Problem
BISM-Uniforms, a medium sized local distributor in Brisbane that manages the design and order of uniforms. Their main clients are sport associations such as netball and rugby, but they do cater for businesses, providing design and distribution for many products from trophies, polo shirts, name badges, etc., BISM-Uniforms has a great customer relationship management system and website, but they keep track of all their orders through email and excel spreadsheets with their group of approximately 20 different suppliers. This has worked relatively well in the past but was limited in terms of understanding when uniforms and products will be delivered, especially with the impact of COVID on shipping estimates. The manager who has worked with BISM-Uniforms for thirty years has traditionally used her experience to decide the best supplier to order with based on frequent phone calls and understanding their current volume of orders. For example, the manager knows that one supplier in India can guarantee shipment in two weeks but shipments from India can often get delayed, while another local Brisbane supplier can vary in their production speed, being anywhere from one week to ten weeks, but they get the delivery overnight. She captures this data in a spreadsheet, emails, and notes. All in all, BISM-Uniforms' supplier relationships worked well enough for their operations before COVID, but the manager is seeing different patterns of buying from her customers lately. Many businesses are keen to offer company-branded polo shirts to employees to make a sense of team - even with some still working remotely. Also, local sport teams are being reinvigorated and new teams are needing new designs. BISM-Uniforms wants to be able to build her business but needs to know that she can rely on her key suppliers. BISM-Uniforms would like to reward suppliers to ensure that they prioritise their orders. At the same time, the BISM-Uniforms wants to keep track of the deliveries and ensure that customers also have this information. Recently BISM-Uniforms noticed that its ratings and reviews on social media have been dropping. The complaints are mainly about shipping delays. BISM-Uniforms really wants to choose the right manufacturer of a uniform based on the time requirements of the customer. A customer pulse survey has also indicated that BISM-Uniforms customers are wanting more transparency about the supply chain and the customers want to know that the product is ethically sourced, and all parties are socially responsible in their practice. You have started working at BISM-Uniforms as a business analyst and your manager has asked you to explain how a Supply Chain Management (SCM) system could help BISM-Uniforms with its expansion plans and address the limitations of its current approaches to supply chain management.
Explain to your manager two reasons why BISM-Uniforms would want to implement a Supply Chain Management (SCM) system. For each of your reasons give a real-world example 2 and apply it to the case.