ARTICLE TITLE

Waller, Matthew A., Dabholkar, Pratibha A., Gentry, Julie J., "Postponement, product customization, and market-oriented supply chain management", Journal of Business Logistics, Vol. 21, No. 2, 2000, pp. 133-160.

 

ABSTRACT

An investigation is made of the concept of market-oriented supply chain strategies that result in a wider variety of product options/versions and internal capabilities to provide cost effective coordination of functional activities in order to meet external demand. Focus is on the relationship between postponement and product customization. Postponement can be viewed as a competency or capability in an inside-out process and product customization can result from a competency in an outside-in process. The coordination of these as one aspect of effective supply chain management is also investigated. It is demonstrated that postponement may be a meaningful and innovative approach for facilitating market-oriented supply chain management.