Streamlined: 14 Principles for Building and Managing the Lean Supply Chain

Mandyam M. Srinivasan

Thomson, 2004

354 pages, $69.95

ISBN: 0-324-23277-2

To order: visit www.swlearning.com/professional

Once the near-exclusive domain of manufacturing, lean principles and practices now are making their way into the supply chain world. More and more, we're reading about how this business technique that worked so well at Toyota's production operations can produce similar results in a company's supply chain. Most supply chain professionals buy into the basic premise that lean can work for them; the question they struggle with, however, is how to apply the lean principles to their particular operations.

That's where Streamlined can help. It's an eclectic compendium of principles, case studies, glossary of terms, lean history lesson, and tutorial on how this technique can be applied to supply chain management. Author Mandyam M. Srinivasan of the University of Tennessee notes that he originally intended this work as a textbook for his MBA students. Yet, as he got into the subject, the scope of the effort broadened. The result is an information resource that has something for practitioners, consultants, and educators as well as students.

Srinivasan notes that one of the book's main goals is to tie in the theory of constraints with the principles of lean. The author does establish that link. But while that connection is interesting enough, the real value of Streamlined is its articulation of the 14 principles for building and managing the lean supply chain. Each principle is clearly stated and explained. As important, the principles are supported by examples, anecdotes, and personal observations that bring them to life.

Like many books on supply chain management, this one includes case examples of success stories. But a refreshing aspect of Streamlined is that the case examples aren't drawn from the usual suspects like Dell or Nokia. Instead, the two in-depth case examples spotlight an automotive-parts manufacturer in India and a U.S. Marine Corps maintenance depot. Both case studies clearly lay out the techniques applied and the benefits realized by adopting lean.

Some of the material presented in the book—like a lengthy discussion of rate-based planning and a discourse into IT's role in the supply chain—seem to drift off the course of the main story line. But overall, the information put forth is relevant and accessible. In short, Streamlined is an excellent resource for supply chain professionals seeking to get up to speed on lean—and more importantly start benefiting from a lean approach to supply chain management.

Supply Chain Architecture: A Blueprint for Networking the Flow of Material, Information, and Cash

William T. Walker

CRC Press, 2005

412 pages, $79.95

ISBN 1-57444-357-7

To order: visit www.crcpress.com

This book sets an ambitious goal for itself: Explain the complex world of supply chain design by focusing on core business principles (the five "Vs" of velocity, variability, vocalize, visualize, and value) and do so in the context of two fictionalized story lines. It's a lot to comprehend, but Supply Chain Architecture shoulders through and presents much useful information on supply chain management in general and supply chain design in particular.

The book is replete with figures, tables, and charts (more than 200 in all) to convey the different approaches to supply chain design. Also included are instructive "top and bottom line" discussions on optimizing the network, maximizing the cash-to-cash cycle, and viewing supply chain risk management from a financial perspective.

This book is probably not for the casual reader looking for a quick overview of supply chain management. But if your main responsibility is supply chain design—or you seek an in-depth understanding of that topic—Supply Chain Architecture is a valuable and comprehensive resource.

Supply Chain Management Process Standards, vol. 1–6

The Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals, 2004

Individual copies are $19.95 for CSCMP members, $29.95 for nonmembers; complete set is $99.95 for members, $159.95 for nonmembers

ISBN 0-9658653-9-8

To order: visit www.cscmp.org

One of the first steps toward supply chain excellence is clearly understanding your organization's strengths, weaknesses, and priorities. To help companies achieve this understanding, the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP)—formerly the Council of Logistics Management—has released a set of self-evaluation tools.

The Supply Chain Management Process Standards are a series of six booklets that offer best practices and basic requirements for the key supply chain processes of plan, source, make, deliver, return, and enable.

These subprocesses are then further divided into process attributes, which are linked to minimal and best practices. For example, for the "order receipt and entry" process attribute, one of the minimum process standards is "price lists updated regularly for manual price confirmation," and a best practice is "outbound transportation options and pricing included at order entry." All of the practices are intentionally general so that they apply to as many industries as possible.

The handbooks are structured in a logical, easy-to-use chart format and include a simple self-assessment worksheet and glossary. Written by the consulting firm Supply Chain Visions, the standards are based on academic research, onsite observations, and advice from industry experts. Additionally, the authors bring together and develop on frameworks and standards used by other organizations. For example, the six main processes are the same ones used by the Supply-Chain Council for its Supply Chain Operational Reference (SCOR) model, and the "Make" handbook draws some of its material from the criteria for the Shingo Prize. The handbooks do not replace those other tools but rather complement them.

Of course, no two companies or two industries are exactly the same. Managers who choose to use these standards will naturally have to adapt them to their own circumstances. The CSCMP standards, however, will place them farther along on the road to performing a comprehensive self-assessment.