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Rating: 
Summary: Don't believe the hype
Review: I am a consultant with the largest supply chain practice in the world, and I await the release of new texts on supply chain content with great interest. Based on the reputation of Gene Tyndall and a colleauge's personal recommendation, I purchased "Supercharging" with this same great enthusiasm. After finishing the book, however, my opinion is that its a grand testament to the hypebole, unsubstantiated claims and lack of professional rigor that so often gives consultants a bad name. The book seriously drops the ball in several areas.First, I have read enough books, including this one, that promise enhanced supply chain management will directly improve share price; despite "Supercharging" positioning this as the central tenant of their argument, I am still waiting for valid proof. Anecdotes and self-serving case studies, which this book has in extreme abundance, will not suffice. If you conduct a literature seach of academic databases you can find dozens of rigorous, statistically valid studies that attempt to isolate and identify the primary correlative variable(s) to a firm's share price. To my knowledge, the following variables have been examined: EVA generation, marketing capabilities, traditional accounting measures, change in EPS, product/process quality performance and even supply chain management. Conclusions from all these studies which I have read are typically mixed, but none of them claim to have found the "magic bullet;" Tyndall et. al. not only claim to have found the magic bullet, but they ask us to swallow this significant statement based solely on the collective experience of the authors. As they say, we believe God, all others must bring data. For example, I would like the authors to provide the source data for a figure early in the book which shows a straight-line, linear relationship between a firm's "instrinsic" stock price and its working capital investment rate. So my conclusion is that by simply increasing working capital turnover, any firm can boost their market capitalization by several billion dollars. I would ask the authors to look at Sara Lee Corp. (NYSE: SLE), which dramatically improved its working efficiency in the recent past when it shed its manufacturing assets and became a "shell" corporation. There was a short-lived share price jump, which was simply a favorable reaction from The Street, which has long-since disappeared. The lengthy point which I am trying to make is that for every self-serving case example the authors have dredged up, I can serve up one which is equally contradictory. I feel they are treading on complex ground with heavy boots and stepping on all kinds of land mines. Second, this book is a great witch's brew of the latest supply chain programs and trends: integrated planning, customer-centric logistics, collaboration, etc. I am very uncomfortable with knowledgeable supply chain consultants presenting laundry lists of what the authors call "proven and common sense" ideas to readers with no discriminatory or categorical framework to support the ideas. For example, its very easy to claim that eProcurement is a great approach for gaining operational excellence. What this book does not do, and what is much harder to do, is to help a company decide what will give them a defensible, strategic advantage in thier supply chain. Maybe its not eProcurement, but a strategicu sourcing project to stabilize and capture sources of supply. Maybe its a supplier rationalization and management project to cut transaction and ordering costs. The point is, the approach used by the authors is analogous to giving an excited teenager his first new hunting rifle with no instructions: you know he's probably going to kill something, we're just not sure if its a deer or the neighbor's dog. Last, this is just too much of a feel-good book for me. I felt like I was slowly being suffocated by all the consulting-ease, jargon and glittering generalities that pervade the book. Remember, I am a supply chain consultant that truly believes most all companies have significant untapped operational and financial improvement opportunities in their supply chains. I just feel that its the consultant's duty to temper his/her beliefs with (valid!) empirical data, rigorous approaches and a value-adding framework to discuss all of these new ideas. I would never recommend this book to anyone. If you are supply chain beginner I would recommend purchasing one of the college texts which contain structured content on supply chain fundamentals. Don't allow this book to put stars in your eyes or make you skip all the good supply chain details that already exist in more basic texts. If you are a supply chain professional, I recommend you also skip this book and search for texts that focus on your particular area of specialization. Don't believe the hype, and if you do, don't blame me just because I am a consultant.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Supply Chain Discussion Starter
