Similarity between customer relationship management and supply chain management
The supply chain management within the companies is responsible for constant supply of the materials, the financial resources and the information that the company needs in order to undertake quality production of its goods and services and to do it in a timely manner. This, the supply chain management does by coordinating the work flow right from the vendors to the manufacturers and also from the distributing sectors to the retailers. Using the effective techniques of supply management, the supply chain management helps in this way to reduce inventory and ensure that the products are available to the company when needed.
Similarly, when the supply and production is done, it is the role of the customer relationship management to that the goods and services from the company get to the customers in a timely manner. This role is carried out by the said department after completing the sales using the automated business processes in the sales, services and support sector. Thus the integration of supply chain management and the customer relationship management helps in maximizing the operations of the company (Tara, 2017).
Differences between supply chain management and customer relationship management
First, it is the work of supply chain management to ensure that all the company departments get the required materials in order to effectively carry out their work, while the role of customer relationship management is to ensure that customers get support on the goods and services they require. Secondly, the personnel from the supply chain deal with vendors while the personnel from a customer relationship deal with customers. For example, considering a veterinary hospital, the personnel from the supply chain management ensure that the medical supplies that are required in conducting examinations by the veterinarians and technicians and to carry out surgeries on animals are supplied with their required quantity and at the right time. After this, the personnel from customer relationship management ensure that the customers access the right medicines to administer to their animals which are sick at home.
In which functional areas do they have the most impact?
First is the area of product flow. In this case, the supply chain management works to ensure that material movement from the supply point to the manufacturing sector is smoothly carried out. On the other hand, customer relationship management ensures that orders are taken and transmitted to the right sectors in relation to the customers’ needs and then ensures proper handling of product returns and customer support requirements. Product flow is a critical activity to the company, thus these two departments impact heavily on the success of the company in this area.
Secondly, is the area of information flow. Here, the supply management technicians use data generated from the software so as to make sure that the customers provide the right materials and in good time. Clear communication is thus necessary in this case between the parties involved. At the same time, a customer management team also requires the available information on the ready products in order to channel it to the customer. This they can do with proper coordination with the technicians from the supply management and the production team in order to keep track of the productions in progress and the data available in the software concerning the finished products (Harrison, 2001). Thus information flow is vital in the running of the company and these two departments ensure it is well carried out for the smooth running of the company.
References
Harrison, G. (2001). Integrating supply chain and customer relationship management to
Leverage Economies of Information. Califonia: Tina Reiners.
Tara, D. (2017). Supply chain management Vs. customer relationship management. small
business:Hearst Newspapers , 1.
