Supply chain function

This specific issue could also be addressed in a more fundamental, organizational way, by forming a joint Supply Organization that includes both production and supply chain functions. 

The potential for catastrophic events dictates a need to have plans in place to keep the supply chain functioning. This may involve developing an alternate source if production is interrupted. 

There is a clear understanding of two key supply chain functions - physical (focus on efficiency - maximize performance and minimize cost) and market (focus on responsiveness - product availability). 

Supply chain strategy is defined aligning product categories and supply chain functions as follow Physical (efficient process) for functional products and Market (responsiveness) for innovative products. 

It should cover all supply chain functional areas (e.g., procurement, manufacturing, logistics, safety, quality, engineering, etc.). 

The chapter identifies and categorizes the sources of IT threats in supply chains through a laige-scale survey of companies across various supply chain functions. The authors aigue that the integration of information flows facilitates supply chain collaboration and also increases supply chain risks. The authors suggest that in order for supply chain collaboration to succeed, the benefits of IT integration must exceed the increase in supply chain risk affected by IT. 

By handling core supply chain functions itself, some companies are able to respond quickly. Such companies are one-stop sources for big apparel labels. Esquel customers become less likely to switch because there are few full-service providers capable of replacing them. On the other hand, those who promote asset-light companies with little or no fixed overhead cost recommend reliance on trading partners to make heavy investments. So, nonintegrated supply chains, unlike Esquel s, have their proponents. 

If it exists, is the business unit strategy relevant to manufacturing, much less supply chain, decisions Are patterns of decision making within manufacturing and other supply chain functions consistent Would the best decision for manufacturing be the best for the supply chain ... 

Fisher asserts that these two product types require fundamentally different supply chains. Functional products require an efficient supply chain innovative products require responsive supply chains. This has implications for defining flexibility and other requirements where these differences must be drawn. 

For many companies like Motorola, supply chain improvement must begin inside company walls. This chapter is the first of four that address our second supply chain task, Implementing Collaborative Relationships. The task of building internal collaboration encompasses the roles of players within the organization in improving supply chain functions. A subsequent group of chapters (Chapters 17 through 21) describes... 

Poor mission definition for various supply chain functions... 

This chapter addresses common issues that must be faced. They include the organization role for the supply chain function, the sequence of the supply chain transition, enable processes, and performance measures. 

The emergence of the supply chain function in companies may bring a solution to this conundrum. As a company grows in complexity, the need will grow to invest ownership of supply chain metrics, not with Operations or Sales, but with the supply chain function — the experts in tools needed to manage supply chain level metrics. 

Figure 19.2 illustrates horizontal and vertical partnerships. Vertical partnerships reflect the trend toward consolidation in many supply chains to reduce the complications that go with too many participants and to make the supply chain faster in its response to changes. The evolving model of the supply chain described in Chapter 18 forecasts more growth of partnerships in the vertical direction. In these cases, fewer players perform more supply chain functions, capturing a greater share of supply chain value. 

Third-party logistics providers. Using logistics specialists to fulfill basic supply chain functions will enable companies to focus on core competencies. 

MSR (Maximum Sales Rate) The limit of sales for an end product during a period of time. This limit is determined by a constraint in any supply chain function. The constraint can be a physical constraint such as machine capacity in manufacturing, or a market-related constraint such as the amount the organization can sell. If a company plans to provide 100 percent customer service, it will set its MSR = TOP. The TOP is used for supply chain planning. 

Optimization The application of operations research tools to a supply chain function. Examples include distribution planning (warehouse location and transportation planning) and planning a scheduling production. Optimization technology applies in complex supply chains and when the potential for improvement justifies its use. 

Adoption of outsourcing. Decisions apply to separate supply chain functions and indicate whether these are outsourced or not. That influences the way supply chain costs are accounted for. Eor instance, outsourcing may reduce fixed costs associated with a facility opening... 

Supply networks with small and medium sized enterprises are complex in many industry sectors and, as a consequence, often inefficient. This paper has taken the complex supply chain situation in the agri-food sector as example for complex supply chains in general. The agri-food sector is an example for an industry sector with complex supply chains due to its market structure, with a majority of SMEs, the specifics of the agri-food products, and the transaction processes. Electronic supply chain management is an option to improve efficiency and coordination in complex supply chains. Prerequisite for the realization of improvements with electronic supply chain functionalities in complex markets is the appropriate development and embeddedment of the solution according to the supply chain scenario. 

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