Evaluating the relationship between brand and supply chain management on Turkish SMEs

Supply chain management often represents a critical opportunity for the SMEs to build their brand. Without effective SCM, SMEs cannot deliver on the promises made to customers which in turn leads to customer disloyalty. SCM can be defined as the coordination of the flow of materials, information, and finances (credit terms, payment schedules, etc.) as they move in a process from supplier to manufacturer to wholesaler to retailer to customer. SCM as a branding tool includes all the connections between production and consumption centers, constitutes a vital process of conveying branded goods to the market in optimal time, at optimal cost. When the creation of a brand is related to management strategies, continuity and quality are possible by using supply chains management effectively. Supply chain management as a research subject has remained untouched in the branding literature. The primary objective of this study is to examine the impact of supply chain management on the creation processes of brand in Ankara which are receiving brand support from KOSGEB. Even if SMEs confront with some difficulties, they make a difference amongst the competitors, make use of Internet, and select qualified suppliers. Today the Internet provides an opportunity for demand data and supply capacity data to be visible to all firms in the supply chain. In the research it has been detected that SMEs gave importance to brand name creation and since they manufactured decent branded products they did not have problems in supply phases either. This paper explains the importance of the relationship between SMEs supply chains and brands.