Supply Chains: A Manager's Guide

Today's fiercest business battles are taking place between competitors' supply chains, with victory dependent on finding a way to deliver products to customers faster, better, and cheaper than anyone else. For proof, just look to Dell and Amazon.com, both of which revolutionized their industries by changing how companies produce, distribute, and sell physical goods. But they're hardly alone. By revamping their supply chains, Siemens CT improved lead time from six month to two weeks, Gillette slashed $400 million of inventory, and Chrysler saved $1.7 billion a year - before, alas, letting its innovative vendor partnerships falter. It's a high-stakes game, and you don't have a lot of choice about playing; if your company touches a physical product, it's part of a supply chain. And your success ultimately hangs on the weakest link in that chain. In Supply Chains: A Manager's Guide, best-selling author David Taylor shows you how to assemble a killer supply chain using the knowledge, technology, and tools employed in supply-chain success stories. Using his signature fast-track summaries, graphics, and sidebars, Taylor offers a clear roadmap to understanding and solving the complex problems of supply-chain management. Modern manufacturing has driven down the time and cost of the production process, leaving supply chains as the final frontier for cost reduction and competitive advantage. Supply Chains: A Manager's Guide will quickly give managers the foundation they need to contribute effectively to their company's supply-chain success.