Supply chain structure structuring effort

However, many organizations are putting new efforts behind improving their ability to enter creative supply chain partnerships. As they go about it, the issues encountered are many. What are our goals for partnerships Do we even need a partner What kind of partners should we be looking for What things do we want a partner to do How can we assure a smooth working relationship What structure, like those listed above, should we have for the partnership ... 

The SCOR model from the Supply-Chain Council is an industry-developed reference model that covers a broad spectrum of generic supply chain processes. SCOR is an acronym for the Supply Chain Operations Reference Model. Its application requires considerable effort in understanding the model structure and digging out the details that apply to an individual company s situation. 

Tsay and Agrawal (2001) consider a single manufacturer whose end customer market is sensitive to both price and sales effort. The manufacturer must decide whether to sell through an independent reseller, a direct channel, or a hybrid of the two, given each channel s relative supply chain and marketing cost structures, and the tendency of some customers to research the product in one channel but make the purchase in the other. The manufacturer also con-... 

A benchmarking study has identified the state-of-the-art of successful solutions for supply chain management in the food and life science industry (Fritz et al, 2004). The study revealed networking activities of e-marketplaces by cooperation and strategic partnerships and joint activities for the development of functionalities and standardization efforts. The network shows a structure of a kernel of e-marketplaces surrounded by satelHte e-m irketplaces. 

The fask also addresses gamering top management involvement (dubbed tmi), implementahon project structures, and organization of both the change effort and the ongoing management of supply chain fxmctions. 

The diagram shows that decision categories needn t be limited to supply chain or pure logistics issues. At this point in the effort, it s important to have an overall business context for structuring the supply chain effort. 

The PAC was responsible for coordinated projects for new-product development and supply chain improvement. Figure 23.5 reflects MJN s solution to the problem of organizing for supply chain improvement broached in Chapters 10 and 11. To aid growth objectives, supply chain and product-development initiatives were under common leadership. This structure makes SCM a company-wide raffier than a fimctional effort. 

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