Supply Chain Management For Dummies, 3rd Edition

Chapter 22

Ten Questions to Ask about Your Supply Chain

IN THIS CHAPTER

Identifying key customers and what they value

Aligning your supply chain with customers and suppliers

Creating new value with your supply chain

Envisioning the future of your supply chain

One of the most exciting and challenging aspects of supply chain management is how quickly things change. New customers, new suppliers, and new technologies are added to supply chains every day. To meet their goals of delivering value to customers while maximizing profits, supply chain managers always need to look for ways to improve. In this chapter, I provide ten questions that you should ask to make sure that your supply chain is meeting your customers’ needs, giving your company a competitive advantage, and keeping pace with technology trends.

Who Are Your Key Customers?

One big challenge for supply chain managers is that they’re often disconnected from the company’s customers. Sales and marketing departments make deals and entice customers to buy; then it’s up to the supply chain folks to make the products and deliver ...