Supply Chain Management

The core concepts of supply chain management are discussed in chapters 6, 7, and 10 of the book (MBPF). Some of the companies discussed in this segment include Wal-Mart, Barilla, Benetton , Dell, and Amazon.We will begin with a discussion of the key factors that influence inventories in a supply chain. The high-tech industry provides an excellent set of examples to discuss various supply chain concepts. The following articles provide some information on various high-tech supply chains.

• PBS film on Wal-Mart
• Article on Centralization of Inventories by Audi
• Wall Street Journal article on Making Fashion Faster
• Wall Street Journal article on dealing with uncertainty in the Kia Supply Chain
• Wall Street Journal article on information sharing in the auto supply chain
• Wall Street Journal article on European Retailer Zara
• EBN, Jan 15, 01 on supplier relationships by Cisco, HP
• Flextronics, NYT Feb 15, 2001 on contract manufacturing in the high-tech industry
• EBN, Jan 8, 01on inventories in electronics supply chain
• Have Factory, Will Travel, Economist Feb 2000 on contract manufacturing in the high-tech industry
• Articles on Compaq's efforts to improve its supply chain "Compaq to adopt make-to-order sales model" ,"Compaq: We're number one but we can change" , Expanded role of distributors
• "Michael Dell: Whirlwind on the web", BUSINESS WEEK, April 7, 1997 : A discussion of Dell's successful supply chain
• "Invoice? What's an invoice", BUSINESS WEEK, 06/10/96 : They were talking of the web five years ago! Will B2B pay off?

We will discuss the important concept of postponement. Related articles include Restructuring the IBM Supply Chain in Europe , Kellogg note on postponement, and postponement at HP. We will then discuss the role visibility and collaboration play in improving supply chain performance. The following articles relate to this discussion.

• Chain Store Age, Jan 1, 01 on supply chain visibility a, b, c, d
• WSJ, Sept. 2000 on collaboration between Costco and Kimberly-Clark
• Bullwhip effect at Applied Materials

We will discuss how companies determine the appropriate level of inventory. This New York Times article on newstand sales of magazines provides a good context for this discussion.

This inventory simulation (MS-Excel file) allows a student to see how changing different parameters affects the level of inventory, cost, and the level of customer service. The accompanying note (MS-WORD file) contains a description of the workbook and some exercises.