STUDENTS' CORNER - 228

Supply Chain Management (SCM): Manufacturing

Hands with a simple tool make clay pots; looks simple but it is not.

Having seen some essentials in sourcing in relation to supply chain management, let us move to the logical next step: manufacturing. If we go into the origin of the word ‘ manufacturing’,  two words predominate : process and making by hand.  Process implies a series of tasks undertaken to achieve a result already thought of; and making by hand necessitated use of tools relevant to the process of achieving a result. Today, manufacturing has grown to such heights that one cannot master the phases of all kinds of manufacturing.

Perhaps, you have heard of Industrial Revolution. Thereare endless number of books and articles on Industrial Revolution.  They discuss basically merits and demerits of industrial revolution.  Let us not bother about those seas of facts surrounding both merits and demerits of revolution. 

How revolution happened and why?  Simple: making by hand was replaced by making through machines. Why? Again, man multiplied endlessly man; that is, population jumped to enormous heights; so, man needed more things; and more of the same things.Hand could not make those huge massive numbers of products. Necessity is the mother of invention, we know; man found out machines can manufacture faster and more in number. Ambition proved father of invention. The process of producing products to the satisfaction of man began thus much early and it is still ruling the world. As things stand, it will ever rule the world.

 Taste of comfort of meeting the needs was nothing compared with the taste of profit. And manufacturing became a tool to make profit. To make profit, man has to manufacture and market; and today, manufacturing which gains significance only through marketing, and therefore along with manufacturing,marketing is always in companionship. So, world is governed by two primary motives: manufacturing and marketing.

Manufacturing and marketing make business and business is ever renewing intoxication. No wine, no woman can match it. Right?

We will see some more basics about manufacturing and move on to transport, the next phase in supply chain management. Possibly on June 8.