لطفا منتظر باشید ...
Chapter 7: Musical Inventories
Overview
Although many definitions can be offered to explain the essence of supply chain management (SCM), the financial view of the subject centers on creating a balance between profitability and asset utilization. While most industries continue to experience downward pressure on margins, the tactical contribution of SCM to profitability must focus on reducing costs in all processes and activities. As noted in the introductory chapters of this book and referred to throughout the treatise, SCM must also contribute to a company's return on assets. Far from being a revolutionary idea, organizations have focused on these variables since the introduction of the DuPont formula in the early years of the 20th century. The only difference now is that companies must execute the formula in a much more cluttered, international landscape.Given the intense nature of competition in global markets, it should come as no surprise that companies have devised several ways to not only reduce costs but also take assets out of their operating equation. The discussion on outsourcing is testament to this phenomenon, and it seems that there is no end to managers' creativity in getting assets off their books. Inventory management is of special concern to international companies and focuses on not only finished goods but also raw materials and work in process. The balance of this chapter is dedicated to an analysis of several operating models, each of which seeks to create a balance between the needs of the market and the goal of minimizing inventory levels.Most people can recall playing "musical chairs" as children. There were always more kids than chairs, and as the music played, everybody danced in a circle around the seats. When the music stopped, the players scrambled for a seat, and any children left standing were out of the game. It may be both amusing and instructive to consider musical chairs as a metaphor for the modern-day management of inventories in the supply chain.Up until fairly recently, the goal of companies was not necessarily to reduce inventories across the supply chain, but merely to make sure that inventory values did not end up on their books. If other companies in the chain got stuck with inventory, that was their problem. What companies have come to realize, however, is that regardless of whether inventories wind up in the hands of suppliers or customers, the inherent costs associated with them eventually resurface farther down the chain. Carrying costs, insurance, storage and obsolescence all inflate the value of inventories and, unless accounted for in sales prices, will erode the profitability of any company.It is for these reasons that more evolved supply chain participants now endeavor to not only keep inventories off of their books but reduce them across the entire chain. Business practices like materials requirements planning have evolved to accommodate this shared goal, and entire business models have been developed with inventory management as a key tenet. Just in time, for example, is much more than an inventory reduction tool, but it does carry at its core the minimization of inventory levels. In the retail arena, Efficient Consumer Response and Quick Response focus on the use of technology and information sharing to drive unneeded inventories out of the model. Lean manufacturing, another example, promulgates the need for velocity in all aspects of an organization's activities. Needless to say, less inventory is conducive to greater speed and is a primary driver of the lean philosophy.
