THIS THING CALLED “SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT”

12
Lean Six Sigma Logistics
chain management.* When viewed in this light, supply chain management is
clearly much more than logistics. This integration of a company’s planning and
execution functions represents not just a way to achieve efficiencies, but a
holistic strategy for doing business.
While much talk has surrounded the concept of supply chain management,
very few companies are seizing the potential found in broad-scale adoption.
Why? First, the concept of supply chain management is not well understood.
Much debate has surrounded the very meaning of the term, with a lack of
consensus existing even today. Even the functions that belong in supply chain
management have been debated. Another reason supply chain management is
not widely practiced is that it is not easy to accomplish. As noted, it involves
coordination of planning and operational activities throughout the company as
well as coordination of activities with suppliers and customers.
Interestingly, it is often easier to achieve the coordination with outside
members of the supply chain than within the company. For that reason, com-
panies are often inclined to start with suppliers because they can always tell
them what to do! They might even have great success in bringing customers
around to their way of thinking, but achieving collaboration among a multitude
of functional areas within a firm — well, that is another animal entirely! How-
ever, to enjoy any big, sustainable gains from supply chain management, a
company must first get its own house in order. Supply chain management is
about working the levers of a company and getting them in sync with the levers
of trading partners in the supply chain. Manipulating the levers of the outside

tải về 2.84 Mb.

Chia sẻ với bạn bè của bạn: