Mapping the supply chain
In the companies studied, the business processes were not linked across the same firms. In other words, different business processes had different looking supply chain network structures. An example is a focal company that involves supplier A, but not supplier B, in its product development process, whereas the demand management process is linked with both suppliers. Thus, we found that the companies choose to integrate and manage different supply chain links for different business processes.
Figure 7 is an illustration of how the integrated and managed business process links of a focal company may differ from process to process. For simplicity, we have only illustrated the managed and not-managed business process links and, thus, omitted the monitored and non-member process links. Also, we have only included very few supply chain members. The superimposed supply chains of four individual business process chains are shown in one diagram. We believe that it is necessary first to map individual processes and then superimpose them on one supply chain map. We suggest managers use this approach when mapping their supply chains.
Full-size image (22 K)
Figure 7.
An illustration of a supply chain combining the integrated and managed business process links [8, p. 13]
Figure options
Figure 8 displays an example from our research of how the supply chain linkages differ by process. Here, an OEM outsources its assembly and in-bound inventory activities to a contract manufacturer and a distributor, respectively. The distributor is responsible for having sufficient in-process inventory available to maintain production flow.
Full-size image (8 K)
Figure 8.
Network structure linkages for four tiers of a supply chain
Figure options
The component manufacturer's personnel manage customer relationships primarily with the OEM and the distributor (see dashed lines), although they sometimes visit the contract manufacturer to be sure that the components are performing as expected. The product development process for this part of the supply chain flows primarily from the OEM to the contract manufacturer (solid line) with the OEM's engineering team providing product specifications to the component manufacturer. Both of these processes link the component manufacture and the OEM as shown in Figure 8. Thus, the linkages do not always flow directly from the component manufacturer to the distributor to the contract manufacturer and finally to the OEM or vice versa. Only order fulfillment works this way, with product flow represented by the dotted line.
Previous literature has suggested that some or all business processes should be linked across the supply chain, from the initial source of supply to the ultimate end customer. In our research, there were no examples of this, nor were there any in the cases described in the literature. In fact, the companies that we studied had only integrated selected key process links, and were likewise only monitoring some other links.