Project Management is Crucial to Successful Supply Chains, Say Author of New Book

LOS ANGELES--Oct. 1, 20035, 2003--"Supply chain management has rendered inflation dead in its tracks," so says Shakeel Mazaffar, global supply chain executive for Imperial Chemical Industries. This is good news for consumers but bad news for managers. The job of providing products and services is forever transformed. To survive, managers must design and implement supply chain strategies -- a complex and difficult task.

"Supply Chain Project Management: A Structured Collaborative and Measurable Approach" from St. Lucie Press describes using a step-by-step disciplined approach. The book blends knowledge and practice in both supply chain and project management. Sources for the described processes are many, including the author's own "Handbook of Supply Chain Management" and the Project Management Institute's Body of Knowledge, known as "PMBOK."

The blueprint for designing supply chains will improve any company's competitive position. The tools covered include the following:

-- Benchmarks to assess company abilities in supply chain and project management.

-- Why supply chain projects fail and the root causes.

-- How to enlist people in one's own company and from partner companies.

-- How to scope supply chain projects and the rewards and pitfalls that go with this important process.

-- How to adapt project management knowledge areas to supply chain realities.

-- How to put the Supply-Chain Council's SCOR model to work.

-- How to define and reduce risk in projects, including that which goes with new information systems.

-- How to organize and implement multi-company projects, together with risk and reward sharing among partners.

-- Case studies describing what works and doesn't work in real companies.

Project templates detail four core supply chain project processes:

1. Formulating the supply chain strategy,

2. Developing collaborative relationships within your own walls,

3. Forging partnerships with supply chain partners, and

4. Improving processes and systems all along the supply chain.

Integral to bolstering the bottom line is the demand-driven supply chain. Implementation steps, described in detail, shift decision-making from forecast-driven to decision-making based on actual demand. Small shifts produce huge benefits for the implementing company and its partners.

For more information, contact the author, James B. Ayers of CGR Management Consultants at jimayers@cgrmc.com or at 310-822-6720. CGR, founded in 1984, provides supply chain consulting services.