Delivering the Goods : The Art of Managing Your Supply Chain

PRAISE FOR Delivering the Goods "While it's difficult to top Sander's Pulitzer nomination and Schechter's Stanford degrees, we must gladly admit that your book ROCKS!"-Tom Peters Company "The supply chain is corporate America’s last frontier. Conquering it is the key to reducing costs and maximizing profits. Damon Schechter and Gordon Sander have done a remarkable job of demonstrating the importance of supply chain management to today’s business. They also show how the art of supply chain management evolved out of the military art of logistics, and how the most successful military leaders, from Alexander the Great on, were, for the most part, successful supply chain managers as well. Great reading and a must for any forward-looking business executive’s library." –William "Gus" Pagonis, Senior Vice President of Supply Chain, Sears, Roebuck and Co.; Lieutenant General, U.S. Army (retired) "Delivering the Goods is an important milestone in helping educate business executives in the importance of logistics. Schechter and Sander skillfully articulate both the historic and contemporary value of logistics, making the book a must-read for any executive looking to enhance customer satisfaction and reduce the cost of doing business." –Yossi Sheffi, Director, MIT Center for Transportation Studies "With Delivering the Goods, Schechter and Sander have taken a previously neglected aspect of business and shown how supply chain management can transform an enterprise. Using examples from military history and modern industry, they show conclusively that sound logistics and their Tri-Level View can improve any organization’s bottom line." –David Kelley, CEO, IDEO Product Development, the creators of the Apple mouse "Logistics is the basis of strategy in the business world, as well as the military. In Delivering the Goods, the authors accord it the importance it deserves." –Sir John Keegan, bestselling author of The Face of Battle and A History of Warfare Delivering The Goods Looks At Business Logistics Through The History Of Successful Military Logistical Operations Undertaken By Leaders From Alexander The Great To General Norman Schwarzkopf. After Exploring Some Of The Most Inventive Solutions Ever Devised For Logistical Problems, The Authors Apply The Lessons Learned To Modern Business. In The Process They Include Real-world Examples Of Techniques For Supply Chain Optimization Used By Various Organizations - From The Modern U.s. Army To The Computer Company Sun Microsystems. In The Increasingly Competitive And Cost-conscious Corporate Environment Of The Next Few Decades, The Question Of Delivery - How Rapidly, How Well, And How Cheaply You Deliver Goods And Services To The Customer - Will Be The Paramount Differentiating Factor For Companies. In Fact, One Fifth Or More Of Sales For A Typical American Company Is Represented By Transportation And Distribution Costs, Or What Are Essentially Supply Chain Costs. Therefore, Even A Slightly More Efficient Delivery System Can Become A Significant Competitive Advantage For Large Companies. Delivering The Goods Provides Case Studies And Histories Of Successful Logistical Operations Throughout History, But It Also Offers Practical Guidance On Applying Proven Logistical Principles To Your Business. Manage Your Supply Chain Properly, And You Just Might Bring Home The Ultimate Spoils Of War - Customers.--jacket. Supply And Command, A Journey Through Time -- War Is Logistics -- To Forage Or Not To Forage -- The Arsenal Of Democracy -- The Soldier As Customer -- Early Business Logistics: The South Sea Bubble And The Shipping Room Mob -- Logistics And The Modern Corporate Battlefield -- Cracking The Code And Applying The Code -- Getting Ready For The View -- Acquiring The View -- Putting It All Together -- The Kobacker Company -- The U.s. Air Force -- Sun Microsystems. Damon Schechter, Gordon Sander. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. "Delivering the Goods looks at business logistics through the history of successful military logistical operations undertaken by leaders from Alexander the Great to General Norman Schwarzkopf. After exploring some of the most inventive solutions ever devised for logistical problems, the authors apply the lessons learned to modern business. In the process they include real-world examples of techniques for supply chain optimization used by various organizations - from the modern U.S. Army to the computer company Sun Microsystems.". "In the increasingly competitive and cost-conscious corporate environment of the next few decades, the question of delivery - how rapidly, how well, and how cheaply you deliver goods and services to the customer - will be the paramount differentiating factor for companies. In fact, one fifth or more of sales for a typical American company is represented by transportation and distribution costs, or what are essentially supply chain costs. Therefore, even a slightly more efficient delivery system can become a significant competitive advantage for large companies." "Delivering the Goods provides case studies and histories of successful logistical operations throughout history, but it also offers practical guidance on applying proven logistical principles to your business. Manage your supply chain properly, and you just might bring home the ultimate spoils of war - customers."--BOOK JACKET. We often think of great battles as having been won by superior strategy, bravery, or weaponry. Often, however, the greatest battles are decided by a much more mundane factor: logistics. Delivering the Goods looks at business logistics through the history of successful military logistical operations undertaken by leaders from Alexander the Great to General Norman Schwarzkopf, and offers practical guidance on applying proven logistical principles to your business. Military logistics was very much in the forefront of the mind of the Western world at the beginning of the 1990s as the United States, the United Kingdom, and its more than two dozen Coalition partners rampaged to victory in the short, blitzkrieg-like war known as Desert Storm, liberating Kuwait from Iraqi occupation. Supply optimization is the edge that companies can use to save millions of wasted dollars. While supply chain inefficiencies waste up to 25% of a manufacturer's cost, only rougly 10% of U.S. companies have made a meaningful start on improving fundamental delivery processes.