Principles of Supply Chain Management, Second Edition, 2nd Edition

41Supply Chains as a System

countries that manufacture the many goods that are offshore outsourced by American

companies. Past labor strikes at these ports created huge disruptions in the U.S.

supplychains.The threat of strikes in the future indicates that the vulnerability of these

supply chains may continue to be fragile.

Considering these challenges associated with the ow of goods, supply chain manag-

ers are striving to optimize every decision to move physical goods smoothly through the

supply chain.

Information Flow

When goods move from one location to another, information requires updating and

dissemination to supply chain partners. The absence of information synchronicity can

result in overstocking, backorders, poor decision-making ...