Delivering the Goods: The Art of Managing Your Supply Chain [Hardcover]

Damon Schechter (Author), Gordon F. Sander (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471211141 | ISBN-13: 978-0471211143 | Publication Date: August 15, 2002 | Edition: 1st

We often think of great battles as having been won by superior strategy, bravery, or weaponry. Often, however, the greatest battles are decided by a much more mundane factor: logistics.

Delivering the Goods looks at business logistics through the history of successful military logistical operations undertaken by leaders from Alexander the Great to General Norman Schwarzkopf, and offers practical guidance on applying proven logistical principles to your business.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"While it's difficult to top Sander's Pulitzer nomination and Schechter's Stanford degrees, we must gladly admit that your book ROCKS!"-Tom Peters Company

From the Inside Flap

We often think of great battles as having been won by superior strategy, bravery, or weaponry. Often, however, the greatest battles are decided by a much more mundane factor: logistics.

In war, logistics is the art of moving supplies and reinforcements along a supply chain in order to support the war effort and keep soldiers well fed and ready to fight. For even the greatest army to achieve victory it must be properly supplied. In business, logistics is the art of moving the product or service to the customer where and when the customer needs it-to be fast enough and flexible enough to win the customer's business. The same fundamental truth that governs war also governs business: without an efficient supply chain, victory is impossible. An army without supplies cannot win wars, just as a business that fails to deliver its product on time cannot win customers. In business, as in war, superior logistics makes all the difference.

Delivering the Goods looks at business logistics through the history of successful military logistical operations undertaken by leaders from Alexander the Great to General Norman Schwarzkopf. After exploring some of the most inventive solutions ever devised for logistical problems, the authors apply the lessons learned to modern business. In the process they include real-world examples of techniques for supply chain optimization used by various organizations-from the modern U.S. Army to the computer company Sun Microsystems.

In the increasingly competitive and cost-conscious corporate environment of the next few decades, the question of delivery-how rapidly, how well, and how cheaply you deliver goods and services to the customer-will be the paramount differentiating factor for companies. In fact, one fifth or more of sales for a typical American company is represented by transportation and distribution costs, or what are essentially supply chain costs. Therefore, even a slightly more efficient delivery system can become a significant competitive advantage for large companies.

Delivering the Goods provides case studies and histories of successful logistical operations throughout history, but it also offers practical guidance on applying proven logistical principles to your business. Manage your supply chain properly, and you just might bring home the ultimate spoils of war-customers.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1st edition (August 15, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471211141
• ISBN-13: 978-0471211143
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #983,478 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A compelling read for a business book . . ., November 19, 2002

By 

S Bolen - See all my reviews

This review is from: Delivering the Goods: The Art of Managing Your Supply Chain (Hardcover)

The keys to managing my own corporate supply chain "clicked" while flipping the pages. Also, lots of "Aha!" breakthroughs while reading, and tips to reinforce these concepts - this is what every business person should know, but wouldn't quite know where to look for it. What a refreshing perspective and chock full of case studies to learn from. I'll be keeping this one close to my desk to refer back to for years to come. Thanks!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Background and Introduction to Logistics and SCM, August 10, 2003

By 

Greg T. Smith (Cincinnati, Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Delivering the Goods: The Art of Managing Your Supply Chain (Hardcover)

This is one of the better books addressing the theory and practice of logistics and supply chain management. If you're a professional logistician, this is a good book. If you're not a professional logistician wanting to learn more about logistics efficiency and the massive impact it can have on cost and service, this is a great book!!

I would strongly recommend this book to general managers of warehousing and manufacturing operations, senior officers hoping to learn more about logistics strategy and tactics, and even front line managers who can utilize this work to connect the logistics function silo with the entire enterprise.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Very over rated, December 30, 2003

By A Customer

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This review is from: Delivering the Goods: The Art of Managing Your Supply Chain (Hardcover)

The first part of the book provides a good history of Logistics but over rates the purported military genius of Desert Storm - the truth was that they shipped too much stuff and things that were not needed at a great expense and ended up leaving it to rot...not much expertise needed to waste the taxpayer's money.

The rest of the book is a rehash of well known SCM principles and is a terrible way to try to get these across. It is page after page of text, with no diagrams of the "system" that the author is trying to get across, but I suspect that the system may not really make sense if constructed and that is why it is not...baffle the readers with text.

If you do not know anything about SCM, this is a good intro, but I was greatly disappointed in this book, especially in light of the glowing reviews that this received.