Design, Analysis and Optimization of Supply Chains - Killingsworth, William R.

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Résumé :
Intended for an audience of graduate students, executive MBA students, and mid-to upper level government and corporate managers, Design, Analysis and Optimization of Supply Chains: A System Dynamic Approach examines the complexity of the types of organizations that comprise a modern supply chain, the problems that arise as a result of this complexity, and the solutions and analytical approaches available to managers that can help resolve these real world problems and dilemmas. The modern enterprise, be it a large corporation or a government agency, has two key dimensions of complexity: static and dynamic. The static complexity refers to the remarkable number of companies and agencies that enable delivery of the product or service. A static snapshot of this end-to-end enterprise would reveal hundreds if not thousands of companies involved in the supply network and many additional firms involved in the distribution and delivery to customers. Planning, communication, coordination and execution of this large system network is fundamentally challenging just because of the sheer size. This large, extended network represents the static complexity. The dynamic complexity arises from the difficulty of managing the performance of this extended enterprise over time. This requires having the appropriate metrics to track performance over time, the management skills to develop strategies, the ability to collect and monitor the correct data for true visibility, and the recognition and understanding of the long lags between actions and results. Design, Analysis and Optimization of Supply Chains: A System Dynamic Approach incorporates real-world examples and cases, representing actual complex enterprise systems including firms involved and with long lead times, to illustrate the multi-faceted activities occurring within a modern supply chain and the challenges they pose to managers. Simulation and optimization techniques are introduced and used to develop strategies for improved performance....

Sommaire:
If you're an executive dealing with extended supply chains, you live with stress and worry. Almost everything made today is manufactured by large networks of companies. Hundreds, if not thousands, of companies provide components, subassemblies, and major assemblies to a final manufacturer or integrator. These large distributed supply chains have created problems and headaches for many industries. This book can help you prevent lost sales due to inventory shortages, high costs due to large inventories, work stoppage due to loss of a key supplier, and supply problems that may be causing a late introduction of a new product. Today's supply chains are not only highly complex in terms of the number of companies involved but also dynamically complex in that their behavior and performance variations over time range from hard to comprehend to baffling. It's no wonder that management is so difficult and challenging. Developing an intuitive grasp of supply chain dynamic behavior is the first step in driving performance improvement. In this book, a system dynamics framework for analyzing complex supply chain performance is presented. The feedback nature of supply chains is demonstrated and dynamic simulation models are used to examine the counterintuitive behavior that arises from time delays, lack of information, and incorrect planning assumptions. The benefits of establishing push-pull boundaries in supply chains are shown to provide increased customer service levels with reduced costs. Dynamic supply chain models are used to determine product lifecycle costs and the impacts of improved reliability on lifecycle costs. A basic system dynamics model is used to show that the goal of a lean and mean supply chain can be dangerous in periods of economic, political, and climatic volatility, and strategies are developed for improved supply chain management and performance....