Integrating business processes across functions is at the heart of logistics and supply chain management. The fundamentals of compressing time across the chain are well understood. There is a common expectation among logistics professionals that cost will fall out of the supply chain from such programs. The theme of supply chain management is that many businesses are not in the trade‐off zo…
‘Time has ceased, “space” has vanished. We now live in a global village…a simultaneous happening’.Marshall McLuhan, The Medium is the Massage, Bantam Books, USA, 1967
Accepted logistics theory states that short lead times are consistent with high accuracy of customer service and low levels of inventory. Yet global or theatre based manufacturing strategies are lengthening lead times, extending supply chains and increasing risk of both excessive inventory and poor customer service. Logistics strategies to manage the conflicting interests of manufacturing and…