
Making Good Decisions—and Moving Those Numbers
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also constantly weeding out ineffi ciencies rooted in silo-
based thinking. In other words, they manage the link
between supply chain decisions and manufacturing op-
erations effectively, so that their companies concentrate
on items that serve their target market with the least
possible complexity. In the mid-1990s, for instance, the
vehicle and engine maker Navistar introduced its Dia-
mond Spec program, through which buyers of certain
trucks could choose among 16 preengineered modules
rather than the thousands of possible confi gurations that
had been available. Soon thereafter, say Gottfredson and ...