Gower Handbook of Supply Chain Management

Citation

Kuei, C. (2003), "Gower Handbook of Supply Chain Management", International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, Vol. 20 No. 7, pp. 866-867. https://doi.org/10.1108/02656710310491276

There is a growing attention on supply chain management. Supply chain management is a holistic and a systemic approach to demand, operations, procurement, and logistics. As organizations adopt supply chain management, their senior executives and functional specialists must understand the enablers and performance drivers of effective supply chain systems and develop a strategy for systemic implementation. Although many business executives and practising managers have recognized the importance of supply chain management, the content and critical dimensions of supply chain management remain unclear. Crucial questions remain unanswered.

What is the scope and critical dimensions of supply chain management? How does it relate to operational excellence and quality? What operating strategies should organizations use when managing a supply chain network configuration (i.e. channel design, logistics flow path design, physical network configuration)?

Why do organizations need performance measures spanning the entire supply chain? How can inventory be used to the best advantage? What is the difference between forecasting and demand planning?

What does it involve when introducing information systems for supply chains? Why is it difficult for organizations to successfully manage supply chain networks?

What is virtual supply chain all about, and what does it mean? Which companies have succeeded in building best‐of‐breed supply chains?

What steps need to be considered when engaging in transformation? What impediments are firms facing or likely to face when implementing the plan in the global environment? Is adequate attention being paid to the regional supply chain?

What will the strategic supply chain alignment approach accomplish? What is the breadth and depth of supply chain capability?

Gower Handbook of Supply Chain Management is designed specifically for anyone interested in extracting information to address the earlier concerns. The book's content coverage begins with a description of supply chains in the context of customers and strategy, and an overview of supply chain strategy framework, and ends with the projection of the future supply chains. In between, this book concentrates on the essentials and practical considerations. For the essential focuses, all the materials are presented around the following three distinctive curves: operational excellence, supply chain integration and collaboration, and virtual supply chains. The aims of those fundamental curve movements are performance and supply chain capability. In the first curve, structural components (channel design, network configuration), operational elements (manufacturing and distribution operations, transportation and third party management, planning and inventory management), and support functions (information systems, processes, performance management, organization and people) are each illustrated. They need to be managed to form the bases for effective supply chain management. Generally, in this section of the book, the authors discuss different ways to view an effective, static infrastructure of supply chains. In curve two, the authors set out a more dynamic version of supply chain configuration, collaboration, and improvement. E‐supply chain is discussed in the final curve with the notion that some type of e‐transformation might be inevitable. In fact, it is this curve that would offer the greatest potential for radical improvement. These three curves of management of supply chains describe the major paradigm shifts in supply chain settings. Leadership and supply chain visions are two major enablers that lead to such a transformation. Quality and desired supply chain capabilities are the results.

This handbook offers strong conceptual and operational bases for designing and implementing supply chain networks in the twenty‐first century. The elements that are so essential to supply chain management are well presented. The deeper into the book, the clearer it offers an avalanche of reference frameworks. Those conceptual models can help us to better understand the interrelationships between the supply chain parameters, operational intents, and physical movements and processes. The frameworks and models presented therefore could be used to better manage supply chain networks.