Missed Opportunities in Supply Management

This is an excerpt of the original article. It was written for the September-October 2015 edition of Supply Chain Management Review. The full article is available to current subscribers.

September-October 2015

It’s September, which means the kids are going back to school, and soon, you’ll spend the evenings helping them with their lessons. September is also the month that we publish Gartner’s annual look at the Top 25 supply chains. While the Top 25 is a celebration of great supply chains, the leaders also offer lessons for the rest of us who aspire to the top. It’s news you can use right now in your planning. And, we’ll have you home for dinner on Tuesday. We hope you’ll join us for this inaugural event.

Browse this issue archive.

Already a subscriber? Access full edition now.

Need Help?

Contact customer service

847-559-7581   More options

Not a subscriber? Start your magazine subscription.

Over the last few decades, manufacturers have caught on to the value proposition that a disciplined supply management program brings to an organization. The best manufacturers leverage supply management to deliver benefits such as lower priced goods and services while gaining early access to innovative new products and technologies that will improve their products and increase shareholder value.

In those companies, supply management—a term we use interchangeably with the terms sourcing, purchasing, and procurement—is no longer focused just on getting the right product at the right price at the right time; instead, these manufacturers nurture their supply base to become their suppliers’ customer of choice and an indispensable business partner, one who can help them deliver a sustainable competitive advantage.

The story is quite different when it comes to non-manufacturing and service-based companies, or NMSBCs. While they do not produce a product for which costs can be directly tracked and correlated, NMSBCs can track the impact of supply management in their operating margins and net profits if they so choose. Yet, most NMSBCs have not yet fully realized the same supply management potential within their organizations as their manufacturing counterparts.

This complete article is available to subscribers only. Click on Log In Now at the top of this article for full access. Or, Start your PLUS+ subscription for instant access.

SC
MR