Overview of chapter 10
We have seen that the provision of customer value is the main goal of supply chain management and the two key attributes of this value are costs of the products and product availability and these are functions of the firm's transportation and inventory decisions and policy making. In this chapter we will look at the design aspect of the product and will look at the emerging patterns in product design and production decision which are often guided by the over all supply chain costs and responsiveness.
Learning outcomes
At the end of this chapter, you should be able to:
- explain how design for logistics concepts can be used to achieve the goal of cost control and service responsiveness
- explain what is delayed differentiation or postponement
- explain what is a lean supply chain and what is an agile supply chain and how these are related with the concept of delayed differentiation
- explain the role of suppliers in new product development
- explain what is mass customisation and how effective mass customisation strategy is related with the supply chain management of the firm.
Topics
- 10.1 Introduction
10.1.1 Matching the supply chain to the product - 10.2 Design for logistics
10.2.1 Packaging
10.2.2 Manufacturing: Concurrent and parallel processing
10.2.3 Postponement or delayed differentiation - 10.3 Mass customisation and supply chains
- 10.4 Supply chain is sues and the push-pull boundary
- 10.5 Summary