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

by Suman Sarkar Narrated by Christopher Lane

Overview

When CEOs think about the supply chain, it's usually to cut costs. But the smartest leaders see supply chain and sourcing for what they can be: 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.

Across a range of industries, once-leading companies are in trouble: Walmart, IBM, Pfizer, HP, and The Gap to name a few. But others thrive. 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. The success of TJX, Amazon, Starbucks, and Airbus, is fueled by supply chain and sourcing. Showcasing real solutions, The Supply Chain Revolution will:

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

Technology is disrupting business models. Strategies must change. The Supply Chain Revolution flips conventional thinking and offers a powerful way for companies to compete in challenging times.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

…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

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169935974
Publisher:	Brilliance Audio
Publication date:	06/22/2017
Edition description:	Unabridged

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.

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