Supply Chain Optimization: Building the Strongest Total Business Network

This book is a "must-read" for anyone in the business of supply chain management! The partnering and networking chapters are well worth the price. Highly recommended!

Authors Charles C. Poirier and Stephen E. Reiter envision a trip down your supply chain like an effortless sail on calm seas. Your organization can reach this placid efficiency, they explain, by forming partnerships with suppliers and others in your business network. But the authors don't ask you to take their word; instead they present detailed case studies of companies that have implemented supply-chain optimization strategies and reaped prodigious benefits. The book's only flaw is its style. It is densely written and often weighed down by prose as murky as a rural delivery system and twice as difficult to penetrate. But we [...] recommend that business owners, corporate managers, executives and logisticians of all levels take the time required to patiently excavate the practical and pragmatic information that lies within.

An informative guide to supply chain management, particularly for newcomers like myself. Introduction to the conceptual framework, relationship management issues and jargon are the key takeaways. A reader will be fully conversant on supply chain management matters after finishing the book.As for shortcomings, this book could have been written in a third less print, the job of a disciplined editor. While I understand business books need some heft, brevity is under-rated in this category. Repetition is rampant in this book. After the much needed tightening, a chapter on supply chain management for new or smaller businesses would be a welcome addition. That being said, I happily lend this book to friends and colleagues, the most practical compliment to a book's authors.