SUPPLY CHAIN STRATEGY

20 | R i g h t C h a i n ™ need high performance suppliers who have the same or greater passion for customer service that we do. The fourth set of RightChain™ decisions are in the area of transportation. Notice that we are describing the world of supply chain logistics and are just now getting to transportation, what many consider to be supply chain logistics. The goal of transportation is to connect the sources of supply with customers within the guidelines of the customer service policy at the lowest possible total logistics cost. In that way, transportation is a part of a supply chain strategy, it is not just a non-value added inconsequential expense line item who’s manager’s sole focus is to reduce expenses to the bare bones via hard core carrier negotiations. The fifth and last set of RightChain™ supply chain strategy decisions have to do with warehousing. It’s my personal favorite, but I have to admit it’s the last thing that should be considered when developing a supply chain strategy. First, a clever trip through the first four RightChain™ initiatives may eliminate, should minimize, and will correctly determine the need for warehousing as opposed to letting the warehouses play their normal role of being the physical manifestation of the lack of coordination, integration, and planning in the supply