Logistics is changing from a focus on cost reduction and service improvement at the firm level to an emphasis on supply chain restructuring and organizing to increase overall efficiency and effectiveness. In this article, we focus on structural changes in the supply chain, the results of which...

Value Stream Management is a new strategic and operational approach to the data capture, analysis, planning and implementation of effective change within the core cross‐functional or cross‐company processes required to achieve a truly lean enterprise. This paper describes the method in...

Although there has been considerable effort placed on measuring supply chains in order to assess their performance, these techniques have been found to be time and cost focused, aimed at coping with rapid change. This approach tends to have a short‐term outlook. Work on greening supply chains...

It is expected that, as the next step in the development of distribution channels, companies will decentralize their final manufacturing into their distribution centers. It has also been suggested that companies are increasingly beginning to customize products based on customer orders. Both the...

Since deregulation of the airlines in 1978, and rail and truck in 1980, the transportation/logistics Industry has undergone significant changes. The trend has been one of improved efficiency and extreme price and cost pressures, requiring more of a customer driven marketing approach on the part...

Traditional supply chains can greatly amplify changes in end‐customer demand and thereby produce their own internally generated boom‐and‐bust scenarios. Improvement in supply chain performance is often greatly separated by time (many months) and distance (many miles) from the action taken...

In the last few years there has emerged a strongly held view that the ultimate purpose of the firm is to maximize shareholder value, that is the long run worth of the business to its owners. Many influences clearly impact upon shareholder value, but there is a growing recognition that the supply...

It is evident from examples such as Dell that successful shapers of the supply chain really do change the game, but how can your company do it? Value reengineering is a new approach for how a company can systematically implement breakthrough solutions for its customers. The key is finding the...

Traditionally, the decoupling point methodology has been associated with the material flow pipeline. However, to maximize improvement in supply chain dynamics, information flow is equally important. Many of the problems exhibited in the material flow pipeline are the result of the distortion of...

Any chain (or network) connected through electronic links can be considered virtual. However, a virtual supply chain often encompasses much more than electronic links. It represents an organization structure that facilitates efficient and effective flows of both physical goods and information in...