Supply Chains: A Manager's Guide

Implicit Business Models

A critical yet rarely understood aspect of the software systems described in this chapter is that these systems are all based on models of the supply chain. Some of the models are explicit and directly modifiable by users. Supply chain design systems, in particular, display a conceptual model of a chain in a graphical form to help designers understand and alter the structure of the chain. These systems then test the quality of a design by expressing it in the form of a mathematical or simulation model and evaluating that model to see how well it performs. Designing a supply chain is, in effect, an exercise in modeling.

Unfortunately, the explicit, modifiable models used in design systems are the exception rather than ...