ABSTRACT
The performance of a company’s supply chain can be a key to a company’s success or its failure. Supply-chain development continues to be driven by growing customer expectations, e.g., increased responsiveness to demand fluctuations, shorter lead times, almost perfect delivery reliability, perfect, error-free orders. Supply-chain and order fulfillment are often viewed as interchangeable terms; but order fulfillment is best defined as the steps involved in receiving, processing, and delivering orders to end customers; and this covers the administrative activities associated with the order-fulfillment process. Identifying waste and non-value-added activities within the order-fulfillment process/supply-chain model begins with defining each waste. Supply-chain management excellence can be measured by the cost required to deliver the highest levels of customer value at the lowest delivered cost. The goal is to deliver the highest value possible at the lowest possible cost. The supply chain encompasses the order-fulfillment process, the physical flow of materials and products, and the core support processes.
