Monday 10 September 2012

Role of Social Media in Supply Chain

Social media has played a major role in every walk of life, be it business or social relationships. The supply chain management however, has remained aloof towards it. This article talks about the role, benefits and future of social media in supply chain and procurement services in India.
Social media is only considered as a means for socializing. Majority of the companies in India have banned Facebook, Twitter and other such social media platforms because they are said to hamper the productivity of the employees. This is, definitely is a matter of debate. However, social media does benefit your business, even if it is supply chain.
Customer is the most important link of any procurement service and supply chain. After all, he is the one who is going to get your business going. The profits of any supply chain depend on the demand, and how effectively supply managers fulfil it. Direct procurement, on the other hand is the factor that determines the working of the supply chain. Everything has the customer as the centre. Only if the customer demands for a particular product or service will the procurement process begin which in turn will motivate the supply chain.
This is where social networking comes into the picture. We as employees might not be active on social media, but as customers we definitely are. We have our set of choices and are also alert about the quality of it. Thanks to social media, we can now voice opinions clearly and precisely. Hence, social media platform is the apt place for business to be.
Not only can you understand the requirements of the customer through social media, you can also use it to respond to any sort of internal or external issue in the supply chain. With social media, it is possible to check the probable effects of a change in advance. In a nutshell, we can thus state that social media can be used for product marketing, customer service, sales, news updates and recruiting for procurement services India and supply chain.
International Procurement from India is bound to flourish with the inclusion of social networking services; however there is a long way to go. Supply chain managers need to be convinced about the benefits of social media and the extra perks it provides.
The companies which see this as too big a step can start by using social network for a small project. See the difference for yourself and then opt for social media for your bigger projects.

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