Supply Chain Configuration Dimensions

Selection of new supplier(s), or deselection of existing ones Changes in demand patterns for product(s) manufactured Changes in lead times for product and/or process life cycles Changes in commitments within or between supply chain members 

A configurable supply chain can help in assessing the impacts of one or more of the following factors/activities in a configurable system  

Flows due to materials, inventory, information, and cash Throughput due to movement of products Capacity utilization 

Costs at various stages of the product development life cycle Lead time in product development Batch and lot sizing Process redesign Product development strategies Procurement and/or allocation of resources Strategic, tactical, and operational policies for the supply chain 

Analysis of these factors/activities involves dealing with a wide range of managerial problems and spans across all tiers of the supply chain. Problem-solving approaches need to consider both interactions among factors and activities, and supply chain members. 

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Definition of this supply chain configuration dimension includes specifying the number of tiers in the supply chain, defining general types of units in each tier, and identifying specific constraints for the tier as a whole (for instance, the number of suppliers required). 

In this chapter, we focus on studying the nature of the supply chain and its configuration in a dynamic business environment. We develop an understanding of the basis for a supply chain configuration problem, its classifications, and its various dimensions. This chapter also introduces a running example of bicycle supplOy chain used throughout the book to illustrate various concepts and methods. 

The supply chain configuration problem solving allows to define scope of the given supply chain system. The scope is defined along multiple dimensions, namely, horizontal extent, vertical extent, objectives and criteria, decisions made, and parameters. 

The objectives of this state-of-the-art survey are to provide a comprehensive overview of the supply chain configuration problem, to identify main scientific and industrial focus areas, and to quantify the importance of different dimensions of the supply chain configuration problem. 

The literature classification criteria are chosen to represent the most important dimensions of the supply chain configuration problem, as well as describe general characteristics of papers. These dimensions have been identified in previous chapters of the book. Importance and values for each criterion are defined as follows ... 

Results of the detailed review are cross-tabulated to identify focus areas of supply chain configuration research. Tables 3.3 and 3.4 report the cross-tabulation results according to horizontal and vertical extent dimensions, respectively. A majority of papers attempt to cover all supply chain tiers. Some of the papers focus on the supply or distribution sites having the manufacturing tier as an integrative stage. However, there are differences between papers focusing on the distribution and... 

A test supply chain configuration problem is set up for experimental purposes. The dimensions of this supply chain are given by Np = 10, = 30, = 8, A/ = 3, and... 

More specifically, the key dimensions to be considered for future research in supply chain configuration area are as follows ... 

It is necessary to use both a macroeconomic and a microeconomic approach to social capital. All dimensions of social capital affect supply chain management. Social capital in macroeconomic perspective constitutes external conditions of supply chain operations. A microeconomic perception of social capital refers to the social capital of the supply chain itself and individual companies. It forms a part of internal supply chain potential. Social capital seems to be a binder of supply chain initiatives. Due to its large scale and the strength of its impact one should consider social capital as one of the factors influencing the selection of supply chain configuration with costs of operation and perspectives for future development in mind. 

In the competitive markets of today, positioning a company simultaneously in the domains of product, process, and supply chain is an imperative. However, the tradeoffs among the dimensions can be quite complex, as they are interdependent. The building blocks of a framework for such tradeoffs can be the product-architecture that maps the functions of a product to physical components and determines the configuration of product-variants. The framework must include tools for assessing attributes such as component commonality, product quality, technology, manufacturing processes, and postponement, as shown in Fig. 3.1. Thus, to obtain the optimal tradeoff, one may tweak the product architecture appropriately in view of the customer preferences. 

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