when sourcing goods companies should be mindful of lead times and how well equipped a supplier is to meet their needs 
using machinery and labor to transform the raw materials or components the company has received from its suppliers into something new is the heart of the supply chain management process this final product is the ultimate goal of the manufacturing process though it is not the final stage of scm the manufacturing process may be further divided into sub tasks such as assembly testing inspection and packaging during the manufacturing process companies must be mindful of waste or other factors that may cause deviations from their original plans for example if a company is using more raw materials than planned and sourced for due to inadequate employee training it must rectify the issue or revisit the earlier stages in scm once products are made and sales are finalized a company must get those products into the hands of its customers a company with effective scm will have robust logistic capabilities and delivery channels to ensure timely safe and inexpensive delivery of its products this includes having a backup or diversified distribution methods should one method of transportation temporarily be unusable for example how might a company s delivery process be impacted by record snowfall in distribution center areas the scm process concludes with support for the product and customer returns the return process is often called reverse logistics and the company must ensure it has the capabilities to receive returned products and correctly assign refunds for them whether a company is conducting a product recall or a customer is simply not satisfied with the product the transaction with the customer must be remedied returns can also be a valuable form of feedback helping the company to identify defective or poorly designed products and to make whatever changes are necessary without addressing the underlying cause of a customer return the scm process will have failed and returns will likely persist into the future types of supply chain modelssupply chain management does not look the same for all companies each business has its own goals constraints and strengths that will shape its scm process these are some of the models a company can adopt to guide its scm efforts the continuous flow model relies on a manufacturer producing the same good over and over and expecting customer demand will show little variation one of the more traditional supply chain methods this model is often best for mature industries the agile model prioritizes flexibility as a company may have a specific need at any given moment and must be prepared to pivot accordingly this method works best for companies with unpredictable demand or custom order products this model emphasizes the quick turnover of a product with a short life cycle using a fast chain model a company strives to capitalize on a trend quickly produce goods and ensure the product is fully sold before the trend ends the flexible model works best for companies affected by seasonality some companies may have much higher demand requirements during peak season and low volume requirements in others a flexible model of supply chain management ensures that production can easily be ramped up or wound down companies competing in industries with very tight profit margins may strive to get an advantage by making their supply chain management process the most efficient that could involve coming up with ways to do a better job of utilizing equipment and machinery managing inventory and processing orders if any model above doesn t suit a company s needs it can always apply a custom model this is often necessary for highly specialized industries with high technical requirements such as an automobile manufacturer example of supply chain management scm understanding the importance of scm to its business walgreens boots alliance inc decided to transform its supply chain by investing in technology to streamline the entire process that included using big data collected from its 9 000 stores and 20 000 suppliers to help improve its forecasting capabilities and better manage sales and inventory 1 in 2019 it appointed its first ever chief supply chain officer 2walgreens boots alliance also incorporated scm into its environmental social and governance esg initiatives for example the company began asking suppliers to fill in an online survey that asks questions about their esg practices such as whether they have an emissions reduction target in place and the types of materials they use 34