Fine-coupling strategy and execution | Bangkok Post: business

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Chances that you have heard the term "supply chain strategy" in this space. Used informally, it is sometimes confused with supply chain management, under which supply chain operations are controlled to reduce costs. There's some truth to this but supply chain strategy is really broader with strong inter-linkages on the execution front.

In the book, Supply Chain Strategies: Customer Driven and Customer Focused, T. Hines defines the concept this way: "Supply chain strategies require a total systems view of the linkages in the chain that work together efficiently to create customer satisfaction at the end point of delivery to the consumer. As a consequence, costs must be lowered throughout the chain by driving out unnecessary costs and focusing attention on adding value. Throughout, efficiency must be increased, bottlenecks removed and performance measurement must focus on total systems efficiency and equitable reward distribution to those in the supply chain adding value. The supply chain system must be responsive to customer requirements."

Supply chain strategy and execution have an increasingly critical influence on strategic business outcomes. With heightened requirements from customers, increased demand volatility and the rising business complexity of managing a global business network, it's critical to focus on driving value across the enterprise. This is even more critical as supply chains evolve into demand-supply networks that need to be integrated from an end-to-end visibility perspective.