What does SCM mean?

In this blog, we will look at the question, “what does SCM mean?”, look at whether you or your company have been victim to the issues surrounding this system failing recently and identify areas where igus® can help.

The impact of external influences such as Covid, the recent semi-conductor shortage and the war in Ukraine have all created huge problems for companies regarding stock levels and these issues have had a negative knock-on effect to the end customer. This is forcing people to change their purchasing habits, their designs, and their plans.

What does SCM mean?

So, what does SCM mean? SCM stands for Supply Chain Management which stands for the management system of the flow of goods and services for a company. If this supply chain is managed effectively, it can be a way of not only saving costs but allows the goods and services to be delivered on time and with no complications.

And here lies the issues, if this supply chain management system has a kink, a delay, a failure, this has a huge knock-on effect. And this is exactly what has been happening over the last few years.

What happens if the SCM fails?

We have seen machine and equipment builders, not only just here in the UK but globally, who are suffering from extremely long lead times for critical parts and these delays can still be linked to the covid pandemic and now the Russia-Ukraine war. Parts that are causing extreme issues are products that use semiconductors, such as PLCs, drives and controls. We have seen ridiculous lead times – in some cases up to 50 weeks for parts that typically took two weeks to arrive pre-covid. And despite the signs that the semiconductor shortage is easing, the back log of orders means the lead times are still immensely longer than they would normally be.

These delays cost money, to the buyer and end customer and worse still, can cause a negative economic spiral.

A prime example of this changing SCM trend is when we look at the purchasing behaviour of customer buying common cables. These companies would typically assemble their own cable sub-assemblies, however they are now ordering igus® e-chains® and ready-to-connect cables due to igus®’ ability to deliver fast. How are we able to do this?

How can igus® help with SCM issues?

igus® is one of the world’s biggest industrial cable, connector and cable assembly manufacturers. Thanks to the buying power and storage facilities worldwide, we have been able to ensure more reliable supplies than smaller competitors and distributors. This has meant more machine manufacturers have come to us for their cable and connector requirements.

With over 1,300 individual cable types in stock, igus® also assembles cables with an array of connectors and builds multi-cable assemblies into a ready to install e-chain®. This is ideal for higher volume machine builders that need to “plug and play”. This has resulted in more and more customers of plain “vanilla” cables, who would typically assemble their own cable sub-assemblies, ordering our e-chains® and ready-to-connect cables due to the long lead times imposed by their normal suppliers and the shorter ones we are able to offer.

Due to consistent supply, we have become a vital partner for both machine-builders and the industries they serve in the SCM. As supply chains across manufacturing slowly return to normal, many companies are still experiencing months-long delays for parts. The kink in the SCM remains so thanks to the large stock holding, we are able to offer these crucial components like cables in a few weeks, which will be essential to helps OEMs operate through the next twelve months.

So, in answer to the question “what does SCM mean” it is actually a phrase that is somehow intrinsically linked to all companies. There is always some kind of supply chain management in order for our businesses to be successful and ensuring that the supply doesn’t stop, we need to find companies that are able to be brave, invest, predict and that can hold enough stock to prevent the long lead times that are still here and will be here to stay for some time.

For more blogs on how igus® can help with your machine click here