The Supply Chain Revolution: Innovative Sourcing and Logistics for a Fiercely Competitive World

by Suman Sarkar

Overview

Every year, more businesses fail because of their old-school views toward cutting costs, and they usually begin with the supply chain. Discover how the right supply chain can actually help you thrive.

Across a range of industries, once-leading companies are in trouble: Walmart, IBM, Pfizer, HP, and The Gap to name a few, while others are thriving. The difference is how the company’s leaders view their supply chain: Is it just about cutting cost or do they see its hidden tools for outperforming the competition?

Steve Jobs, upon returning to Apple in 1997, focused on transforming the supply chain. He hired Tim Cook—and the company sped up the development of new products, getting them into consumers' hands faster. The rest is history. While competitors were shutting stores, Zara’s highly responsive supply chain made it the most valued company in the retail space and its founder, the richest man in Europe.

In The Supply Chain Revolution, business leaders will learn to:

• Make alliances more successful
• Simplify and debottleneck the supply chain
• Boost retail success by managing store investment
• Improve customer satisfaction and increase revenue

Showcasing real solutions learned from true success stories like these and many others, The Supply Chain Revolution provides you with the secrets to succeeding in a disruptive world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781400242665
Publisher:	AMACOM
Publication date:	02/28/2023
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	676,869
Product dimensions:	5.95(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.85(d)

About the Author

Suman Sarkar is a partner at Three S Consulting, where he has helped leading companies drive excellence in their supply chain and sourcing.

Read an Excerpt

Simply put, a supply chain exists to take material from suppliers, move it through manufacturing, and then distribute it to customers or end users. In WWII, the end users were the army and the navy, which had to be supplied across multiple geographies through different transportation modes (land, sea, and air).

Just as well-functioning supply chains helped lead the United States to victory in WWII, so too did bottleneck or otherwise poorly functioning chains lead to defeat. It is no exaggeration to say that Hitler's setbacks at Stalingrad and in North Africa were in part the results of breakdowns in supply.

For decades after WWII, the military approach to supply chain management and sourcing served private industry perfectly well. Now, however, it does not. Across a wide spectrum of industries, once-potent companies are in trouble: Walmart, IBM, Procter & Gamble (P&G), Pfizer, HP. The business model of these companies is static, relying primarily on product differentiation and global expansion. As product differentiation and market expansion opportunities continue to be reduced, they are finding themselves at a competitive disadvantage. This problem cannot be addressed by spending more money on advertising or buying other businesses. It is in operational areas such as supply chain and sourcing that a competitive edge can be found.

So the bad news is that many famous business names now find themselves standing on a burning platform. The good news? The need for change can no longer be ignored.

We are entering a time of testing for business leaders: Those who can evolve will survive; those who can't won't. In an era when management will need to exploit every competitive advantage it can find, leaders who continue to think of supply chains and sourcing only in terms of cost reduction will be at a serious disadvantage. Success will come to leaders who learn to see them as potential drivers of revenue growth, innovation, and risk reduction.

Excerpted from THE SUPPLY CHAIN REVOLUTION: Innovative Sourcing and Logistics for a Fiercely Competitive World by Suman Sarkar. Copyright © 2017 by Suman Sarkar. Published by AMACOM Books, a division of American Management Association, New York, NY. Used with permission.

All rights reserved. http://www.amacombooks.org.

