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Supply chain strategy can be summarised as the operational execution of the business mission. So firstly, understand the business mission, reflect on the corporate strategy of the organisation and plan accordingly.
Secondly recognise an average supply chain means fifty percent of your customers are sick of your service and fifty percent you are spending too much money on. So liaise and discuss with the marketing sales functions of your business because you need to segment your customers and products so that you can develop individual supply chains to create maximum value at the lowest possible cost for each of those segments.
Thirdly now for a supply chain strategy to really work four areas need to be designed:
- Supply chain processes
- Supply chain infrastructure, including where you locate facilities and the equipment to be used
- Supply chain information systems
- Supply chain organisation
This is how you organise your people.
Our work in this area at Cranfield is one of the areas explored within the Supply Chain Management Programme - one of our specialist programmes designed to develop appropriate skills for next generation professionals in these fields.
Blog produced by: Professor Richard Wilding OBE, Professor of Supply Chain Strategy and Programme Director of the Supply Chain Management Programme, Cranfield School of Management for this blog content.
