Supply Chain Management: Push and Pull Based Chains
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT: PUSH AND PULL BASED CHAINS
INTRODUCTION
Fierce competition in today’s global markets, the introduction of products with shorter life cycles, and the heightened expectations of customers have forced business enterprises to invest in, and focus attention on, their supply chains. This, together with continuing advances in communications and transportation technologies (e.g., mobile communication, Internet, and overnight delivery), has motivated the continuous evolution of the supply chain and of the techniques to manage it effectively.
The supply chain is a flow of materials, information and money through a network of suppliers, manufacturers, distributors and customers. A supply chain consists of all the stages involved in fulfilling a customer order or requirement. This is a concept increasingly referred to as the extended supply chain, spanning a market or industry sector, from original source to point of consumption. The extended supply chain not only includes manufacturers and suppliers, but also distributors, retailers and end-customers.
A BASIC SUPPLY CHAIN
At the end of a supply chain is the customer and the effectiveness of the supply chain depends on how well the customer is satisfied. Obviously, real world supply chains are much more complicated than that in the figure above.
HISTORY OF THE SUPPLY CHAIN INITIATIVE
The term SCM was originally introduced by management consultants in the early 1980s (Oliver and Webber 1982). Since then several attempts have been made to place contemporary SCM thinking in an historical context and/or to plot its historical development and evolution.
The history of the supply chain initiative can be traced to early beginnings in the textile industry with the quick response program and later to efficient consumer response in the grocery industry. More recently a variety of companies across many industries have begun looking at the entire supply chain process.
Quick response, for general
INTRODUCTION
Fierce competition in today’s global markets, the introduction of products with shorter life cycles, and the heightened expectations of customers have forced business enterprises to invest in, and focus attention on, their supply chains. This, together with continuing advances in communications and transportation technologies (e.g., mobile communication, Internet, and overnight delivery), has motivated the continuous evolution of the supply chain and of the techniques to manage it effectively.
The supply chain is a flow of materials, information and money through a network of suppliers, manufacturers, distributors and customers. A supply chain consists of all the stages involved in fulfilling a customer order or requirement. This is a concept increasingly referred to as the extended supply chain, spanning a market or industry sector, from original source to point of consumption. The extended supply chain not only includes manufacturers and suppliers, but also distributors, retailers and end-customers.
A BASIC SUPPLY CHAIN
At the end of a supply chain is the customer and the effectiveness of the supply chain depends on how well the customer is satisfied. Obviously, real world supply chains are much more complicated than that in the figure above.
HISTORY OF THE SUPPLY CHAIN INITIATIVE
The term SCM was originally introduced by management consultants in the early 1980s (Oliver and Webber 1982). Since then several attempts have been made to place contemporary SCM thinking in an historical context and/or to plot its historical development and evolution.
The history of the supply chain initiative can be traced to early beginnings in the textile industry with the quick response program and later to efficient consumer response in the grocery industry. More recently a variety of companies across many industries have begun looking at the entire supply chain process.
Quick response, for general