Why is the design of products and services important to global supply chain management and what are the main design alternatives that are available?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answers may vary but could have elements such as the following: An important factor in the structure and management of a company's global supply chain is the issue of design. The design of a company's products and services has a fundamental relationship with the type of inputs that the company will require, including labor, materials, information, and financing. An important consideration in design is the extent to which the international company's products and services will be standardized across nations or regions or adapted to meet the different needs of various markets. The decision on standardization versus localization of designs is affected by a range of competitive, cultural, regulatory, and other factors and is an important strategic consideration for a company. A traditional approach to product design has been termed the "over-the-wall" approach. This involves a sequential approach to design: an initial step in which the designers prepare the product's design, followed by sending the newly created design to the company's manufacturing engineers, who must then address the production-related problems that often result from their exclusion from the initial design activity. An alternative approach to design is to promote cross-functional participation in the design stage, thereby helping to identify and avoid many of the potential sourcing, manufacturing, and other difficulties that can be associated with a particular design. Many companies also involve key customers in the design activities, to ensure that designs are consistent with the customers' needs. Using this type of concurrent engineering approach allows the proposed designs to be subjected to earlier assessments on cost, quality, and manufacturability dimensions, thereby enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of subsequent manufacturing and supply chain management activities. Indeed, design decisions must often be integrated with assessment of the various supply chain considerations, such as whether and where the company can obtain the inputs needed for the company's operations, whether the firm will source locally or from foreign locations, and whether the company has the capability to produce and deliver the product or service in a competitively viable manner. A recent change in the approach to design is the penchant to solicit very broad input, increasingly from general customers, into the process.