There are so many important
elements attached to a business organization, but one crucial element is its
supply chain management. Regardless of the size of an organization, the supply
chain management is critical in so many ways. It is a process where it is
ensured that a product has reached its final destination, and customers can
purchase it. It would be good to understand the concept with an example. If a
company has introduced a new product, which is needed by the customers and they
badly want it. The company has done extensive marketing to market the product,
and customers have seen so much that now they are eager to buy the product, so
they go to nearby shops or stores, etc. to buy the product, but they found it
that product is yet not available (Forceintellect, 2018). It means that the
supply chain management of the company was failed to deliver the product to its
final customers, whereas so many promises were made through advertising. This
kind of thing adds a bad taste to customers about a company and so they look
for alternative companies, who fulfill their demands. It means that having a
product with extensive marketing is not good enough; rather making sure that
the product is also reached to its final destination, otherwise, customers won’t
be happy with the company (Teeboom, 2018). In this paper, SCM of three companies
would be analyzed to review their performance and give some recommendations.
In some cases, a product demand
increases due to its popularity, and then supply should be increased with quick
methods so that demand is satisfied, and this can only be done with the help of
an effective supply chain management. When demand is increasing and suppliers
are asking for more supply in time, then a proper SCM system would allow a
company to manage increased demands, because they have good inventory as well
as operations along with better logistics. The production units should be
informed in time to produce the product as per demand, and once the product is
ready, it should be sent to the required sales points as soon as possible. This
balance of demand and supply is essential for the success of a company
otherwise customers will not be satisfied as I would be a bad experience for
them. It is the responsibility of a business organization to make its products
available in the market, otherwise, advertising won’t help. So, supply chain
management is one of the critical operations of a company to gain long term and
sustainable success (Min, Zacharia, & Smith, 2019)
Overview of Albaik, Almarai and
Emirates Airline and their Supply Chain Management
There are so many famous fast
food brands in the Middle East and one of the famous local brands from Saudi
Arabia is Albaik. The company’s history dates back to 1974 when it started its
business operations from Jeddah city. The concept of Broast Chicken was first
introduced by Albaik in Saudi Arabia. Albaik was the one, which came up with
the first Broast Restaurant in the country. This was just the beginning and
Albaik never looked back ever since and had grown up as one of the best in the
fast-food market in Saudi Arabia. The iconic logo of the company was developed
in 1986, which has been modified twice until now. The company was invited by
the Saudi government in 1998 to participate in the food service for Hajj
Season, and they are handling these operations during Hajj on a not-for-profit
basis since then (LovinSaudi, 2017). Almarai is another famous Middle
Eastern company coming from Saudi Arabia, and it is involved in the food &
beverage business. The company started its operations in 1976, and it was
founded by Prince Sultan Ben Saoud. The company has been involved in a
different kind of business such as dairy business, bakery products as well as
poultry products. As far as the dairy business is concerned, it is one of the largest
in Saudi Arabia. The company has a great market share as well as market value
in the whole Gulf regions, and their popularity has been on the rise. In 2015,
the market value of the company was more than $12b (Maher, 2015)
When it comes to talking about
famous and top airlines in the world, Emirates Airlines comes to mind as they
have gained so much success and reputation over the years. The company started
its operations in 1985 when they just had two aircraft. This was just the
beginning of a company, which was going to become one of the top airlines in
the world. This incredible journey of Emirates continued and currently, they
have 265 aircraft, covering more than 80 countries and 155 destinations are
covered in these countries (The Emirates Group, 2019). This small company
staring from the UAE has become a huge success all around the globe. Every
week, more than 1500 planes fly from Dubai airport, which shows the huge scale
of its business. The company has been voted to get an award of “Airline of the
Year” several times and it has won several other awards as well (Altaf, 2017)
It is important to look at the
supply chain management of all three companies so that a proper comparison is
made with considerable findings. Almarai is one of the best in dairy business
as a dairy section of its business has the largest portion of its revenues and
profits. So, it is important for them to have a supply chain management system,
which allows a smooth supply of material and ingredients so that products are
made and supplied to customers in time, otherwise, there would be a gap in
supply and demand. It is mentioned earlier that they are one of the top brands,
so it is imperative for them to have a great SCM process. It has been revealed
by the company that they use Vertical Integration Process in their supply chain
management. The manufacturing units of the company are situated in Jordan,
Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. The Animal feed is imported from outside and rough
estimates have shown feed around 1.5 million tons. They have developed their
own farms around the world to get quality ingredients to make quality products
(Almarai, 2019). It has been revealed that more than 8 million product units
are produced by the company in terms of dairy, juice and bakery products. They
have a great network of logistics and transport to carry these products to the market.
The vehicle fleet of the company has more than 9000 vehicles. The company has
more than 100,000 retailers in North Africa as well as the Middle East. This
huge and well-managed supply chain network allows Almarai to come up with great
and quality products delivering in time to its customers, which is the basic
reason behind their huge success (ARAB NEWS, 2017)
It is also important for Albaik
to have a supply chain management system, which is effective and efficient to supply
products in time. The company has a great vision of providing consistency as
well as quality to its customers, and it can only be possible with best supply
chain management, because they have to get ingredients and supply in time so
that they can prepare their fast food products in time with good quality, which
is the essence to satisfy their customers . They can’t say to their customers
that sorry, we don’t have more chicken for today, so we can’t deliver your
required meal. There are so many competitors in the market so supply and demand
should be managed effectively. The company is getting its supply of chicken
from various suppliers so that they can deal with any supply risks and one
major source for them in Brazil. It is important to mention here that chicken
for Albaik is tested by their own laboratory as well as from SFDA before it is
used to make food for customers (ALBAIK, 2019). There are
several issues that the suppliers have to face for delivering the core material
or fast foods such as chicken. They have to check all of the supply before
delivery, like if chicken is not looking or dead they have to remove from the
supply. As mentioned in the report, Brazil supplies its chicken to Al Baik
mentioned on the official website of Al Baik. The suppliers also have to pay
customs taxes on both sides as well as they also have to face shipment returning
because of weight issues or other medical problems.
