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How The Supply Chain Efficiently By Chris Eckert, President Of Sologic, And Brian Hughes Essay

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Troubleshooting the supply chain proactively By Chris Eckert, President of Sologic, and Brian Hughes, Vice President of Sologic. A version of this article appeared in the February 2010 issue of Industrial Engineer magazine.

Solving the problems associated with the global supply chain of major products these days requires a flexible, adaptable and consistent approach. One need look no further than the latest commercial airliner designed by Boeing to see how far the company is willing to realize the many benefits of a huge extended global supply chain decentralized. Experience and expertise focus directly on the individual components. The responsibility for profits and losses are concentrated in smaller, more manageable (and therefore responsible) business units. The risk is diversified across multiple "baskets" of providers. The benefits of local markets (such as cheap labor and proximity to raw materials) can be exploited. The list is endless. But Boeing 's strategy also shows some of the inherent risks and the unfortunate consequences associated with the management of the supply chain. Unfortunately, it 's one thing to map all the potential benefits of a diversified global chain of supply, but quite another for the company and its executives out alive is because of the risks involved. While the new Boeing 787 can be one of the most ambitious attempts to benefits of extended global supply chain, we can find other examples of all sizes, shapes and flavors. Globalization is

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