Designing and Managing the Supply Chain Concepts, Strategies, and Case Studies

Supply chain management has long been recognized as one of the most important strategic issues in the digital age. Since a supply chain involves suppliers, subcontractors, manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and customers, it is also a complex management issue to deal with. Simchi‐Levi et al.’s book, Designing and Managing the Supply Chain … is an excellent book for two reasons: the presentations are very clear and guide the reader on how to design and manage the supply chain; and it provides well‐balanced information on both the quantitative and qualitative aspects of supply chain management. An example in point is the chapter on “Coordinated product and supply chain design” (see chapter 8). This chapter presents a case study on Hewlett‐Packard’s deskjet printer supply chain. The case is thoroughly discussed using major concepts and strategies, and practical issues are clearly identified in the solution procedure. Readers can easily understand the major issues involved in supply chain management, and the process to address them in order to satisfy customer demand. Sample demand data are also provided and used to demonstrate how to achieve specified service levels with fewer inventories. Three strategies are developed in the book: economic packaging and transportation, concurrent and parallel process, and delayed differentiation. Using the inventory models presented in chapter 3, the authors showed how to compute the safety stock for the Hewlett‐Packard’s supply chain given a service level of 98 percent.

Other topics covered in this book include logistics network configuration, risk pooling, value of information, distribution strategies, strategic alliances, international issues, customer value, information technology, and decision support system. Popular supply chain issues such as quality management are discussed in chapter 9 “Customer value and supply chain management.” Centralized versus decentralized systems are discussed in chapter 3 “Inventory management and risk pooling”. Electronic commerce is discussed in chapter 10 “Information technology for supply chain management”. The book is also packaged with two pieces of simulation software: a computerized beer game and the risk pooling game. The former focuses on decentralized decision‐making while the latter provides insight on risk pooling. In general, this is a good book for practitioners. It could also be a useful applications oriented book for classroom purposes. If you have any comments on this review or my previous reviews, please contact me at ckuei@fsmail.pace.edu