Clockspeed Summary Essay

Fierce competition, fluctuating market demand and rising customer requirements has led to customers becoming more demanding with increased preferences (Zhang and Cheng, 2006). In, the 21 st century, participating largely in globalization has created significant opportunities, and at the same time, put pressure on the automotive industry manufacturers to enhance quality, improve styling, increase organizational efficiencies and drive innovative features into their products in an effort to attract customers and expand into new markets (BCC, 2005). This paper explores the concept of supply chain management with a case study of one of the greatest motor brands BMW. We will look at the supply chain strategy of the company and how successfully it

This stagnates the computer industry; it used to be that company A would retaliate by making better software"[4] (By Del Guercio 22-24).

Research also can establish the services valued by all customers versus those valued only by various segments. Then the company should apply a disciplined, cross-functional process to develop a menu of supply chain programs and develop segment-specific service packages that combine basic services for anybody with the services from the menu that will have the greatest appeal to particular segments. This does not mean tailoring for the sake of tailoring. The goal is to find the degree of segmentation and variation needed to optimize

Summary of Clock Speed: Winning Industry Control in the Age of Temporary Advantage by Charles H. Fine

We explored a wide range of approaches and perspectives in the context of supply chain management, production, design, and introduction of new products in a bipartite data collection effort. Our research consisted of several phases. In the first phase, an initial field study, we visited Brazilian automotive plants and

By thinking in terms of supply chains instead of individual operations or departments, CIOs can improve their competitive strategies. These strategies, in turn, change organizational operations, roles, and information systems. This article shows how such “supply chain thinking” works.

In a rapidly changing world, organizations need to continually identify new opportunities beyond existing competencies if they are to survive and prosper. Customers also increasingly want customized products. Customer service has become a hygiene factor and customer loyalty is now being driven by faster innovation, rapid concept-to-market and product co-creation. This has led to the extension of the collaboration paradigm to customer facing functions in the supply chain, namely the product design and prototyping phase. Collaboration is becoming a new and important source of competitive advantage.

This paper explores design for manufacturability using several scholarly journal articles and books from different sources and industries. It starts by examining the definition of design for manufacturability as it pertains to managers of supply chains. The paper then discusses a fundamental topic that provides a foundation for learning design for manufacturability: the principles of design. The next section of this paper outlines the benefits that design for manufacturability has if a company chooses to implement it into their operations. Following the benefits of design for manufacturability are several key guidelines that will give a company the best chance for success while using design for

The only constant thing about technology is that it is never constant. The advances that we’ve witnessed in

Current Jim’s re-engineering team on processing an “as-is” analysis that point to understanding the current status of supply chain such as strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and it found 10 inefficiency which are discussed hereafter.

The supply chain has been defined as ‘the network of organizations that are involved, through upstream and downstream linkages, in the different processes and activities that produce value in the form of products and services in the hands of the ultimate customer’ (Christopher, 1992, p.74).

The changing global business context has contributed to the growing strategic importance of sourcing, purchasing and supply chain management. To achieve competitive advantage, companies have to design their supply chain efficient to meet the customer needs better than their competitors (Weele, 2014). The supply chain design (also known as supply chain strategy) is a plan how to structure and organize the supply chain for an x period of time based on the marketing and pricing plans

Supply Chain Management seeks to guarantee that “merchandise is produced and distributed at the right quantities, to the right locations, and at the right time. . .” (Stock, Boyer, & Harmon, 2010). It is the management of a company’s supply chain by coordination and integration of the multitude of supply chain partners that a company interacts with. Initially, the concept focused on how to make a relationship between supplier and purchaser more efficient but has now been broadened to include the management of many activities, functions, and organizations. In some industries it may include a company’s entire supply chain, including all of its customers, suppliers, and strategic partners (du Toit & Vlok, 2014; Walker & Jones, 2012). The concept has expanded so far today that many argue that there is no longer any competition among individual companies but instead competition among separate supply chains (Brun & Moretto, 2012).

As previously stated, supply chain includes every activity linked to the movement of goods from the raw-materials phase to the end-user stage. The proponents of this business process recognized that vital productivity improves from management of material flow, relationships, and information. Actually, the success and productivity of a business is dependent on the delivery of improved customer and

Originality/value – The literature review has explored the main differences between the two types of supply chains and also bridged the connection to their inherent characteristics. It is anticipated that this will trigger more in-depth researches into that topic.