Building the Right Bricks

Published in England in 1886 by James Orchard Halliwell-Phillips, the tale of the Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad WolfteWs the story of bricks. This well-known story begins with three little pigs being sent out into the world by their mother to seek their fortune. The first little pig builds a house of straw, but a wolf blows it down and the pig runs to his brother s house. The second pig builds a house of sticks and when he sees his brother he lets him in, with the same ultimate result. Each exchange between the wolf and the pig has a chant  

The third pig builds a house of bricks and when he sees his brothers he lets them in. The wolf fails to blow down the house of bricks. The wolf then attempts to trick the little pigs out of the house, but the pigs outsmart him at every turn. Finally, the wolf tries to come down the chimney only to find that the pigs have placed a pot of boiling water in the fireplace. The wolf comes down the chimney, lands in the pot of hot water, and is cooked. 

The effective use of assets starts with supply chain design. In the early days of supply chain management, manufacturing and distribution processes were insourced. Companies owned their bricks and mortar, and products were made and sold within the same region. Today s supply chain is largely outsourced. Manufacturing and distribution 

Most companies inherited their supply chains. The active design of supply chain networks is relatively new. fn the first 20 years, the placement of factories, the design of distribution centers, and the selection of suppliers were not critical. Today, the design is paramonnt. 

Despite the increased outsourcing and growing complexity of production and distribution processes, companies quickly learn that while they may outsource the bricks of their supply chain, they cannot outsource the responsibility. Many companies have learned this lesson the hard way through failure. 

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