A Practical Introduction to Supply Chain

Book excerpt: In many businesses, supply chain people are trapped in reactive roles where they source, contract, purchase, receive, warehouse, and ship as a service. However, in some businesses suppliers contribute to improvement programs, technology, funding, marketing, logistics, and engineering expertise. Breaking into a proactive supply chain role takes broad thinking, a talent for persuasion, and the courage to go after it. This book supplies proven methods to help you do so. A Practical Introduction to Supply Chain describes how to run an efficient supply chain that exceeds expectations in terms of cost, quality, and supplier delivery. It explains the need to integrate systems, the flow of information, and the way in which people work together between commercial purchasing, materials management, and distribution parts of the supply chain. Sharing powerful insights from the perspective of a supply chain manager, the book details practical techniques drawn from the author’s decades of experience. It presents methods that apply directly to supply chains involving a physical product, manufactured internally or outsourced, as well as physical operations such as oilfield services. This book demonstrates how to make a supply chain organization work in practice—contributing more to business success than traditional purchasing and logistics organizations can. In addition to writing about practical supply chain issues and approaches, the author also describes proven methods he used while working with client teams on assignments. He also details some of the ways his teams used to manage the people part of the change.