“Best practices don’t just happen by throwing a lot of money at your supply chain problems,” writes David Blanchard, former editor-in-chief of Logistics Today, in his new book, Supply Chain Management Best Practices (John Wiley & Sons, 2007). “Improvements come through strategies that identify and track key supply chain processes early and often. It takes money, but it also takes time, talent, energy, focus, commitment from senior management, and a lot of guts to pull off a supply chain transformation.”
Blanchard’s book compiles hundreds of examples from supply-chain practitioners and industry experts. It is designed to help supply chain professionals figure out how to get their supply chain on the best practices track. The book offers numerous examples--well documented in extensive endnotes--of companies that have found economic success by optimizing specific processes within their supply chains. Their stories are told from a journalistic perspective that details the real-world challenges that supply-chain managers have faced and overcome.
From the basics of supply chain management through its core processes (plan, source, make, deliver and return) and today’s key strategic areas, Blanchard’s book offers a good, easy-to-read overview of what supply chain best practices today.
