Not too long ago, supply chain design was considered to be an event that was run as a project once every three to five years—if at all. It was also uncommon for a company to do such analysis themselves; often third-party firms were hired to do one-off studies.
Today, there is a strong and ever-increasing trend of companies making supply chain design a core business function, and using this competency as a competitive weapon for their business. They are using modeling technology to continuously optimize the end-to-end supply chain to improve service levels, identify major cost savings, reduce risk and stay ahead of other companies in their market
Project vs. Process: Why the Change?
Why is supply chain design now becoming a core process and business function? Three factors seem to have converged to trigger this switch: technology, business practice and volatility.