Review: Supercharging Supply-Chains is aimed at providing senior executives with an overview of the issues, and an approach to achieving operational excellence through the supply chain. Highlights of the chapters include: * Linking operational performance to shareholder value- greater free cashflow & market capitalization , operations as the bridge connecting strategy & shareholder value, key principles for operational excellence (e.g. differentiated supply-chain strategy, organize along processes, collaborate with customers & suppliers, invest in IT, people & expertise, manage by product/channel, outsource elements, think globally, build regionally, operate locally, and execute through focus, measurement & empowerment). * Operations issues- business overview (develop, plan, buy, make, move, sell, market, and finance), only 4 organization structures, key metrics (EMV, share price, return on net assets, net profits after tax), 3 requirements for competitiveness (structure, measures & rapidity), 12 key imperatives (flexibility, plan & measure, structure logistics, leanness, information optimization, unequal customer treatment, operate globally, virtuality & collaborative management, e-commerce, leverage people, operationalize new product introductions, mass-customize & postpone), and dashboard performance measures. * Demand and supply planning- 8 key tenets (high-level accountability, combine demand & supply planning, eliminate impact of product forecast, create a common language & focus on commonality, treat customers unequally, plan for spares & returns, replace inventory with information & analysis, and focus on deployment transparency). * Sales- 4 key steps (segment markets & product groups, identify key value points by customer, identify consolidation opportunities around the customer, and identify & create common processes & systems around the customer). * Sourcing & suppliers- 10 principles (extend chain towards suppliers, organize right people effectively, develop commodity teams, practice global sourcing & supplier management, focus on total costs, simplify, let suppliers manage (vendor-managed inventories, consortium buying, or outsourcing), leverage IT and e-commerce, enhance sourcing automation, partner smart), and 6 basic IT areas (tactical planning & support, core transaction processing, EDI/web, imaging/forms automation/bar-coding, automated purchase orders, and integration with suppliers' IT). * Advanced logistics- reducing capital expenditures by improving use of fixed assets (rationalize distribution networks, outsource select processes, explore shared facilities, optimize use of equipment, and understand tax implications of chain) and reduce working capital by minimizing inventories (consolidate warehouses, use in-transit warehousing, replace inventories with information, reduce distribution cycle time, and implement demand/supply planning & management). * Product introductions- 6 tenets- link PIP to supply/demand planning, concurrent/codevelopment, design with commonality, better business case, and world-class teams. * Supply chain project management- ensure value, manage risk, use method, and use iterative approach. * Summary findings from a basic supply chain survey study. Strengths include: the timeliness and interest of the subject; the concise content-rich style; good use of appropriate & attractive sidebars, figures, and tables; mostly high-quality content; and good consistent chapter structure including summary and "questions for the managers". On the negative side are: the occasional typos, errors & omissions; inconsistency & lack of definition of acronyms; poor supporting materials & references; some throwaway (non-value-add) content; re-labeling of older established technologies as current & innovative (e.g. EDI); and a "linear-generic" rather than "thorough" treatment of the subject (i.e. little option of tools for each stage). 'Supercharging' sometimes felt like a (good) sales document or lightly-referenced literature review, without enough guidance for you to directly use the material without (Ernst & Young) consulting support. Overall, supercharging supply chains is a good starting discussion point on contemporary supply-chain practice. Use with a deeper operations text like Slack or Wild (with wide, referenced, rigorous toolsets), as well as supply-chain vendor specifics (standards/professional organisations, tools, and methodologies) to actually achieve business change. Clients beware- extracts from Supercharging charts and tables could be used by unscrupulous consultants to sell supply-chain engagements!
Rating:
Summary: Solid Effort
Review: This is a solid introductory effort to supply chain management and the integral function and role SCM plays in contemporary business. The authors do an excellent job describing the importance of operational excellence in an age of increased globalization. The authors also do a superb job in emphasizing the role SCM plays in shareholder value, and how SCM can be used as an X factor in forging competitive advantage. The only fault I see with the book is the focus on speed instead of authoritative SCM optimization. Charles Fine's Clockspeed and other works handle supply, demand, delivery issues in a more balanced and lucid manner.
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