Tuesday 6 March 2012

The Social Supply Chain Explained

A supply chain is the flow of goods from the manufacturer to the suppliers and then to the customers. The chain includes the capital that is required to manage and to distribute the goods. But a social supply chain goes further by including social data, interactions and networking.

When a product is released in a specific area, studying social the potential customer base allows the distributor to assess the demand. For example, if a product is released in Florida, researchers can determine the demand by studying the social factors in the community. However, when a product is released to the general public, human trends are analyzed to help realize demand.

When completing a social supply demand analysis in a nearby region, a company will use the social supply chain analysis to determine whether the product will sell in another state. The information attained can be used to change the supply chain to address the demand. For example, if the company sells tires -- and it realizes the demand in a northern state -- the company could sell the tires but change them to winter tires or all seasons. Based on the information provided by social data, the company is able to change its product and other factors such as advertisement and distribution.

The social data can also be used to convince a company not to do business in a particular area. For example, when the area in which you want to deliver your product is too far away, the company can determine that the location shipment costs that are too high. However, the information about the time delay can cause the company to alter its production so that the delivery is still profitable. A company could send larger shipments of a product to the area to compensate for the increased transport costs because shipments per package are cheaper when in bulk.

The ability to hear feedback is another aspect of a social supply chain. Feedback mechanisms allow companies to cater to the specific needs of the public. This can be completed through Internet or mail-in surveys and telephone calls. When a company receives a lot of consistent information about their products, it will alter them to meet the wants of its buyers.

The social supply chain allows distributors to communicate directly with their customers through social networking. Website such as Twitter and Facebook allows the company to post promotions directly to its customers' accounts.

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