Role of the Supply Chain Manager

The discussion of the demand management function raises the issue of responsibilities assigned to what we will call the supply chain manager. This is certainly a nontrivial consideration because many companies have done just this. Erecting a management function with this title and real power over the supply chain will be seen as disruptive to other functions in a mature organization. Each company must assess whether or not it will improve links with the customer. 

An anecdote illustrates. The author had a long conversation with a colleague who had become the Vice President Supply Chain for a well-known midwestem manufacturer in the United States. His new responsibilities covered inbound material and outbound distribution. But manufacturing 

His situation calls to mind the discussion in Section 2.1 about different industry supply chain viewpoints. These begin with lip service, where the supply chain label is placed on an existing department with no real change in the scope of responsibility. Other viewpoints do have expanded roles but tend to focus on either procurement or distribution, functions associated with purchasing, warehouses, and transportation. 

The remainder of Table 6.1 defines roles and responsibilities for the supply chain manager. These, of course, depend on the assigned mission. The purpose of the list is to present some of the possible options sorted by time horizon. Long-term items, often one to five years, are infrastmc-ture decisions described in the description of Hayes and Wheelwright s manufacturing strategy model in Section 4.3. 

Intermediate-term roles and responsibilities, often defined as monthly, quarterly, or yearly, involve production planning and customer fulfillment policies. This could include the S OP process described earlier in this chapter. Another option is operating cost reduction — supply chain level This implies that the supply chain manager will undertake or participate 

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Role of the supply chain manager is a supply chain czar needed ... 

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