Designing Supply Chains for New Product Development

This book deals with the design of a supply chain supporting a Research and Development (RandD) product that will be taken to a large-scale commercialization phase. Because supply chains themselves in recent years have become a source of sustainable competitive advantage, they are a topic of great interest to business professionals. While the literature on supply-chain management is extensive, the same cannot be said for supply-chain design in general and RandD supply chains in particular. This book is based on our experience designing an RandD supply chain for a Fortune Global 10 energy company. RandD supply chains are oftentimes developed without the process discipline and rigor that typically characterize the development of other products emerging from RandD programs.As such, this text serves to bridge the gap for everyday practitioners involved in RandD efforts in addition to anyone looking to improve the overall effectiveness and efficiency of their supply chain.