Supply chain planning $($SCP$)$ refers to the process of coordinating assets to improve the flow and management of goods and$/$or services across an entire business enterprise from cradle to grave, and heavily involves project planning and data modeling. This includes all activities associated with sourcing a product from suppliers, to procurement, incoming inspection, material handling of incoming raw materials, conversion of these materials to a product, management and inventorying of these finished good, warehousing, logistical management, shipping, freight and transportation of these goods through channels of distribution, distribution from these channels to end user customers, and the post service support $($such as product returns, preventative maintenance, repairs$)$ associated with servicing and caring for these products or services after the customer has purchased them.

Supply chain management can be applied to both service processes $($e$.$g$.,$ restaurant, insurance or a bank$)$ or to manufacturing processes $($e$.$g$.,$ building a product or a hospital surgical center$).$ Manufacturing processes and supply chains tend to be more complex with more moving parts and complexities. However, all these process flows involve multiple organizations and business processes each presenting their own unique challenge. As you learned from the readings and videos this week, project planning, data modeling, and geographic information systems $($GIS$)$ can be applied effectively to many supply chain related processes to help improve performance, outcomes and business effectiveness.

Deliverables:

$-$ Describe the supply chain process flow for Subscription$-$Based Eco$-$Friendly Product Line $($high level$).$

$-$ What is the problem$/$challenge that you are trying to solve?

$-$ Define the key parts of the supply chain and identify what portion of this supply chain you want to address with a data analytics solution $($for example, you might address the geographical location of warehouse storage locations to optimize shipping effectiveness$).$

$-$ What are the key components of a data model $($conceptual$,$ logical$,$ physical$)$ that you will need? Highlight how data model concepts might apply to solving a challenge for one or more of these processes. Include supporting research and citations.

$-$ What kind of technology will you need AND that will also work well in this setting?

$-$ How would you approach Return on Investment $($ROI$)?$