Supply chain decisions operations phase

Evolution to a demand-driven supply chain will likely proceed in the order proposed above. Shortening the lead-time is fundamental to changing batch model economics. Basing decisions on demand comes after adopting the economics of the flow model. Along the path, there is feedback to earlier steps. For each phase in Fig. 2.6 above there are three to four methodologies to be applied towards a DDSC operation. 

Traditional data warehouses operate on a premise that decision-making data needs are known in advance and that these data can be gathered and structured in advance. However, that is not always the case, especially for supply chain reconfiguration during the execution phase. For instance, suppliers in Southeast Asia are characterized by different attributes than substitute suppliers in South America. The on-demand approach provides data as necessary for a particular decision-making situation and is more suitable for agile and reconfigurable supply chains. 

In case of the strategic path, the completed morphological boxes from SCD-Phase 1 and 2 are used to perform a gap analysis, which compares desired and actual supply chains and thereby helps to uncover differences between these two supply chain designs. The operative path provides that based on an organization s competitive priorities adequate key performance indicators (KPIs) are selected. Decision makers can use these KPIs to conduct a self-benchmarking of their... 

All processes in a supply chain fall into one of two categories, depending on the timing of then-execution relative to end customer demand. With pull processes, execution is initiated in response to a customer order. With push processes, execution is initiated in anticipation of customer orders based on a forecast. Pull processes may also be referred to as reactive processes because they react to customer demand. Push processes may also be referred to as speculative processes because they respond to speculated (or forecasted), rather than actual, demand. The pusWpull boundary in a supply chain separates push processes from pull processes, as shown in Figure 1-5. Push processes operate in an uncertain environment because customer demand is not yet known. Pull processes operate in an environment in which customer demand is known. They are, however, often constrained by inventory and capacity decisions that were made in the push phase. 

---