ABSTRACT
Production, supply and subcontract sources are no longer limited to national or geographical constraints. The world is pretty much an open arena, and the key word is global. The multiplicity of selection is rising to a complex combination of multinational production, subcontracting, alliances, partnerships, outright purchases, barter and just-in-time deliveries. While there are many production sources, in existence or potential, an important policy decision must be made as to the actual geography of production. The phenomenon of compression of time is extremely important in running a business which must respond to the outside-in pressures of the external environment. Thus, R&D projects must be completed faster, production runs must be faster, inventories must be smaller and just-in-time, deliveries must be faster, and delays must be eliminated or greatly reduced.
