Innovation In the Supply Chain
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010The second stage (out of three) of my career was spent in high-tech hardware and software companies, where learned something about supply-chain and distribution-channel innovation.
By now globalization was in full swing, and I was witness to the transition from heavy vertical integration to heavy outsourcing. I saw how to use infrastructure and component costs to strategic advantage. One company I worked for, while it was a much smaller entity, drove an entrenched multibillion dollar industry leader into bankruptcy. It developed a single-minded channel strategy, fueled by lower prices enabled by lower manufacturing costs in Taiwan.
Our competitor was stuck with direct-sales overhead it just couldn’t shed fast enough, and the numbers caught up with it. It was an eye-opener: The unique power of the supply chain in all its glory.
