Since January 1996 |
Supply Chain Defined
The supply chain, if viewed holistically,
can be considered as:
A The total movement of raw materials, components, finished
goods, services, or monies, between a "supplier" and a "customer", from
start to finish.
Think of a company's Human Resources (HR) and Information
Technology (IT) departments - who are the customers to HR and IT?
The other departments in the company. HR and IT have internal
customers.
Similarly, we can consider that supply chains exist between the
receiving dock, quality assurance, raw materials inventory,
manufacturing, finished goods inventory, the returns area, accounting,
etc.
A company's Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system is used to store
these aspects of a company, and the process flow of the ERP system
defines our inbound and outbound supply chains.
Even regardless of whether intermediary contract services are used,
because the company is ultimately responsible, this holistic concept of
the supply chain is applicable. In fact, you will find that more
of what happens in the supply chain happens within the company's walls,
not on the outside.
Remember: fraud collusions can be perpetrated inside, outside, and as a
mixture of both.
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Fraud anywhere in the supply chain can
have a negative impact on operations both internal and external to
the company.
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