Mumias Sugar Company

I did my attachment in a sugar factory called Mumias Sugar Company and supply chain being a combination of interrelated processes from the time of obtaining raw materials to the stage where consumers get to consume the final product, here the main processes included; • Farmers obtain important information from researchers and biotechnologists. • farmers obtain input supplies from farmer’s co-operatives and then grow sugarcane which will then ripen, • Harvesting and selling of sugarcane to Mumias Sugar Company.
• Inside the company, milling and refining takes place which will result into the main product and by-products. The main product being sugar while the by-products are molasses, bagasse, bio-gas and chemicals. • Distribution then takes place where some of the sugar is sold in the local market while others would be exported to the neighboring countries. The local market involves selling to the wholesalers who will sell to the retailers and eventually sell to the consumers.
Basing on this organization’s supply chain, upstream exchanges involve co-operatives selling inputs to the farmers, researchers and biotechnologists supplying information to farmers and farmers supplying raw materials to the company while downstream involve marketing and distribution of the final product. However, the current issue that negatively impacts company’s “global” supply chain is information technology which ties together all the processes making up a supply chain.

Information technology is needed in managing all these processes, linking all employees communicating with customers, suppliers and even other businesses, processing of orders, accounting, inventory control and distribution. Therefore without information technology supply chain is negatively impacted.
References
• South african reserve bank (2003). South African Reserve Bank Quarterly Bulletin, September 2003. Pretoria, South Africa.• Tomek, WG and Robinson, KL (1981). Agricultural Product Prices. Second Edition. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, United States of America. • Kohls, R. L. and Uhl, J. N. (1998). Marketing of Agricultural Products. 8th Edition. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, United States of America. • Christopher, M (1998). Logistics and supply chain management, 2nd ed. Upper saddle River, N. J. : Prentice hall.