X-SCM : The New Science of X-treme Supply Chain Management

This book - officially sponsored by the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals and Sterling

Commerce, - contains a multi-faceted, multi-media set of products to serve as a definitive

guide and toolset for executives who must build and operate global supply chain networks in a period of

systemic, extreme change. The book brings together an unprecedented array of contributions from world experts

in the new supply chain science of volatility management. It includes strategic content and discussion as well as

executive templates for high-level decision making and multi-enterprise action-taking.

An experiential Web-Based Supply Chain Risk Simulation will accompany the book. The simulation energizes

and empowers teams online, enabling them to explore supply chain network options and decision-making. It is

designed to address the volatile nature of supply chains today, allowing users to test multiple approaches to

managing ongoing sets of supply chain upheavals and assess their outcomes.

Supply chain management today has never been more complex, more dynamic or more unpredictable.

The good news is that new techniques for analyzing country-level investments, network configuration and in-sourcing/out-sourcing decisions can enable more precise and effective span of control. The latest generation of network design and optimization applications has created broader opportunities to view and streamline links between supply chain network nodes.

New concepts in multi-channel demand signal capture -- and in pooling and data warehousing customer signals coming into the enterprise from retail stores, websites and call centers -- can bring the enterprise closer to the customer. Emergence of practices such as multi-channel supply management and virtualized cross-enterprise inventory pools are enabling rapid response to changes in demand, creating a level of "cyber-kanban" unimaginable a few years ago. Companies can now truly respond to the pull of the market rather than the push of supply.

Companies are also using advanced Business Intelligence (BI) software to mine the demand signal repository and cull critical insights for action and response. Case in point: Wal-Mart’s response to Hurricane Katrina was based on insights gained from mining community consumption trends during previous hurricanes.