Supply Chain Management:

An Overview
 Some Definitions
Supply Chain Management encompasses every effort
involved in producing and delivering a final product
or service, from the supplier’s supplier to the
customer’s customer. Supply Chain Management
includes managing supply and demand, sourcing raw
materials and parts, manufacturing and assembly,
warehousing and inventory tracking, order entry and
order management, distribution across all channels,
and delivery to the customer.
The Supply Chain Council, U.S.A.
 Customers,
Field demand
Sources: Regional Warehouses: centers
plants Warehouses: stocking sinks
vendors stocking points
ports points

Supply

Inventory &
warehousing
costs
Production/
purchase Transportation Transportation
costs costs costs
Inventory &
warehousing
costs
Flows in a supply chain

Information

Product
Customer
Funds
 Some More Definitions
Supply Chain Management deals with the management of
materials, information, and financial flows in a network
consisting of suppliers, manufacturers, distributors and
customers.
Stanford Supply Chain Forum
Logistics involves “managing the flow of items,
information, cash and ideas through the coordination of
supply chain processes and through the strategic
addition of place, period and pattern values.
MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics
 Key Observations
• Integrated activity:
* Among functions such as logistics, manufacturing, distribution,
design/engineering, marketing, finance,etc.
* Multiple organizations,i.e., suppliers, customers& 3 PL providers
* Coordination of conflicting goals, metrics, etc.
• Responsible for multiple flows:
* Information (orders, status, contracts)
* Physical (finished goods, raw material, w.i.p.)
* Financial (payment, credits, etc.)
 Philosophy of SCM
• The entire supply chain is a single, integrated
entity.

• The cost, quality and delivery requirements of

the customer are objectives shared by every
company in the chain.

• Inventory is the last resort for resolving supply

and demand imbalances.
 Efficiency: Basis of
Production Management
• Efficiency leads to lower costs
• Lower cost implies
Lower Price => Greater demand => Better
market growth => Higher profits => Product/
Process development => Better market share
• 1980s and 1990s: Era of achieving excellence at
the firm level (JIT, TQM, TPM, BPR, ERP, etc)
• 2000s: Era of achieving excellence at the value
chain level (SCM, CRM, E-Commerce, etc.)
 Evolution of SCM

Stage 1: Vendor – Purchase –

Production - Distribution – Retailer

Stage 2: Materials Management -

Logistics Management

Stage 3: Supply Chain Management

 Why is SCM Important?
• Strategic Advantage – It Can Drive Strategy
* Manufacturing is becoming more efficient
* SCM offers opportunity for differentiation (Dell) or
cost reduction (Wal-Mart or Big Bazaar)
• Globalization – It Covers The World
* Requires greater coordination of production and
distribution
* Increased risk of supply chain interruption
* Increases need for robust and flexible supply chains
 Why is SCM Important?
(continued)
• At the company level, supply chain management
impacts
* COST – For many products, 20% to 40% of
total product costs are controllable
logistics costs.
* SERVICE – For many products, performance
factors such as inventory availability
and speed of delivery are critical to
customer satisfaction.
 Conflicting Objectives in the
Supply Chain
1. Purchasing
• Stable volume requirements
• Flexible delivery time
• Little variation in mix
• Large quantities
2. Manufacturing
• Long run production
• High quality
• High productivity
• Low production cost
 Conflicting Objectives in the
Supply Chain
3. Warehousing
• Low inventory
• Reduced transportation costs
• Quick replenishment capability
4. Customers
• Short order lead time
• High in stock
• Enormous variety of products
• Low prices
Decision Phases in
a Supply Chain
• Supply chain strategy or design
• Supply chain planning
• Supply chain operation
Process view of a supply chain

• Cycle view

• Push/pull view
Customer order cycle

• Customer arrival
• Customer order entry
• Customer order fulfillment
• Customer order receiving
Replenishment cycle

