Supply Chain Management

Chapter 1
Understanding the Supply Chain

1-1
 What is a Supply Chain?
 All stages involved, directly or indirectly, in fulfilling
a customer request
 Includes manufacturers, suppliers, transporters,
warehouses, retailers, and customers
 Within each company, the supply chain includes all
functions involved in fulfilling a customer request
(product development, marketing, operations,
distribution, finance, customer service)

1-2
What is a Supply Chain?

1-3
 What is a Supply Chain?
 Customer is an integral part of the supply chain
 Includes movement of products from suppliers to
manufacturers to distributors, but also includes
movement of information, funds, and products in both
directions
 Probably more accurate to use the term “supply
network” or “supply web”
 Typical supply chain stages: customers, retailers,
distributors, manufacturers, suppliers
 All stages may not be present in all supply chains
(e.g., no retailer or distributor for Dell)
1-4
Flows in a Supply Chain

Information

Product
Customer
Funds

1-5
Supply Chain Stages

1-6
 The Objective of a Supply Chain
 Maximize overall value created
 Supply chain value: difference between what the final
product is worth to the customer and the effort the
supply chain expends in filling the customer’s request
 Value is correlated to supply chain profitability
(difference between revenue generated from the
customer and the overall cost across the supply chain)

1-7
 The Objective of a Supply Chain
 Sources of supply chain revenue: the customer
 Sources of supply chain cost: flows of information,
products, or funds between stages of the supply chain
 Supply chain management is the management of
flows between and among supply chain stages to
maximize total supply chain profitability

1-8
 The Objective of a Supply Chain
 Example: Dell receives $2000 from a customer for a
computer (revenue)
 Supply chain incurs costs (information, storage,
transportation, components, assembly, etc.)
 Difference between $2000 and the sum of all of these
costs is the supply chain profit
 Supply chain profitability is total profit to be shared
across all stages of the supply chain
 Supply chain success should be measured by total
supply chain profitability, not profits at an individual
stage
1-9
 Importance of Decision Phases of
a Supply Chain
 In Wall mart’s 2010 annual report, the company reported a net income of
more than $14.3 billion on revenues of about $408 billion. These are
dramatic results for a company that reached annual sales of only $1 billion
in 1980. The growth in sales represents an annual compounded growth rate
of more than 20 percent.
 Seven Eleven Japan responsiveness allows it to change the merchandising
mix at each store by time of day to precisely match customer demand. As a
result, the company has grown from sales of 1 billion yen in 1974 to almost
3 trillion yen in 2009 with profits in 2009 totaling 164 billion yen.

1-10
 Decision Phases of a Supply Chain
 Supply chain strategy or design
 Supply chain planning
 Supply chain operation

1-11
 Supply Chain Strategy or Design
 Decisions about the structure of the supply chain and
what processes each stage will perform
 Strategic supply chain decisions
– Locations and capacities of facilities
– Products to be made or stored at various locations
– Modes of transportation
– Information systems
 Supply chain design must support strategic objectives
 Supply chain design decisions are long-term and
expensive to reverse – must take into account market
uncertainty
1-12
 Supply Chain Planning
 Definition of a set of policies that govern short-term
operations
 Fixed by the supply configuration from previous
phase
 Starts with a forecast of demand in the coming year

1-13
 Supply Chain Planning
 Planning decisions:
– Which markets will be supplied from which locations
– Planned buildup of inventories
– Subcontracting, backup locations
– Inventory policies
– Timing and size of market promotions
 Must consider in planning decisions demand
uncertainty, exchange rates, competition over the time
horizon

1-14
 Supply Chain Operation
 Time horizon is weekly or daily
 Decisions regarding individual customer orders
 Supply chain configuration is fixed and operating
policies are determined
 Goal is to implement the operating policies as
effectively as possible
 Allocate orders to inventory or production, set order
due dates, generate pick lists at a warehouse, allocate
an order to a particular shipment, set delivery
schedules, place replenishment orders
 Much less uncertainty (short time horizon)
1-15
 Process View of a Supply Chain
 Cycle view: processes in a supply chain are divided
into a series of cycles, each performed at the
interfaces between two successive supply chain stages
 Push/pull view: processes in a supply chain are
divided into two categories depending on whether
they are executed in response to a customer order
(pull) or in anticipation of a customer order (push)

1-16
Cycle View of Supply Chains
Customer
Customer Order Cycle

Retailer
Replenishment Cycle

Distributor

Manufacturing Cycle

Manufacturer
Procurement Cycle
Supplier
1-17
 Cycle View of a Supply Chain
 Each cycle occurs at the interface between two
successive stages
 Customer order cycle (customer-retailer)
 Replenishment cycle (retailer-distributor)
 Manufacturing cycle (distributor-manufacturer)
 Procurement cycle (manufacturer-supplier)
 Cycle view clearly defines processes involved and
the owners of each process. Specifies the roles
and responsibilities of each member and the
desired outcome of each process.
1-18
 Push/Pull View of Supply Chains
Push/pull view: processes in a supply chain are divided into two
categories depending on whether they are executed in response to a
customer order (pull) or in anticipation of a customer order (push)
Procurement,
Customer Order
Manufacturing and
Cycle
Replenishment cycles

PUSH PROCESSES PULL PROCESSES

Customer
Order Arrives
1-19
 Push/Pull View of
Supply Chain Processes
 Supply chain processes fall into one of two categories
depending on the timing of their execution relative to
customer demand
 Pull: execution is initiated in response to a customer
order (reactive)
 Push: execution is initiated in anticipation of customer
orders (speculative)
 Push/pull boundary separates push processes from
pull processes

1-20
 Push/Pull View of
Supply Chain Processes
 Useful in considering strategic decisions relating to
supply chain design – more global view of how
supply chain processes relate to customer orders
 Can combine the push/pull and cycle views
 The relative proportion of push and pull processes can
have an impact on supply chain performance

1-21
Supply Chain Macro Processes in
a Firm
 Supply chain processes discussed in the two views can
be classified into:
– Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
– Internal Supply Chain Management (ISCM)
– Supplier Relationship Management (SRM)
 Integration among the above three macro processes is
critical for effective and successful supply chain
management

1-22
 Examples of Supply Chains
 Gateway
 Zara
 McMaster Carr / W.W. Grainger
 Toyota
 Amazon / Borders / Barnes and Noble
 Webvan / Peapod / Jewel

What are some key issues in these supply chains?

1-24
 Amazon.com
 Why is Amazon building more warehouses as it grows? How many
warehouses should it have and where should they be located?
 What advantages does selling books via the Internet provide? Are
there disadvantages?
 Why does Amazon stock bestsellers while buying other titles from
distributors?
 Does an Internet channel provide greater value to a bookseller like
Borders or to an Internet-only company like Amazon?
 Should traditional booksellers like Borders integrate e-commerce
into their current supply?
 For what products does the e-commerce channel offer the greatest
benefits? What characterizes these products?

1-25