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The Digital Supply Chain Challenge 2nd Edition

Breaking Through

By Ralf W. Seifert and Richard Markoff

December 2023

Overview

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Authors

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Overview

Book preview

Authors

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The challenges facing supply chain professionals are changing rapidly. Today, far from focusing on capital expenditures and logistics such as warehousing and distribution, supply chain executives are expected to understand all aspects of the business, appreciate the constraints and expectations of upstream and downstream partners, and possess sufficient technological savvy to navigate the bewildering array of options presented by Industry 4.0 and supply chain digitalization (SCD). This book is for them.

The Digital Supply Chain Challenge: Breaking Through 2nd Edition is a distillation of the authors’ 50+ years of combined supply chain experience, both at the coal face and in the classroom. Their insights and observations – captured in short articles and best-practice case studies – are brought together in one place for supply chain executives to consult at different times during their SCD voyage, to find benchmarks, relevant insights or even just to help formulate the right questions along the way. It is a sort of handbook to the essentials of digital supply chain transformation.

This new edition contains additional chapters on AI, an evaluation of Industry 4.0, why the promised fourth industrial revolution hasn’t happened yet and new cases studies on Henkel, HEINEKEN, L’Oreal and Zalando.

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Publisher

IMD CSL

ISBN

978-2-940485-72-7

Ralf Seifert

Professor of Operations Management.

Ralf Seifert is Professor of Operations Management. His primary research and teaching interests are operations management, supply chain strategy, and digital transformation. His work lies at the heart of one of the most important topics currently facing organizations, as supply chains come under strain due to multiple global changes. He has also worked on industry analysis, competitive strategy, and new venture formation.

Seifert says supply chain management has grown tremendously in importance in recent years, and the agenda for supply chain executives has expanded massively. They must now address topics such as digital transformation, supply chain resilience, and sustainability in addition to worries around cost pressure, inflation, and new geopolitical constraints.

Recent supply chain tensions have been triggered by strong demand for goods at a time of significant supply chain disruptions. It is not clear if the world will ever return to a situation in which just-in-time inventory management is seen as the holy grail. Executives will have to master more profound supply chain transformations to safeguard future operations, he says.

Richard Markoff

has an extensive and varied supply chain background. His career includes 22 years with L’Oréal, starting in Canada in manufacturing before stints in Paris and New York, with ever-increasing supply chain responsibilities and scope.
He completed his adventure at L’Oréal as the company’s first global supply chain standards director, defining and promoting best practices in customer collaboration, distribution, demand planning and production planning.

Throughout his career, Richard has been a constant agent of change and innovation in supply chain. He has been a pioneer of supply chain digitalization, for which he was cited in the Wall Street Journal, among other publications.
He continues this spirit of innovation today as a supply chain strategy advisor, professor, author and board member based in Geneva, Switzerland. Richard is also a co-founder and partner of the venture capital firm Innovobot, where he advises startups on their road to success.

Richard holds a PhD in supply chain management from ESCP-La Sorbonne (France), where his research shed light on supply chain governance and its articulation with finance; an MBA specialized in supply chain from Northeastern University (US); and a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from McGill University (Canada).

Keep reading

Article

Coping With A Capricious President - Trump

President Trump will be erratic, warns IMD’s Carlos Cordon, so supply chain leaders must be prepared to work with what he gives them

Geopolitics Supply Chain

By Carlos Cordon

in I by IMD

7 February 2025

Article

Can your supply chain be both resilient and efficient?

Resilience and efficiency of supply chains should no longer be viewed as competing goals but rather as complementary aspects of a well-calibrated supply chain management strategy.

Supply Chain

By Anna Timonina-Farkas and Ralf W. Seifert

in I by IMD

Article

Unlocking value in manufacturing by taking continuous improvement to the next level

Manufacturers must adopt a unified strategy across different divisions if they are to extract the full value of Industry 4.0.

Supply Chain

By Ralf W. Seifert and Vasilis Karamalegos

in I by IMD

Article

Balancing resilience and efficiency: A literature review on overcoming supply chain disruptions

The supply chain risk management literature differentiates between disruption risk that arises from supply disruptions to normal activities and recurrent risk that arises from problems in coordinating supply and demand in the absence of disruption...

Supply Chain Resilience

By Florian Lücker, Anna Timonina-Farkas and Ralf W. Seifert

in Production and Operations Management

16 November 2024, ePub before print, https://doi.org/10.1177/10591478241302735

Video

‘We need to tighten up our approach to industrial policy’

Key minds behind the Hinrich-IMD Sustainable Trade Index – Deborah Elms, Chuin Wei Yap, Christos Cabolis, and Simon Evenett – explain how decision-makers can benefit from looking at industrial policy in granular detail, given its resurgence and th...

Competitiveness Resilience Supply Chain Sustainability

By Deborah Elms, Chuin Wei Yap, Simon J. Evenett and Christos Cabolis

in I by IMD

Report

Navigating cyber resilience in the age of emerging technologies: Collaborative solutions for complex challenges

As society moves further into the digital age, emerging technologies bring unprecedented opportunities for economic growth, operational efficiency and societal advances. Emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing...

Artificial Intelligence Supply Chain Cybersecurity

By Hoda Al Khzaimi, Gretchen Bueermann, Öykü Işık and et al.

World Economic Forum White Paper, October 2024

Article

There’s a $4tn opportunity on the table but women will get less than 1%. Is this the best we can do?

Female-owned businesses secure only a fraction of procurement contracts globally. It’s time to challenge the status quo by addressing systemic barriers and fostering inclusive practices.

Leadership Supply Chain

By Shelley Zalis

in I by IMD

Article

Building systemic resilience in supply chains

Natural disasters and unsustainable practices pose significant financial risks. Building systemic resilience for the long term reduces these risks by creating healthier societies and ecosystems.

Supply Chain

By Amanda Williams, Gail Whiteman and Knut Haanaes

in I by IMD

Balancing resilience and efficiency: A literature review on overcoming supply chain disruptions

By Florian Lücker Anna Timonina-Farkas and Ralf W. Seifert
in Production and Operations Management 16 November 2024, ePub before print, https://doi.org/10.1177/10591478241302735

Summary

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