Strategic Supply Chain Management - Supply Chain Online

CHAPTER 1 Core Discipline 1: View Your Supply Chain as a Strategic Asset 33
by the constant pursuit of lower costs and the need for rapid new product
introductions. Companies have adopted new operating strategies such as
make to order, white-box packaging, and resale from low-cost producers
and are opening their own stores, selling directly through the Internet, and
exploring other new channels.
In other industries, such as aerospace, fundamental supply chain
changes can occur less often—every 10 years or so—and have major consequences.
Consider the supply chain strategies of Boeing and Airbus.
Airbus’s network of partners delivers finished subassemblies direct to the
company’s assembly line in Toulouse, France, where fewer than 500
workers do final assembly. 13 Airbus’s production model requires lower
capital spending, spreads development risks, and leverages the know-how
of many partners.
Boeing today is in a state of continual change. The company is
achieving marked improvements in efficiency by reducing its supply base
and is working within the company and with suppliers to implement techniques
of lean manufacturing. At the same time, the company is involving
more risk-sharing supplier partners in its business and making great
progress toward large-scale systems integration.
Given the major changes experienced by the airline industry in the
late 1990s and early 2000s, including bankruptcies, mergers, and acquisitions,
and the impressive growth of low-cost carriers, it is likely that the
supply chain strategies of major commercial aircraft manufacturers will
evolve further to meet the airline industry’s demand for cost-efficient solutions
and to deliver profitable growth.
Both internal and external factors determine your supply chain’s
shelf life and can trigger a need for a change in configuration. These factors
include
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A new technology that transforms the dynamics of your industry.
The Internet, for instance, created a direct link to customers so
that companies such as Amazon could sell direct and cut out the
middleman.
A change in the scope of your business. If your company is offering
new products or services, targeting new markets, or expanding
geographically, you may need to expand your manufacturing
capacity, add new distribution capabilities, develop new channels,
find new suppliers, and rethink your supply chain strategy
overall.
A change in your basis of competition. Perhaps a new competitor
has emerged with a stronger value proposition, or you need to