Supply Chain Optimization: Building the Strongest Total Business Network (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Stephen E Reiter (Author) "Business organizations today face unrelenting pressure to find new and more effective means to bring their products and services from concept and creation through delivery,..." (more)
Key Phrases: interenterprise model, interenterprise solution, upstream constituents, Tenneco Packaging, Hong Kong, Federal Express (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The authors, principals of A.T. Kearney Management Consultants, have helped many businesses achieve performance gains. Drawing on their experience, Poirier and Reiter explain how companies should eliminate every inefficiency existing within their delivery systems and redefine and reengineer supply chains to establish an error-free, mutually beneficial network extending from original supply to final consumption. Unless such supply chains are formed, they argue, corporations may find themselves out of business in today's competitive environment. The authors present a complex and innovative proposition in an insightful, straightforward way, carefully defining specialized terms and illustrating their theses with actual case studies. They stress that firms should focus on what consumers consider valuable, with customer satisfaction the key measure rather than benefit to manufacturer or retailer. Information technology capable of providing accurate, up-to-the-minute data plays a critical role in developing a successful inter-enterprise supply chain partnership. Human frailties?a win-lose attitude, reluctance to share and lack of trust?are what will most likely cause a partnership to fail. This work warrants scrutiny by manufacturing and retail executives. Illustrations not seen by PW.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Scientific American

"A great contribution showing us where the business world is going. A must-read for anyone under margin pressure who wants to know a powerful methodology for relieving some of the pain."

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 350 pages
• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers; 1st edition (January 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1881052931
• ISBN-13: 978-1881052937
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,122,982 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars This book can be summarized in one page, December 10, 1998

By A Customer

The main point of this book is: all constituents in the supply chain must work together to achieve mutual benefits. This is repeated 2000 times with different words. Quite an accomplishment in verbosity, but certainly not worth the money. The authors introduce an outdated three-step model and introduce a fourth level, the supplier of the supplier, and call it a new "model", an insult to the reader's intelligence.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Though repetitive, solid introduction to SC management, August 24, 1999

By A Customer

An informative guide to supply chain management, particularly for newcomers like myself. Introduction to the conceptual framework, relationship management issues and jargon are the key takeaways. A reader will be fully conversant on supply chain management matters after finishing the book.

As for shortcomings, this book could have been written in a third less print, the job of a disciplined editor. While I understand business books need some heft, brevity is under-rated in this category. Repetition is rampant in this book. After the much needed tightening, a chapter on supply chain management for new or smaller businesses would be a welcome addition.

That being said, I happily lend this book to friends and colleagues, the most practical compliment to a book's authors.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Insightful!, March 26, 2001

By	Rolf Dobelli "getAbstract.com" (Switzerland) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Authors Charles C. Poirier and Stephen E. Reiter envision a trip down your supply chain like an effortless sail on calm seas. Your organization can reach this placid efficiency, they explain, by forming partnerships with suppliers and others in your business network. But the authors don't ask you to take their word; instead they present detailed case studies of companies that have implemented supply-chain optimization strategies and reaped prodigious benefits. The book's only flaw is its style. It is densely written and often weighed down by prose as murky as a rural delivery system and twice as difficult to penetrate. But we [...] recommend that business owners, corporate managers, executives and logisticians of all levels take the time required to patiently excavate the practical and pragmatic information that lies within.