INTERNAL AUDIT OF THE SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT IN FUNCTION OF COST REDUCTION OF THE COMPANY

The supply chain has major impact on the company's business strategy directly affecting its operational costs. Supply chain performances within the organization have a significant impact on the company's ability to provide services to their customers and create added value. Internal audit of the supply chain is one of the most powerful and fastest ways to reduce operational costs and provide the company competitive advantages in the global market in times of economic crisis. The aim of this paper is to present the key areas of internal audit activities in assessing risk and analyzing the functioning of the supply chain. The aim of internal audit is to make recommendations for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of operations and to help management in achieving the projected business goals. The subject of this paper is the analysis of various fields of internal audit of the supply chain as well as evaluating the characteristics of individual elements of the chain with consideration to appropriateness and integration of those elements. Moreover, this paper will give an answer to the question to what extent the operations within the supply chain contribute to the fulfilling of the development strategy of the company.