Arguably, competitions exist in the organization and in supply chains. Supply chain refers to the system of technology, people, activities, resources as well as organizations that are involved in moving services or product from the supplier to the consumer. It is worth noting that supply chain entails a lot of activities and processes. Distribution in the supply chain plays various roles. It is crucial to ensure that the distribution channel within an organization's supply chain is well established (Coyle, 2009). The distribution in supply chain takes the responsibility of buying in bulk and selling them to the customers in small quantities. The distributors take the responsibility of storage and purchasing products in bulk. Distribution role in to reduce the risk to consumers and those who operate under them in the supply chain.
Distribution operations can negatively and positively influence the performance of the supply chain. Managing the distribution system can be very complex since it requires coordination and proper planning. The distribution operation is advantageous because it undertakes value-adding roles, which will improve the entire performance of the supply chain (Radhakrishnan, 2001). In addition, distribution operations will positively affect the performance of supply chains by ensuring that the resource is well utilized to maximize supply chain performance,. The quality of the services and products are also guaranteed by the distribution operation (Coyle, 2009).
There are tradeoffs that must be focused on between distribution and other logistic activities within the organization. One of the tradeoffs takes place between the inventory and distribution (Radhakrishnan, 2001). The distribution focus on increasing spendings on developing a bigger warehouse that is reliable. The warehouse may cost a lot of resources, but the goodness is that a lot of inventory will be kept in. These scenarios leads to the reduced rate. In addition, the tradeoffs in these scenarios entail the increase of distribution facilities. The instrument leads to the increase in customer service delivery, which in the long run will be reflected by the increase in profitability.
References
Coyle, J. J., & Coyle, J. J. (2009). Supply chain management: A logistics perspective. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.
Radhakrishnan, P. (2001). Proceedings of the 1st international conference on logistics and supply chain management. Allied Publishers.
