Achieving Supply Chain Integration

Though many modern companies and their leaders recognise that supply chain integration is a critical aspect of competitiveness, actually becoming integrated has proven to be quite difficult for most, for a variety of reasons. Prior to the year 2000, integrating first vertically, and later horizontally within the organization was "all the rage" in creating a successful supply chain. Since then, it has become apparent that integrating a company's internal functions with those of partnering suppliers and customers yields additional advantages.

Integration benefits organisations by enabling not only the smooth and efficient flow of products through the supply chain, but also by providing access to resources and capabilities held by partners that otherwise may have been costly to develop internally. Yet, how to actually go about integrating remains somewhat a mystery, and it is hard to prioritise which processes and functions should be integrated, and in what ways, in order to yield the greatest performance benefits to an organisation.

Via a collection of essays on both internal and external process and relationship integration, this book intends to assist both students and managers in approaching the integrating process, such that they approach the problems and benefits of integrating with their eyes wide open. Examples from industry of both successful and unsuccessful integrations are used to illustrate best practices and common mistakes.

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