose of manufacturing. The objective of the paper will be to identify the influencing factors due to which the company executes more than 80% of its manufacturing operations only in Europe. With this purpose, the paper shall consider the various aspects of the company’s supply chain and analyse them with relation to the opportunities provided in most of the emerging markets of Asia. The operations of Zara are entitled to perform various tasks from the preparation of a design and producing the stock to the distribution of the finished products. Therefore, the organisational operations of the company can be observed as a lengthy and complex process which can be defined as the company’s supply chain. Supply Chain basically refers to the accumulation of the activities supporting the customers’ demand with efficacy. With this virtue, the term ‘Supply Chain Management’ can be referred as the managerial approach adopted to control the various stages of the supply chain in a strategy. It is perceived to be most applicable in the case of manufacturing companies, providing a comprehensive outlook to its operational processes. Four stages can be identified differently in the supply chain of a company, i.e. supply network (the suppliers of raw materials to the firm), internal chain of supply (the manufacturing units of the company), distribution channels and the ultimate customers of the product (Li, 2007). Being a manufacturing as well as a marketing company, Zara also maintains a supply chain in its operations which is identifiably different from that of its rivals or any other similar companies. Even the corporate strategies differ largely from its