Operations Rules: Delivering Customer Value Through Flexible Operations

Operations Rules: Delivering Customer Value through Flexible Operations by David Simchi-Levi. In today's global business landscape, companies face numerous challenges that can disrupt their supply chains and threaten their ability to compete. To achieve success, it is essential to link the value provided to customers with operations strategies. This book offers a set of scientifically and empirically based rules to help managers improve operations performance. Flexibility is identified as the single most important capability for firms to innovate in their operations and supply chain strategies. A small investment in flexibility can yield significant benefits, similar to those achieved by full flexibility. Successful companies do not all pursue the same strategies; online marketplaces and Wal-Mart, for example, focus on different market channels and provide unique customer value propositions that align with their operations strategies. By applying Simchi-Levi's rules, which cover issues such as channels, price, product characteristics, value-added service, procurement strategy, and information technology, companies can transform their operations and supply chain management from an undertaking based on gut feeling to a science.