Supply chain links

Two distinct and simple business strategies for manufacturing household furniture may be described as the provision of either low-cost, short lifespan, or expensive, long lifespan products. The decision on which strategy to take is made at the conception stage of the business and may depend upon existing supply chain links, market opportunities or available workforce skill set for example. It is unlikely that such a strategic decision would ever be made... 

Nevertheless, improving or even innovating SCM design and operations is a reliable way to boost ROIC and therefore market value, as supply chains link nearly all parts of a company s business system. When Dell developed its radically new supply chain model, it was really thinking out of the box , and probably no one would have believed it would soon become the reference in (and outside) its industry, and one of the biggest and most valuable players in its sector. Similarly, other industries have indicated ways that the chemical industry can take in the near future. 

This chapter focused on the impact of the chain structure on a supply chains performance. The supply chain links supply locations, intermediaries, and final demand points and thus influences possible adjustments... 

In addition to summary reports regarding the supply chain, there are efforts to track the specific details for individual companies sourcing of their products. An open source software application called Source-map ([113]) maps supply chains linked to a dictionary of details such as their carbon footprint, greenhouse gas emissions, lead time, and more. The open source nature of the software enables crowdsourcing of supply chain maps and enables tracking down to the raw material source. The site contains source-maps for electronic products, apparel, food, and many others. The software permits any user to create such maps based on the data they possess and then pass the data along to others to edit and develop. 

In the development of the supply chain strategy, there is a critical question for each company to answer. It is, "How and what should be outsourced " Outsourcing to third parties can happen in all supply chain links—sales, distribution, manufacturing, procurement, and iimovation— in building a value chain. It can add value, reduce costs, and improve time to market, but it increases the need for planning, supply chain coordination of day-to-day activities and inventory, and visibility. Although companies can outsource their day-to-day supply chain activities, they cannot outsource... 

Few today dispute the need for collaboration in improving supply chains. Like flexibility, the term can mean different things to different people. Both companies on each side of a supply chain link must agree to the form of information transfer. That form can vary from electronic to face-to-face meetings. 

An obvious example is production interruptions and shortages. If any one of the supply chain links breaks and fails to deliver, then the entire chain is threatened. Such a company or supply chain lacks flexibility. Section 3-5 described the flexibility imperative. Variability of any type reinforces the need for designing flexibility into the chain, widening the lowest-cost operating zone. 

Narrow scope Addresses all supply chain links... 

The approach is viable for improving supply chain links by rationalizing products, putting more business with deserving suppliers, and reducing the internal cost of maintaining the links. 

The basic ideas of our results, however, apply to other transit modes as well. The essential tension for the decision maker is between using smaller shipments more frequently, but at a potentially higher per-imit shipping cost, versus making larger but less costly shipments less frequently. Qearly, this has implications for transportation and inventory costs, and potentially for customer service as well. Thus, as we develop the analysis to follow, we can see some of the coimec-tions implied by the discussion in the book up to this point inventory, transportation, and customer service (and the impact on customer service of imcerlainty in describing demand). In Chapter 5, we will incorporate another intercoimec-tion, specifically the network that specifies the locations in the supply chain linked by our transportation choices, and at which inventories are stored and/or converted until they move again toward their point of consmnption. 

Quantity of purchased materials Quantity of products produced Quantity of products processed Quantity of products delivered Quantity of products stored in inventory Shipment quantities along supply chain links Capacity-related decisions... 

Figure 4.1 depicts the structural reconfiguration patterns. The graphical notation is used to show supply chain units added or removed as the result of reconfiguration, as well as supply chain links added or removed. This graphical representation is useful to show a to-be supply chain network after the reconfiguration assuming that the supply chain network shown in Fig. 2.3 illustrated the as-is supply chain network. 

The responsiveness is evaluated as a time spent during transportation of materials and products along the supply chain links... 

The supplier-buyer relationship is certainly a multi-aspect topic. Unquestionably, it is the foundation of supply chain integration. Building the supplier-buyer relationship provides an opportunity for better performance in collaborating companies. Therefore, the concentration of supply chain links on the development of suppliers and buyers resources and measures should be counted among their top priorities. 

Supply chain link Benefits General benefits for aU links... 

Shared business with certain suppliers/ purchasers Interest in collaboration with strategic supply chain links... 

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