The third company in this list is
Emirates Airlines, which is one of the best Airlines in the globe. It is a fact
that supply chain management is a critical function for an airline, because the
competition is intense in so many ways, and if an airline will have flaws in
its supply chain, it will struggle to gain market share and value. It is known
that Emirates is one of the best airlines and they have a great reputation
amongst customers because they have great operations in their business
processes including their supply chain management. They have to deal with
supply in two aspects, first is the pre-travel supply chain, and the other is
the post-travel supply chain. They provide quality services to their customers
as they can get a whole great experience when they travel with Emirates
Airlines. One good example is the food provided to the passengers during the
flight. The company has developed a venture named “Emirates Kitchen Flight
Catering (EKFC),” which handles all the operations and supply of food. They provide
great quality food with fresh and quality ingredients, which satisfy customers
all around the world. That’s why they have been voted as the best airline for
several times (Sundarakani, Razzak, & Manikandan, 2018).
Supply Chain Management
of Albaik, Almarai and Emirates Airline
In this report, the supply chain management, as well as
activities, are also discussed, which can provide you brief information on how
Al Baik, Almarai, and Emirates Airlines are managing the supply of its products
to other prospective buyers. Furthermore, it has a technique for the
diversification of the supply chain for this area of the decision of operation
management. Getting more supplies is involved by the strategy from other areas
for the minimization the effects of the supply chain risks. After observing
these websites, I have found several activities of the supply chain management
of all companies. The best activities or the practices for the supply of the
products or service supply as well as manufacturing (Buurman, 2002).
Activities of Supply Chain
Management of Albaik, Almarai and Emirates Airline
The demand forecast activity is usually based on the demand for
the products and the services of these companies, the usage patterns, or the sales
in the previous time. Therefore, the changing situations such as the introduction
of new services or products, losing or gaining the clients, the short term enhance
within the demand by promoting as well as the reduction or enhancement of the
popularity of the product can affect the demand in the future. The customer
relationships activity by serving a high standard or high-level services and
products are by performed by the company. Mentioned companies are focusing effectively
on building strong relationships with the customers by fulfilling the
requirements of the customers.
On the contrary context, the supply chain of mentioned companies
is so much different because the supply chain of Emirates Airlines is
completely different from fast-food chain and bakery. The companies are doing
focusing on making beneficial relationships with prospective buyers and
customers, but they have different kinds of workability to supply the products
and services to the customer. Emirate Airlines do not import any kind of
service, but the Al Baik has to like it imports chicken from Brazil to
manufacture the fast food items for the customers. Emirates Airlines is
providing customer care for convenience of the customers because many customers
can face some issues to attend a flight, or any customer may have some
unexpected issue then the customer care center of the company provides further
facilities to the customers. After provision of the services, the company also
keeps in touch with the customers by emailing to let know them about the new
services of the company (Mulyono, 2011).
Conclusion/Recommendations
of Supply Chain
Management of Albaik, Almarai and Emirates Airline
It can be concluded in the end
that all three companies are famous and have a great reputation in the Middle
East region. However, the range and reach as well as the scale of business for
Emirates are far more than Almarai and Albaik. Emirates have achieved this
great success due to their great operations and supply chain management.
Almarai has also been doing well in this regard. So, it is recommended to
Albaik that they should follow the model of Almarai and Emirates so that they can
expand their business to more destinations worldwide, and gain more market
share in the fast-food business. They should follow the SCM model of Almarai
and Emirates.
Some issues the companies are facing in the supply chain, so
they need to improve the overall structure of the supply. Some customers cannot
afford the services of Emirates Airlines, and the company should have to
provide flexibility to have flight services for increasing sales. For Almarai,
company should note the challenges they are facing, such as slowdown in the
selling of bakery products, so they should have to manufacture other
alternative products such baked fast food items into the bakeries, which can increase
the sales of the company.
References of Supply Chain Management of Albaik, Almarai and Emirates Airline
ALBAIK. (2019). Where does ALBAIK get
its chicken from? Retrieved November 12, 2019, from
http://www.albaik.com/en/faq/albaik-talk/your-questions-answered/where-does-albaik-get-its-chicken-from-1.html
Almarai. (2019). Overview.
Retrieved November 12, 2019, from
https://www.almarai.com/en/corporate/investors/overview/
Altaf, S. (2017). Emirates turns 32: A
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https://www.khaleejtimes.com/business/aviation/emirates-turns-32-a-brief-history-of-uaes-favourite-airline
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LovinSaudi. (2017). 7 Facts You
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Min, S., Zacharia, Z. G., & Smith, C.
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Mulyono, F. (2011). Demand Chain
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Sundarakani, B., Razzak, H. A., &
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Teeboom, L. (2018). Explain the Term
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The Emirates Group. (2019). History.
Retrieved November 12, 2019, from
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