Developing global networks walter kuemmerle building effective r

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What is the Right Supply
Chain for Your Product
?
by Marshall L. Fisher
Reprint 97205
Harvard Business Review

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MARCH-APRIL 1997
Reprint Number
HarvardBusinessReview
ARIE 
DE
GEUS
THE LIVING COMPANY
97203
DEVELOPING GLOBAL NETWORKS
WALTER KUEMMERLE 
BUILDING EFFECTIVE R&D CAPABILITIES ABROAD
97206
KASRA FERDOWS
MAKING THE MOST OF FOREIGN FACTORIES
97204
GEORGE S. DAY 
STRATEGIES FOR SURVIVING A SHAKEOUT
97202
MARSHALL L. FISHER 
WHAT IS THE RIGHT SUPPLY CHAIN FOR YOUR PRODUCT?
97205
JOHN CASE 
OPENING THE BOOKS
97201
JOAN MAGRETTA 
HBR CASE STUDY
WILL SHE FIT IN?
97208
CHRISTINE W. LETTS, 
SOCIAL ENTERPRISE
WILLIAM RYAN, 
VIRTUOUS CAPITAL: WHAT FOUNDATIONS CAN LEARN FROM
97207
AND ALLEN GROSSMAN
VENTURE CAPITALISTS
WILFRIED VANHONACKER
WORLD VIEW
ENTERING CHINA: AN UNCONVENTIONAL APPROACH
97210
EILEEN SHAPIRO
BOOKS IN REVIEW
MANAGING IN THE AGE OF GURUS
97209

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Never has so much technology and brainpower been 
applied to improving supply chain performance. Point-of-
sale scanners allow companies to capture the customer’s
voice. Electronic data interchange lets all stages of the supply chain
hear that voice and react to it by using flexible manufacturing, 
automated warehousing, and rapid logistics. And new concepts such 
as quick response, efficient consumer response, accurate response,
mass customization, lean manufacturing, and agile manufacturing 
offer models for applying the new technology to improve performance.
Nonetheless, the performance of many supply chains has never been worse. In some
cases, costs have risen to unprecedented levels because of adversarial relations between
supply chain partners as well as dysfunctional industry practices such as an overreliance
HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW
March-April 1997
Copyright © 1997 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. All rights reserved.
by Marshall L. Fisher
What Is the Right Supply