ABSTRACT
Manufacturers now compete less on product and quality — which are often comparable – and more on inventory turns and speed to market.
John Kasarda
,
Forbes,
October 18, 1999
The above quotation by John Kasarda, a professor of logistics at the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, supports a principal theme of this book. This is the belief that supply chain management will increasingly be the principal determinant of the ability to compete. We begin by setting the stage with a few basic definitions related to the “supply chain.” Any discussion of the supply chain can legitimately be broad or narrow depending on the perspective of the “definer” and the interests of those involved in the conversation. In meetings of the Council of Logistics Management, for example, the discussion turns to distribution systems, transportation, and warehousing. The Society of Manufacturing Engineers may focus on the manufacturing systems that promote “supply chain” effectiveness.
