Essay About Organisational Aspects Of The Supply Chain And Various Subsystems

Applying the Concepts of Systems Thinking to the Sasol Supply Chain
APPLYING THE CONCEPTS OF SYSTEMS
THINKING TO THE SASOL SUPPLY CHAIN
DESIGN
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION
In the business environment of supply chain design it is very important to approach each design
with a systems thinking approach as the whole of the design will only be as successful as its
various subsystems and the recurring patterns in the relationships between the subsystems.
2. THE SYSTEM AS A WHOLE
The whole of the supply chain can be described from a holistic perspective as a means to supply
products as cost and time effective to meet customer demand. Subsystems operating to support
the whole are road and rail transport, shipping and air freight. The subsystems can further be
analysed into more subsystems namely loading racks for rail, road and shipping with a common
support for all in the form of an order and information system.
3. ORGANISATIONAL ASPECTS OF THE SUPPLY CHAIN
The organisational aspects with a direct impact on the supply chain need to be analysed to fully
understand what impact a change in the subsystem would have on the whole system.
The Environmental aspect:
The contextual and transactional environment in the supply chain operates in, requires constant
analyses for changes like legislation updates, exchange rates, better technology, internal and
external stakeholder satisfaction and possible consolidation between customers.
Ethos