No Boundaries: Break Through to Supply Chain Excellence [Hardcover]

James A. Tompkins (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2003

Businesses must achieve Supply Chain Excellence to survive in today’s intensely competitive environment, but they cannot wish their way to success. In this book, leading Supply Chain consultant James A. Tompkins, Ph.D., explains the six stages that businesses and supply chains must pass through to achieve the pinnacle of success.

The Six Levels of Supply Chain Excellence—from "Business as Usual" to "Velocity"—form a ladder that supply chains must climb to beat the competition. Here, Dr. Tompkins explains what characterizes each level, as well as the technology that is associated with each and prepares enterprises to move up to the next. As they move through the Six Levels, companies perfect their own operations, link with supply chain partners, and synthesize their supply chains to have No Boundaries and to focus on the only point that matters—the final customer.

This volume, thoroughly updated from Dr. Tompkins’ 2000 introduction to Supply Chain Synthesis, includes specific discussions of synthesis for manufacturers and distributors and details the core competencies required for Supply Chain Excellence. No matter where your organization is on the ladder to the top of your industry, you can benefit from this straightforward explanation of the world your business lives in today.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

James A. Tompkins, Ph.D. is CEO and founder of Tompkins Associates, a global leader in supply chain consulting and integration. He is an internationally known authority on warehousing, material handling, facilities planning, manufacturing, and supply chain excellence, and is a worldwide speaker and lecturer. He has authored and contributed to more than 22 books and 500 articles in industry publications. In this book he brings his 30 years of supply chain experience to you so that you may achieve Supply Chain Excellence.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 221 pages
• Publisher: Tompkins Associates (February 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1930426046
• ISBN-13: 978-1930426047
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,581,602 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Book, April 26, 2003

By 

Brittain C. Ladd "Business Book Junkie" (Irving, Texas United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: No Boundaries: Break Through to Supply Chain Excellence (Hardcover)

This is an excellent book that provides easy to understand information on how the topic of `Supply Chain Excellence'. According to the author, Supply Chain Excellence is comprised of the following six levels:

1. Business as Usual
1. Link Excellence
1. Visibility
1. Collaboration
1. Synthesis
1. Velocity

Written at a level that can be easily interpreted by most readers, this is a book that should be read by anyone interested in learning more about the importance that the supply chain has on the success or failure of a company. What makes this book unique is that the author views traditional supply chain management (SCM) as being nothing more than an approach to solve high inventory, high costs, and growing customer dissatisfaction. In the opinion of the author, SCM is an approach that is usually implemented by companies who expect immediate results but who usually fail to achieve the desired results for the simple fact that they fail to identify and eliminate the boundaries that are preventing success. Only by eliminating boundaries, building partnerships with suppliers, and uniting all partners to focus on satisfying the customer, will companies achieve supply chain excellence.

Although the author presents a very good argument for his opinions, advancing through the six levels is much more difficult in reality than the author would have you believe. The author isn't trying to pull the wool over anyone's eyes, Dr. Tompkins is merely a consultant who isn't about to give away the keys to the kingdom for free so there is not a lot of "in the trenches" information in this book. When consultants write books they provide just enough information to get the reader's attention as their primary goal is to secure consulting contracts. There is nothing wrong with this but I want any potential buyers to understand that there are only 221 pages in the book so they will not be experts on this subject once they have finished reading the book.

For those individuals who have an interest in supply chain or business topics, this book is well worth the money and I recommend it highly.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great title, even better book!, August 10, 2008

By 

Ralph M.Cox (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: No Boundaries: Break Through to Supply Chain Excellence (Hardcover)

"No Boundaries" is both an excellent concept from which to start to understand the concept of a supply chain and a good, thoiught-provoking book. While much of the world is struggling to get their organization out of functional, vertical silos, i.e., to function horizontally from customer needs to product development to supply management then to demand management to customer satisfaction, Jim Tompkins has already gone one very big step further.

No Boundaries is an excellent conceptual framework for beginning to understand extending horizonal operations from your supplier's supplier to your customer's customer. It outlines the ideal as well as the issues which must be dealt with to get there. Six stages of supply chain evolution are defined (many firms have not yet completed step one), good both for now and the future. Highly recommended!