Table of Contents

■  CONTENTS ■

Introduction 1

Steve Jobs and Supply Chain 1

Need for Supply Chain Revolution 2

Zara's Supply Chain Advantage 3

TJX's Sourcing Advantage 4

About the Author's Work 5

The Book 6

Change Management 8

PART 1

INCREASE REVENUE WITH HELP FROM SUPPLY CHAIN AND SOURCING

CHAPTER 1 Drive Customer Satisfaction—Through Excellent Service 13

Benefiting From Excellent Service 15

Amazon's Customer Service Advantage 16

Best Buy's Challenges with Customer Service 18

Increasing Service Levels 19

Tailoring Service Level by Customer Segment 21

Developing a Competitive Edge 25

Getting Customers to Pay for Increased Service 26

Improving Service with the Help of Supply Chain 29

CHAPTER 2 Boost Revenue with Supply Chain 33

The Airbus Supply Chain Advantage 35

The Rise of Boeing 35

Innovation and Supply Chain 36

Airbus Enters the Market 37

Boeing Plays Catch-Up 39

Making Customization a Reality 44

Influence Upstream R&D Process 45

Segment Supply Chain by Demand Pattern 47

Enabling Global Sourcing 48

Moving to Demand-Driven Planning 51

Boosting Revenue with Supply Chain 54

CHAPTER 3 Amplify Alliance Performance with Sourcing 57

Alliances Can Make or Break a Company 59

Art of Alliance—Starbucks Style 60

Nokia's Failure to Embrace Alliances 62

Sourcing's Involvement in Alliances 64

Making Alliances Successful with Sourcing 73

PART 2

REDUCE BUSINESS RISK THROUGH EFFICIENT OPERATIONS

CHAPTER 4 Debottleneck the Supply Chain and Reduce Risk 79

Business Risks from Supply Chain 81

Benefits of Debottlenecking Supply Chain 82

Supply Chain Challenges at the Department of Defense (DoD) 87

Supply Chain Complexity 87

Reducing Nonmoving Inventory 89

Simplifying Ordering 91

Streamlining the Supply Chain 91

Simplifying Delivery 92

Simplifying Planning 94

Simplifying New Product Introduction 94

Simplifying Internal Organization Alignment 96

Simplifying Engagement with Suppliers 98

Fixing Supply Chain Bottlenecks 98

CHAPTER 5 Increase Retail Success by Managing Store Investment 103

Store Investment and Retail Success 105

Retail Industry Evolution 106

Store Investment 107

Macy's Challenges with Store Investment 109

Costco's Approach 110

Evaluating Store Investment 112

Reducing Store Costs 115

Simplifying Store Development 123

Driving Retail Success with Sourcing 126

PART 3

IMPROVE PROFITABILITY FROM AREAS THAT ARE CURRENTLY OUT OF SCOPE FOR SOURCING ORGANIZATIONS

CHAPTER 6 Enhance Marketing Efficiency 131

Evolving Expectations from Marketing 133

Marketing by Coca-Cola 134

Sourcing Organizations' Challenges with Marketing 136

Lever Brothers' vs. Procter & Gamble's Approach to Marketing Efficiency 137

Measuring Marketing Performance 138

Marketing—Complex Services 140

Creative Agencies 141

Media Buying 143

Direct Marketing 146

Market Research 148

Implementing Marketing Efficiency Program 151

CHAPTER 7 Smart Real Estate Outsourcing 153

Need for Smart Outsourcing 155

Facilities Outsourcing at Procter & Gamble 157

Cost Savings vs. Cost Reduction 158

Trends 159

Facilities Outsourcing: Transitioning Toward Full Service 160

Failing to Achieve Cost Reductions 162

Evolving Customer Expectations 164

Swinging of the Pendulum: Decline of IFM 165

Disrupting Industry—Short- and Long-Term Trends 167

Enabling Cost Reduction with Technology 170

Making Smart Outsourcing a Reality 172

PART 4

DRIVE BUSINESS EXCELLENCE WITH HELP FROM SOURCING

CHAPTER 8 Source Excellence 177

Excellence—Utopia or Reality? 179

Apple Helping AT&T Wireless Achieve Excellence 180

Other Examples 182

Involving Sourcing in Excellence 184

Defining Excellence 186

360 Triangulation 187

Supplier Workshops 190

Sourcing Excellent Solutions 192

Making Excellence a Reality 194

Conclusion 197

HP's Struggle 199

Private Equity Industry Challenges 200

Sustainable Competitive Advantage for Diversified Companies 201

Improving Lives 204

A Final Word 207

Glossary 209

Notes 227

Index 229

Editorial Reviews

…simply and understandably laid out, making it especially useful for non-supply chain managers and executives or anyone wanting to grasp the basics of supply chain's potential.” —Supply Chain Digest

“…clear, simple exploration of efficiencies that can be gained throughout the supply chain…thorough examination of sourcing and services and how to best meet customer needs efficiently.” —Choice

From the Publisher