In this article, Mark Millar discusses why supply chains are becoming increasingly strategic.
Leading companies are increasingly considering their supply chains to be strategic - as a business enabler, as a revenue driver and as a differentiator. In several sectors, companies compete on the basis of their supply chains, as much as on their actual products.
For many businesses – particularly those in high tech and consumer electronics - time to market and effective distribution channels are critical success factors, and therefore supply chain management capabilities become a source of competitive advantage.
The supply chain embraces every single activity that enables getting products to customers and consequently touches the vast majority of functions within and across a company. World class organisations no longer perceive the supply chain as merely tactical support for business as usual, but take a holistic position that their supply chain is what drives the business. The latest thinking is that the supply chain is the business.
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