Coordination in Supply Chain

The term Coordination means tasks which are deliberate for improving the total supply chain
profits by various agents. Supply chain coordination requires each stage of the supply chain to
share information and take into account the impact its action have on other stages. This also
involves responsibilities to terminate things that might disturb both local profits and total profits.
So it is essential to coordinate with the different sections in Supply Chain Management to boost
up the profits of the organization. Improper coordination in Supply Chain Management creates
large amounts of problems in the store or deficiency of products. A lack of coordination occurs
either because different stages of supply chain have local objectives that conflict or because
information moving between different stages is delayed or distorted.

Achieving Coordination

In achieving coordination effective communication and flow of information between different

stages of supply chain is very important. Coordination between different individuals and
activities always brought out by communication. In the Gelato supply chain the communication
between supplier, transporter, manufacturer and customers plays important role in achieving
good coordination.

 Focus on communication with other stages:

Good communication with other stages of a supply chain often creates situation that highlights
the value of coordination for both sides. Often companies do not communicate with other stages
of supply chain and are unwilling to share information. But often all companies are frustrated by
lack of coordination between the supply chain functions and would be happy to share
information because it helps the supply chain to operate in more effective way.

The gelato ice restrict its all stages of supply chain to share information regarding their work
with one another and this coordination plays a main role in the effective working of its supply
chain. The information which is shared by all stages of supply chain of Gelato is discussed below
in detail.
Communication between Supplier and Transporter:

All functions of Gelato supply chain try its best to transfer information about their working
procedure to the other one so that everyone can design their objectives in such that it can align
with the overall goals of company. The supplier of milk, cream and yogurt always remain in
tough with the truck owner because these things always have to be transfer on time from one
place to other as these things putrified fastly. The truck owner provides information about their
arriving time to the raw material suppliers so that they can keep them packed on time. This
information keeps our supply chain responsive and save things from being rotten. The supplier of
our raw material also provide full information about the total amount of material to the
transportation owner which can help the truck owner to manage their schedule if they want two
or three round for the transfer of things.

Communication between supplier and manufacturer:

The good communication between supplier and manufacturer is very important for the successful
working of supply chain. The manufacturers of our product always try to provide accurate
information about the need of raw material to the supplier because the suppliers have to prepare
the things and packed it according the specific need of manufacturer. As our manufacturer step is
responsive so they always communicate their required raw material need to the supplier
accurately on time. This appropriate communication helps the supply chain in appropriate
working and keeps coordination at right phase. If supplier is going to increase their prices of
product then they must try to tell this to manufacturer so that they should manage their total cost
in an appropriate way.

Communication between manufacturer and transporter:

The communication between manufacturer and transporter is very important as our product is
perishable so we have to always remain in contact with our transporter because when we know
about the transporter arrival time than we make our arrangements according to it for holding the
raw material fastly at their place.
Communication between manufacturer and customer:

The communication between manufacturer and customer also important for achieving good
coordination in supply chain. The good behavior of manufacturer towards employee is very
important for getting proper information from customer. The gelato staff always shows a good
behavior towards their customer and customer feel free for sharing their proper taste about gelato
ice cream. When manufacturer totally aware about their customer taste then they order raw
material according to it. The good communication between customer and manufacturer also
plays a role in creating good communication between manufacturer and supplier.

 Focus on the use of technology:

The use of latest technology is very important for creating a good coordination between all the
stages of supply chain. Nowadays everyone using internet or different software for creating
coordination between the stages of supply chain. Gelato also uses internet facilities or software
for their communication purpose. The use of internet for communication purpose increases the
visibility across the supply chain. We also whatsapp group or other wireless system for the
communication purpose with one another. The use of technology can connect different people
sitting at different places through conference calls. The supplier, manufacturer and transporter
use conference call before making any final decision about the raw material need and their
transfer process to save them for any misunderstanding. This can enhance the working of overall
supply chain.

 Try to coordinate with entire supply chain network:

The full benefit of coordination achieved only when the entire supply chain network is
coordinated. If only one or two stages coordinated with one another than it is not beneficial for
all network. The powerful party must try to coordinate with everyone so that all are aware about
what is happening in all stages. In gelato supply chain network the manufacturer always try to
create a good coordination between all the operations. The supplier directly not knows the
customer so manufacturer provides them all essential information to them. We try at our best for
achieving an effective coordination in whole network.
 Effect on performance of lack of coordination

The lack of coordination increases the variability and hurts the supply chain surplus. The lack of
coordination can affect supply chain badly.

The lack of coordination can increase manufacturing cost in the supply chain. If there is lack of
coordination between supplier and manufacturer than supplier does not know at exact what time
did manufacturer need raw material this can create a conflict between them and manufacturer
than start finding new supplier which may demand more money and in urgent need of things
almost all supplier charges high than due to this situation the manufacturing cost increases. If
manufacturer have enough raw material and he cannot convey this information to supplier and
supplier send material than this condition also create problems and become the reason of
disturbing overall supply chain cost. As our raw material required only in fresh position so large
amount of extra material need more space and also perish fastly which can be loss for us. So we
always try making coordination with all the functions so that we save ourselves from loss. Thus
the lack of coordination is very harmful for whole performance. The lack of coordination also
creates conflicts between the functions which disturb the overall working of supply chain. Due to
improper transfer of information the manufacturer are not able to meet the needs of their
customer which effect the name and profitability of our company.

Bullwhip effect

The bullwhip effect is a circulation channel trend in which forecasts give up supply
chain inefficiencies. It refers to increasing swing in inventory in reaction to shifts in customer
demand as one move advance up the supply chain. Is mostly done by demand fluctuation. The
forecasting about demand is done by everyone in supply chain so no one can blame other for the
fluctuation in demand.

As we keep raw material according to our routine and sudden change in weather can decrease the
demand of our ice cream than we definitely face problems which can fluctuate the working of
our whole supply chain. And we don’t keep high inventory and demand for our ice cream ice
cream increases than this also create problem so we also decide it effectively that approximately
how much inventory should we kept to keep us save from bullwhip effect. A good
communication also needed for the removal of bullwhip effect because when everyone can share
their idea about inventory holding with other than definitely a good decision is made regarding
that problem.