Materials management, a scientific technique, deals with the material components of a supply chain from their purchase to the service point through distribution. The purpose of materials management is to combine and competently handle central parts of an institution. Most owners understand the importance of efficient materials management, but they rarely think about these systems as opportunities to promote sustainability.
Though, with consideration and resourcefulness, these organizations can trim down energy use and carbon emissions, decrease traffic jam, simplify operational flows, and boost up esthetics. An entire week is dedicated to celebrating resource and materials management professionals, each year, for their marvelous assistance to healthcare and the overall success of the supply chain. It is sponsored by the Association for Healthcare Resource & Materials Management (AHRMM), National Healthcare Resource & Materials Management Week (MM Week)
Aims of Material Management
Material management has some very precise aims to achieve. These include providing the right quality of the initial machinery, with the right quantity of supplies, at the right place, at the right time, for the right cost. One of the keys to a successful material management plan is to manu script and accept all aspects of the situation. A full range of professionals are required to do so, including Architects, planners, traffic planners, environmentalists, solid waste managers and civil engineers, who work together to ensure that each challenge is taken in hand.
Elements of material management
Material management estimates the demand of an industry and categorizes the needed items at the same time. For the proper management these two things are important to indentify first. In the next step comes the calculation part. Here, it calculates the trends in consumption during last few years (i.e. 2-3 years) and then evaluates with resource restraints. Basically all these elements of material management deal with the economy which contains all the costs and installing efficiency in all activities.
Benefits
A successful materials management plan helps and improves an institutional master plan by considering all the facts that matter and fills the necessary gaps and produces an environmentally accountable and competent result. In the preliminary stage it may cost a higher amount, but in long run it will turn out as a great cost saving plan. For example, Tata Steel (A listed Indian company), by adopting material management got benefited a lot in long term, by having a better managed industrial area which not only reduces annual operating cost but also provides a healthy environment for those who live and work there, though the industry has to spend a big amount for the application of material management.
An efficient material management plan also helps to manage the transportation by means of less emission, waste disposal (i.e. solid waste, hazardous waste), recycling and other peripheral services. These benefits lead us toward a more environment friendly production system which is very crucial for managing global warming right now. So, material management solves the purpose of both benefit and endurance at the same time.
Each organization whether it is private, public, small or big and households should adopt material management. Even a lay person must know the basics of material management so that he can get the best of the available resources and make it a practice to espouse the principles of material management in all our regular activities.
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