A Practical Introduction to Supply Chain

1

SUPPLY CHAIN IN A STRATEGIC CONTEXT

1.1  Importance of Supply Chain Performance to the Business

Supply chain performance has a major impact on businesses in terms of

•  Price and cost

•  Capacity and lead-time response

•  Quality and innovation

We need to have a clear view of how much our supply chains can deliver. We need to be able to persuade senior managers to give us the backing and resources we need to deliver supply chain performance that is a major benefit for the business.

1.1.1  Prices and Cost

Businesses that manufacture, have physical operations, or sell retail products usually spend more than half their cost of sales with external suppliers. The financial impact on the business is therefore clear. For example, in a business making ...