• Retail order trigger

• Retail order entry
• Retail order fulfillment
• Retail order receiving
Manufacturing cycle

• Order arrival from the

distributor, retailer, or customer
• Production scheduling
• Manufacturing and shipping
• Receiving at the distributor,
retailer, or customer
Push/Pull View of
Supply Chains
• Pull processes: execution is
initiated in response to a
customer order
• Push processes: execution is
initiated in anticipation of
customer orders
 SUPPLY CHAIN DESIGN:
Three Components
1.           Insourcing/OutSourcing
(The Make/Buy or Vertical Integration Decision)
 
2.           Partner Selection
(Choice of suppliers and partners for the chain)
 
3.           The Contractual Relationship
(Arm's length, joint venture, long-term contract,
strategic alliance, equity participation, etc.)
Dell Computer’s supply chain
• Customer
• Web page
• Assembly plant
• All of Dell’s suppliers and their suppliers
• Dell builds to order: customer order
initiates manufacturing at Dell
• Dell does not have a retailer, wholesaler,
or distributor in its supply chain
 Three Types of Integration
of the Supply Chain

• Geographical Integration
*From local to world-wide logistics
• Functional Integration
* From Function-dominated logistics to
Flow-dominated logistics
• Inter-Firm Integration
* From a Sector-based Logistics to Inter-sector Logistics
Supply Chain Integration is Difficult
for two main reasons
• Different facilities in the supply chain may
have different, conflicting objectives
* For instance, the suppliers are in direct conflict with
the manufacturers’ desire for flexibility.
• The supply chain is a dynamic system
that evolves over time
* Not only do demand and supplier capabilities change
over time, but supply chain relationships also evolve
over time.
 Complexities Involved in
Supply Chain Management
• The supply chain is a complex network of
facilities and organizations with different,
conflicting objectives
• Matching supply and demand is a major
challenge
• System variations over time are also an
important consideration
• Many supply chain problems are new and there
is no clear understanding of all the issues
involved
 Supply Chain:
The Complexity
National Semiconductors:
• Production:
– Produces chips in six different locations: four in the US,
one in Britain and one in Israel
– Chips are shipped to seven assembly locations in
Southeast Asia.
• Distribution
– The final product is shipped to hundreds of facilities all
over the world
– 20,000 different routes
– 12 different airlines are involved
– 95% of the products are delivered within 45 days
– 5% are delivered within 90 days.
 Supply Chain Challenges
• Achieving Global Optimization
– Conflicting Objectives
– Complex network of facilities
– System Variations over time
 Sequential Optimization vs.
Global Optimization
Sequential Optimization

Procurement Manufacturing Distribution

Demand
Planning Planning Planning
Planning
Global Optimization
Supply Contracts/Collaboration/Information Systems and DSS

Procurement Manufacturing Distribution

Demand
Planning Planning Planning
Planning

Source: Duncan McFarlane

 Supply Chain Challenges
• Achieving Global Optimization
– Conflicting Objectives
– Complex network of facilities
– System Variations over time
• Managing Uncertainty
– Matching Supply and Demand
– Demand is not the only source of uncertainty
 Managing Uncertainty
1. Point forecasts are invariably wrong
↓
Plan for forecast range – use flexible
contracts to go up/down.
2. Aggregate forecasts are more accurate
↓
Aggregate the forecast –
postponement/risk pooling
 Managing Uncertainty (cont’d)
3. Longer term forecasts are less accurate
↓
Shorten forecasting horizons – multiple
orders; early detection
4. In many cases, somebody else knows
what is going to happen
↓
Collaborate
 What’s New in SCM?

