ABSTRACT
This chapter describes drivers fueling change in retail supply chains. It illustrates a framework for defining requirements for the flexibility driver, a cornerstone of supply chain design. The chapter describes the drivers and explains how they might compel changes in the retail supply chain. Those formulating projects to improve retail supply chains should understand and acknowledge their projects' "roots" in the form of these drivers. The three drivers, extended product design, globalization, and flexibility imperative, shape the direction, scope, and form of products and services and their supply chains. An innovation in product technology, such as nanotechnology, improvements in diesel engines for automobiles, or the development of self-driving cars, will act on current supply chains for related products and services. Supply chains, manufacturing calendars, and other distribution considerations became subject to immediate review and revision.
