Supply Chain Architecture – Measuring the Value of Logistics

South African surveys show that organisations tend not to have a network blueprint in place to measure supply chain costs and benchmarks.

Transport and distribution companies, 3PL’s and 4PL’s- the Logistics Industry- are the network glue keeping supply-side, manufacturing, and demand-side trading partners tied together.

While transport and warehousing are often viewed merely as services to the mainline network of trading partners, these functions significantly influence the competitiveness of the material flow, information flow, and cash flow throughout the entire network.

The end-to-end supply chain architecture becomes more competitive by learning how to better optimize network logistics.

Such learning can benefit both the logistics company selling their services into a network flow model and the network trading partners considering buying logistics services.

Overcoming Barriers- Common Myths

• Your organization is in control of its own destiny
• The benefits of supply chain management come only from ERP
• A supply chain network is too complex to understand
• Companies have to clean up their own house before working on the network
• Networks tend to fail because of greed by one of the trading partners and lack of trust among the others.

This one day interactive seminar replaces such myths with practical solutions to real business problems. The set of network principles gives you a blueprint and methodology to take away.

First, it describes the Basic Network Flow Model for trading partners buying and selling within a network and how logistics fits within the network. Second, it defines the Five “V” Principles of supply chain management that transform common organizational relationships into competitive network relationships. Third, it teaches how to apply a comprehensive Network Blueprint to identify and prioritize opportunities to improve network design and/or network operations, leading to improved financial results.

Key Workshop Features

• The Network Flow Model, complementary to yet different from SCOR, maps the linkage of trading partners and logistics service providers identifying constraints that may be limiting throughput.
• The Five “V” Principles provide day-to-day operational directives that yield solid, month-end financial results.
• The Value Circle integrates the Five “V” Principles with key network performance measures which together provide a competitive profile of the network.
• The Network Blueprint is a step-by-step template that leads the right set of decisions necessary to optimize network design and network operations.

Intended Participants

This seminar is intended for executives, practitioners, consultants, and educators in supply chain management, logistics, transportation, and distribution.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this seminar participants will learn:

• A structured methodology for analyzing a supply chain network ensuring that key competitive factors are not overlooked.
• How to sell the network value of logistics services to supply chain trading partners.
• How to buy the network value of logistics services from logistics service providers.
• New insights into maximizing network returns while minimizing network risks.

Download the seminar outline here >>

Seminar Reference Material

This seminar is based on the book: William T. Walker, Supply Chain Architecture: A Blueprint for Networking the Flow of Material, Information, and Cash, Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, ©2005. Download the book review of Supply Chain Architecture >>