Developing Market Specific Supply Chain Strategies

This paper examines the issues underlying the appropriate matching of pipelines to marketplace needs under conditions of demand volatility and price pressure. It describes a scenario where the philosophy of “one size fits all” does not apply to pipeline design, implementation, and control. The paper reports on research conducted by the authors and others on how appropriate global supply chain strategies can be developed contingent upon market characteristics and which seek simultaneously to achieve higher levels of customer responsiveness at less total cost to the supply chain as a whole. The selection of the right strategy within a supply chain lends itself to a taxonomic approach. We find that three dimensions (leading to eight possible configurations) are adequate for this purpose. These key dimensions are product characteristics, demand characteristics and replenishment lead-time.