• Global competition

• Shorter product life cycle

• New, low-cost distribution channels

• More powerful well-informed customers

• Internet and E-Business strategies

 New Concepts
• Push-Pull strategies
• Direct-to-Consumer
• Strategic alliances
• Manufacturing postponement
• Dynamic Pricing
• E-Procurement
 Tailored Logistics
• Each Logistically Distinct Business (LDB) will
have distinct requirements in terms of
– Inventory
– Transportation
– Facility
– Information
Key: How to gain efficiencies while tailoring
logistics?
 Applying the Framework
to e-commerce:
What is e-commerce?
• Commerce transacted over the Internet
– Is product information displayed on the
Internet?
– Is negotiation over the Internet?
– Is the order placed over the Internet?
– Is the order tracked over the Internet?
– Is the order fulfilled over the Internet?
– Is payment transacted over the Internet?
 Existing Channels
for Commerce
• Product information
– Physical stores, EDI, catalogs, face to face, …
• Negotiation
– Face to face, phone, fax, sealed bids, …
• Order placement
– Physical store, EDI, phone, fax, face to face, …
• Order tracking
– EDI, phone, fax, …
• Order fulfillment
– Customer pick up, physical delivery
 Cost Impact of E-Commerce
• Facility costs
– Site and processing cost
• Inventory costs
– Cycle, Safety, Seasonal inventory
• Transportation costs
– Inbound and outbound costs
• Information sharing
– Coordination
 A Plethora of Approaches
(continued)
• Partnerships / Alliances
• Auctions / Exchanges
• Postponement Strategies
• SC Software
• SC Event Management
• Merge-In-Transit
• Collaborative Transportation Management
• Cash – to – Cash Metrics
 Framework for analysis
• Model Based Approach
* Use fundamental models to gain insights
* Analytical, though not necessarily Operations
Research, approach
* Extensive use of case studies and real-life examples
• Total System Cost
* Avoid the silo effect of traditional logistics
* Capture and integrate across different players in SC
* Service can be included
 Modeling for SCM
• Forecasting Models
- These models allow prediction of demand based on past data or
other parameters that are independently available. They
enable better planning, given the lead-time necessary for
response.
• Location Models
- These models identify the optimal location of facilities such as
plants and warehouses, considering the inbound and outbound
transportation costs as well as the fixed and variable costs of
operation at the locations under consideration. These are
usually formulated as Mixed Integer Programming Models.
 Modeling for SCM (cont’d)
• Distribution Network Design Models
- These models are usually comprehensive in nature, deciding
between two, three and even four stages of distribution
network, location of warehouses and break-bulk points,
and sometimes even the transportation.
• Allocation Models
- These models help in optimally allocating commodities from
sources to destinations in a multi-source, multi-destination
environment. The costs considered for optimisation are
production costs and warehousing costs. The constraints
considered can be due to demand, capacity, route
restrictions, etc.
 Modeling for SCM (cont’d)
• Inventory Models
- Inventory plays a major role in SCM.
- Inventory can be of various types such as:
- Batching and shipment inventories
- Buffer stocks to take care of uncertainties
- Pipeline inventory ( primary and secondary
transportation )
These models minimize the total relevant cost, based on trade-
offs among, inter alia, inventory carrying cost, ordering cost,
stock-out cost, transportation cost, taxes & duties, etc.
 Modeling for SCM (cont’d)
• Routing Models
- These models allow optimal routing on a
transportation network from a given source to a
destination. The models used are the Shortest
Path Problem, the Traveling Salesman Problem
and the Vehicle Routing Problem. Decision
Support Systems that interactively use the
expertise of the decision maker by providing
graphical support through a map (i.e., using a
Geographical Information System ) are also very
useful in such decisions.
 Modeling for SCM (cont’d)
• Scheduling Models
- These models enable allocation of resources to
particular activities. Depending on the criteria of
interest and the number of resources, the models
are of aid in evaluating appropriate rules for allocation.
• Alternative Analysis
- This model simply proposes the identification of alternatives,
criteria for decision making and analysis of the alternatives
across the criteria to arrive at the best choice. Formal
approaches such as simulation and analytic hierarchy process
could be used in assessing the implications of the criteria.