Supply Chain Wheel

Mastery of these four logistic drivers ensures optimum customer service without out-of-stocks or overstocks under the best economic, social and environmental terms. It requires a structure, an organization and a process to be set up plus an integrated cross-cutting information system as demonstrated in the Supply Chain Wheel (Figure 4.6). 

Although in principle stationary and transport-specific energy chains can be analysed, here the assessment of the latter is explained in more detail, and is then referred to as well-to-wheel (WTW) analysis. The primary focus of WTW analysis in Europe is on global environmental impact, i.e., greenhouse-gas emissions expressed as C02-equivalents. Other issues of interest are (a) primary energy demand (which equals resource utilisation), (b) local pollutant emissions and (c) full energy or fuel supply costs. Well-to-wheel analysis covers the entire fuel supply chain from feedstock extraction, feedstock transportation, fuel manufacturing and fuel distribution to fuel use in a vehicle. 

Wheel conveyors, see Skate wheel conveyors Whirlpool, 950 Whole Food Markets, 861 Whole-population analysis, 1115 Wholesalers, and supply chain design, 2128 WHO (World Health Organization), 1165 Wide area networks (WANs), 212, 213, 231, 255-256... 

There are products that the customer wants delivered immediately. When you go to a hardware store you do not want to place an order to buy a box of nails or a hammer. You expect to be able to carry them home. It is still necessary to estimate final demand for these consumer items. This process of estimating final consumer demand is called forecasting. In a well-run supply chain only the final consumer demand is forecasted. All of the components that go into the product do not have to be forecast, because they can be calculated based on the forecast for consumer demand. For example, if there is a forecast by a retail store that it will sell 100 24" bikes in June, the bike manufacturer knows that they will need 100 front wheels and 100 rear wheels. These components do not have to be forecast. 

Ayers, James B., Supply Chain Management (SCM), The Wheel and the Manufacturing Engineer, Detroit Society of Manufacturing Engineers, 2002. 

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