Configuration-level issues
Procurement and Supplier Decisions
How many and what kinds of suppliers are necessary?
Which parts should be outsourced and which should be kept<br>in house?
How can procurement practices be streamlined<br>and standardized?
How should long-term and<br>short-term contracts be used with suppliers?
Production Decisions
where and how many manufacturing sites<br>should be operational
How much capacity should be
<br>installed at each of these sites
What kinds of products<br>and services are going to be supported through<br>the supply chain?
How much variety should be provided<br>to customers?
What degree of commonality is<br>required across the product portfolio
Distribution Decisions
What kind of distribution<br>channels should a firm have
How many and
<br>where should the distribution and retail outlets be
<br>located?
What kinds of transportation modes and<br>routes should be used?
How should a firm exploit<br>risk-pooling opportunities?
Information Support Decisions<br>
Should enterprise<br>resource planning software be standardized across<br>the functional units of a firm?
Should the supply<br>chain work on standard protocols or on proprietary<br>standards?
Coordination level issues
Material Flow Decisions
How much inventory of<br>different product types should be stored to realize the<br>expected service levels?
Should inventory be carried<br>in finished form or semifinished form?
Should a firm make<br>inventory decisions or is it better to have the vendor<br>manage the inventory?
Should suppliers be required<br>to deliver goods just in time?
Information Flow Decisions
In what form is<br>information shared between different entities in the<br>supply chain: paper, voice via telephone, electronic<br>data interchange (EDI)?
How much collaboration<br>occurs among the supply chain partners during new<br>product development?
子主题
the coordination strategies between information sharing entities
Cash Flow Decisions
When do suppliers get paid<br>for their deliveries?
What prices should be charged<br>for products?
What kinds of cost reduction efforts<br>are taken across the supply chain (or expected of<br>suppliers)?
In a global firm, in which currency will a
<br>supplier be paid?
