What is a customer in the Supply Logistics Chain?

1. What is a customer in the Supply Logistics Chain?

A customer in the supply logistics Chain is a person or organization that has needs and expectations which must be satisfied; a costumer not only desires goods and services but also desires a sustaining relationship with a consistent quality, delivery and cost. Besides, a costumer is a person who wants that the suppliers or companies operate ethically and conserve the environment.

Customer is not “simply the person or organization that pays the invoice but includes users as well as makers”. In addition, It can say that each actor in the supply chain is a customer who constructs an operating system that meets the goals to achieve in the chain.

2. How does an organization determine customer requirements?

 Seeks to establish customer needs and expectations before to start the design of products and services to offer them for sale; answering some questions like:

- Who are the costumers?

- Where are the costumers?

- What the customers buys?

- What is value to the costumers?

- Which of the customer’s wants are not adequately satisfied?

 Checks the results, and it determines what the customer requirements are.

 Implements the requirement through the Demand Creation Process

In order to know customer requirements is necessary to gather data from the people involved in the use of products and services to make decision in the organization. The data can be primary data or secondary data.

3. Why is important to identify customer requirements?

It is important to identify customer requirements because it can satisfy the needs and expectations that the costumer has. In addition, it is essential for the survival of an organization that it determines customer requirements. When it knows customer requirements it starts the design of products and services to offer them for sale.

...