Dell likewise missed both markets as it kept its focus on its supply-chain strength.
He says a growing number of American businesses have cut costs by taking a supply-chain approach.
"It takes a lot of work to conform all these supply-chain practices, " he says.
Such supply-chain waste can be built into the price, and usually makes economic sense.
These changes in costs and technology present new forces in the traditional supply-chain calculus.
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It considers 1.8 million variables while a typical supply-chain outfit would look at 200, 000.
It is a full supply-chain system and all the logistics that can go into it.
Back at Stanford, Hong Kong-schooled Hau Lee, a supply-chain expert will head the SEED effort.
But as time marches on, supply-chain technology is sure to get cheaper, as technology always does.
The team structure is being expanded to all of GE Aviation's 83 supply-chain sites, which employ 26, 000.
Through a restructuring plan, Avon has downsized the company aimed at improving supply-chain and global manufacturing efficiencies.
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Hello to stores that have a favored position in their procurement processes and their overall supply-chain practice.
PeopleSoft worked its way up the ladder--always thrilling customers at each rung--and now sells mission-critical supply-chain software.
"Our supply-chain guys have a responsibility to build that product at what it should cost, " he says.
It is restructuring its supply-chain and manufacturing network in Australia as part of its global productivity plan.
"I'm not sure I'd want to do it again, " says Garry Gray, HP's director of supply-chain information systems.
Rather, the drop in commodity prices in 2008 will soon show up in lower manufacturing and supply-chain costs.
The issue then was also technological change advances in supply-chain logistics that created the then-giant booksellers including Waldenbooks, B.
Analysts have blamed supply-chain problems for lower-than-expected initial iPhone 5 sales of five million in the opening weekend.
It's still unclear whether Boeing's supply-chain decisions over the years played a role in the firm's Dreamliner difficulties.
Government clinics often ran out of drugs because of supply-chain problems, while roadside shops sold elixirs of dubious quality.
Hong Kong supply-chain magnate William Fung and Hong Kong private-equity chief Mary Ma both serve on Christie's advisory board.
China's deep supply-chain network is hard to replicate quickly elsewhere, making it difficult for some factory owners to move.
And instead of Amazon's all-in-one approach aimed at cutting out the middlemen, Softbank's strategy helps preserve a supply-chain status quo.
The company also confronted supply-chain disruptions after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, and a persistently strong yen that undercut profit.
Is your brand invisibly tied to supply-chain paths like roadways and retail outlets that are either deteriorating or undergoing drastic change?
Supply-chain managers also should mine their in-house data thoroughly for signposts as to how they can strengthen relationships with key suppliers.
He concedes that supply-chain problems had been missed in part because of the focus on forging relationships in a sales-led business.
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After graduation he began working with his brother writing code for enterprise software and built a business in supply-chain management software.
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Liam Casey, CEO of manufacturing and supply-chain management company PCH International Ltd.
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