Considered as an important component of supply chain management, supply chain quality management includes activities to control and ensure product quality of the supply chain based on activities of association, information sharing, strengthen communication with suppliers and customers in order to improve the competitiveness of enterprises. Combining theoretical research and field investigation, a team of experts from the Center for Business Administration Research, UEB - University of Economics and Business has synthesized the fundamental theory on quality management and supply chain management with experience in building and implementing supply chain quality management models in industrialized countries in order to propose models/analytical frameworks to be applied in Vietnamese enterprises, towards the goal of increasing the competitive advantage and sustainable development of enterprises when participating in the global supply chain.

A supply chain is a system of organizations, people, processes, information and resources involved in the transfer of a product or service from a supplier or manufacturer to a customer. Supply chain operations are concerned with transforming resources, raw materials, and semi-finished products starting into a finished product for delivery to the end customer (user). From the customer's perspective, the supply chain includes all stages directly or indirectly related to satisfying customer requirements. The supply chain includes not only manufacturers and suppliers, but also carriers, warehouses, retailers, and the customers themselves.

The main objective of the supply chain is to maximize the value delivered to the customer. In more detail, a supply chain is a network of global organizations that work together to improve the flows of materials, information, and finance between suppliers and customers at the lowest cost and fastest speed; The goal of the supply chain is customer satisfaction. Supply chain activities at the strategic level include 5 main activities including: (i) Purchasing activities; (ii) Production and manufacturing activities that create products and services; (iii) Transportation of semi-finished products/products within and outside the supply chain; (iv) Storage of semi-finished products and raw materials before they are shipped or processed; and (v) Product sales and consumption activities, The nature of the supply chain is to link and integrate 4 businesses: suppliers, manufacturers, distributors and retailers to ensure the processes essential business process.

On the basis of developing a method and an analytical framework for supply chain quality management in Vietnamese enterprises, the authors present the results to add empirical evidence on the extremely important role of corporate governance. This result implies for managers that the application of supply chain-oriented practices (including: Support from management, Building credibility with suppliers, Trust in suppliers, and Supplier Alignment) is an important prerequisite for fostering supplier collaboration and adopting other supply chain quality management practices. In particular, the results of empirical research have provided important implications for managers that in the context of limited resources, businesses need to focus on a certain group of cooperation practices with suppliers who has a direct impact on the results the business is aiming for. This is a valuable lesson for businesses in developing countries to optimize their resources and keep pace with the development speed of industrialized countries in the world.

A remarkable new point from the above study is to provide academics as well as business administrators with a consistent scale system with high reliability, allowing to evaluate the effectiveness of cooperation with suppliers in supply chain quality management. The difference of this study from previous works is demonstrated through the simultaneous analysis of a large number of supplier collaboration practices to provide a comprehensive view of the impact of collaboration with suppliers on business performance. In addition, the evaluation of different aspects of performance indicates the relationship between each outcome dimension and supplier collaboration practices. Based on clarifying the effectiveness of individual practices, each business can develop a list of supply-side partnership management practices with different priorities to realize the strategic goals of the business.

In addition, on the basis of assessing the impact of total quality management (TQM) and Just-in-Time manufacturing (JIT) on supply chain flexibility, the study confirms the link between implementation of TQM and JIT. These are considered tools to promote flexibility. While TQM focuses on continuous improvement and process management to deliver sustainable high quality products that meet or exceed customer expectations; JIT seeks to eliminate waste and keep inventory to a minimum. Adopting JIT makes businesses use less space and time, making testing and error detection easier, thus improving quality performance. The study also showed a positive correlation between JIT practices, TQM practices, and agile performance. From there, manufacturing enterprises should apply quality management as well as JIT at all three levels: internal, downstream and upstream to enhance flexibility.

In addition, the study tested the moderating effect of TQM practice on the relationship between JIT practice and agile performance. Internally, a higher level of process control enforcement would result in a reduction in setup time having a stronger impact on agile performance. The reduction in setup time results in smaller space and less material flow, so process management must be tailored to accommodate JIT deployments. For the downstream supply chain, customer participation has a moderating effect on the relationship between JIT linkage with customers and agile performance. As customer engagement improves understanding of the market, providing customers with interest and feedback, businesses have the ability to link customers in the operational system, providing on-time delivery.

As such, managers at manufacturing enterprises who are implementing JIT practices are advised to implement TQM practices so that JIT support can lead to more agile performance. In the case of businesses that have not yet adopted JIT and TQM but want to increase flexibility, it is advisable to focus on TQM practices at the outset.

Book information:

Title of the book: Quản trị chất lượng chuỗi cung ứng cơ sở lý luận và một số kinh nghiệm thực tế tại Việt Nam

Publication year: 2021

Publisher: Vietnam National University Press, Hanoi

Number of pages: 144

Book size: 16×24 cm

ISBN: 978-604-324-304-8

>> Click here to see the title in Vietnamese

Author information:

 

Assoc.Prof.Dr. Phan Chi Anh: Born in 1970 in Hanoi. Currently working at University of Economics and Business - Vietnam National University, Hanoi, has 25 years of experience in practice, research, consulting, training in management and quality improvement in enterprises. Training process: Graduated from Automation Industry, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, 1993; Graduated with Master's degree in Production Systems Engineering, Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Thailand, 1998; Graduated with a PhD in Business Administration, Yokohama National University, Japan, 2008. Teaching and research areas: Operations Management, Quality Management, Supply Chain Management, Enterprise Productivity Improvement. Published scientific works: The author has more than 50 research publications, including 23 works in prestigious international journals such as: International Journal of Production Economics, Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, International Journal of Productivity and Quality Management…

Dr. Nguyen Thu Ha: Born in 1982 in Hanoi. Currently working at the University of Economics and Business - Vietnam National University, Hanoi, has 13 years of experience in teaching, research and consulting on marketing, new product development practice, supply chain quality management in enterprises. Training process: Graduated in International Trade, Institute of International Trade, France, 2006; Graduated with Master of International Business Administration, Institute of Business Administration (IAE), Valenciennes, France, 2007; Graduated with a Doctor of Business Administration, University of Economics and Business, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, 2016. Teaching and research areas: Marketing Management, Service Marketing, Service Quality, New Product Development, Supply Chain Quality Management, Enterprise Productivity Improvement. Published scientific works: The author has more than 40 research publications, including 10 works in prestigious international journals such as: Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, International Journal of Productivity and Quality Management, International Journal for Quality Research, Management & Marketing: Challenges for the Knowledge Society…