Ibm Supply Chain

* Supply Chain Management In IBM: * Early 1990’s: decentralized geographic and functional departments * Mid-late 1990’s: Distribution and logistics functions centralized into a global organization with world-wide responsibility * Early 2000’s: merger of Customer Fulfillment, Procurement, Manufacturing, and Global Logistics/Distribution functions into a new global Integrated Supply Chain function * Result: cost savings of $5.6B in 2002 and $7B in 2003 * A Case study on IBM * IBM developed the supply chain professional career path in support of its evolving view of the supply chain itself. Specifically, IBM is transforming its supply chain into one that is on-demand. An on-demand supply chain is integrated end-to-end across the company’s entire operations and with key partners, suppliers, and clients. It can sense and respond with flexibility and speed to any client demand, market opportunity or change in the marketplace—no matter how frequent or sudden. The on-demand supply chain leads to competitive advantages than enable the company to gain market share, boost client satisfaction, and effectively adapt to any changes in the market * As part of this transformation, IBM is developing talent that has deep functional expertise in such areas as procurement and logistics as well as cross-functional breadth. Here is the IBM story. * History of IBM’s Supply Chain
Previously, IBM’s supply chain was fragmented into several individual business units. Supply chain operations consisted of the unconnected activities of negotiating contracts; procuring parts; transporting them to manufacturing; loading them onto planes, trains, trucks, and ships; and then shipping them to clients’ loading docks on time. In general, the company viewed its supply chain as a cost of doing business, rather than a strategic weapon. * In the late 1990s, IBM changed its perspective on supply chain management. Instead of looking at it as just