Suman Sarkar - The Supply Chain Revolution: Innovative Sourcing and Logistics for a Fiercely Competitive World

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Praise for The Supply Chain Revolution

Successful companies in every industrial sector have long recognized that competitive advantage comes not just from the products or services that they offer but from the supply chains that support them. In this easy-to-read and insightful book, the author explores the opportunities that exist for improving profitability through supply chain excellence and provides practical guidance on how to achieve that goal.

Martin Christopher, Emeritus Professor of Marketing & Logistics, Cranfield School of Management, UK

The Ideal Supply Chain Primer for the Time-Pressed CEO or Government Executive

In clear, concise language Suman Sarkar demystifies the complexities of supply chain management. The key to his process is simplification. In a world of business books full of buzzwords and unnecessary complications, this is a refreshing approach. Sarkar breaks supply chain management into its component pieces and succinctly lays out the relationships. If you are getting foggy, conflicting advice from staff and suppliers, as I frequently did in a career managing large organizations, you will find this short read welcome clarification.

Richard Connelly, Hall of Fame, Former Budget Leader, Energy Director, Defense Logistics Agency, Department of Defense, USA

Wonderful Book for Supply Chain and Business Leaders

Suman has written a wonderful book for supply chain and business leaders. He has presented examples that tell the story of the fundamentals in a memorable way. It demonstrates the value of supply chain in delivering bursts results. I highly recommend him to anyone leading a supply chain.

Mary Anne Gale, Retired VP of Supply Chain, Procter & Gamble

Solid Advice for Busy Leaders

In this quick-read, rich with examples, Suman describes the what and why of supply chain debottlenecking, providing timeless, tried and true advice on how to simplify and streamline supply chains in clear and easily understood language. Suman ends with the all important business imperative of supply chains providing a competitive edge to firms doing this well. Especially relevant in this digital age of online shopping and rapid product innovation.

Isabelle Konstantinov, Former Product Supply Associate Director, Procter & Gamble

INNOVATIVE SOURCING AND LOGISTICS FOR A FIERCELY COMPETITIVE WORLD

SUMAN SARKAR

This book is dedicated to Sahana Rhea Sarkar and Niharika Ramdev for their love, encouragement, and support.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

THE CONCEPTS IN THE BOOK WERE developed for my clients. They trusted me with their resources and allowed me to experiment and develop the ideas that are shared in the book. I would like to acknowledge my profound respect for my clients and their teams.

Two people made the book more readableCharles Wallace and Alan Farnham. Charles was the developmental editor and helped with structuring the content. He is an award-winning writer who excels at translating complex concepts into easy-to-understand prose. His critique of each chapter was enormously valuable, as he was able to point out where the logic did not flow and how to make technical concepts simple to follow. Alan helped in the writing of this book. He made it accessible to a broader audience by making the style less technical.

Several people reviewed each chapter for its contentNiharika Ramdev, Bill Shannon, Randy Hopkins, and Isabelle Konstantinov. Their industry knowledge, expert understanding of the subjects, and thoughtful critique helped to ensure that the content was accurate and of value to business readers.

A special thanks to Richard Connelly, who patiently reviewed the grammar in each chapter. His understanding of the subject and mastery of the language helped make the book more readable.

Also, thanks are due to two marketing expertsAbigail Fisher and Bob Heyman. Abigail is a social media marketing specialist who pushed me to develop a stronger social media presence. Bob is a digital marketing expert who helped me think through how to use social media for selling books. Their input on how to best market the book has been invaluable.

Finally, I would like to thank Michael Snell, agent, and Tim Burgard, editor at AMACOM, for trusting and believing in this author. It is difficult for a first-time author to get an agent and a publisher. Without Michaels guidance and support, this book would not have been widely distributed. Tim provided great suggestions on getting the book ready for publication.

CONTENTS

THE
SUPPLY CHAIN
REVOLUTION

Steve Jobs, after he returned to Apple in 1997, set himself three goals to turn around the then-struggling company: Improve Apples product pipeline, improve its marketing, and transform its supply chain.

Its supply chain! Why would Jobssurely one of the centurys most visionary leadersapply himself to something so mundane?

CEOs hardly ever think about supply chain, regarding them as having about the same amount of sex appeal as broccoli. (They only view one subject as being still less sexy: sourcing, the other subject of this book.)