Supply Chain Cost Management: The AIM & DRIVE® Process for Achieving Extraordinary Results

Select Critical Costs to be Managed

Once the team has identified the topic, established its goals from different perspectives, completed the Goal Specification Worksheet, mapped the process, and understood the general cost elements associated with each cost activity, it is time to begin the process of identifying critical costs in the supply chain. Remember, so far, no numbers have been attributed to the cost elements identified in the process map. It’s time to take a stab at that. A good guide is the Cost Activity Worksheet (Figure 4-3) that was developed by Steve Frels and his Strategic Supply Management Services team at Deere and Company. The purpose is not to fill in every single item on the worksheet, but to start from the left and move ...