Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Management
Supply
Chains
in Asia:
Challenges and
Opportunities
In this issue:
Robert J. Easton and Tian Bing
Zhang explore supply chain
challenges facing companies that
operate in Asia, and identify seven
opportunity areas that have the
potential to dramatically improve
supply chain performance and
competitiveness.
Diversity of Infrastructure
National, regional and municipal diversities are the product of many factors. The
first of these is infrastructure, the quality, efficiency and capacity of which varies
greatly from country to country. For instance, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and
Singapore have highly efficient ports, airports, road connections, rail services and
customs operations, while the transportation infrastructures of Indonesia, the
Philippines and Thailand are largely inadequate. Recognising the problem, some countries are investing heavily to enhance their rail, port and air infrastructures. In the
near future, for example, Malaysia will spend RM21.2 billion (US$5.6 billion) to
upgrade its transport infrastructure.
1
China stands out as the country most affected by a subpar road, rail, air, port and
technology infrastructure. In 1999, its aggregate road network was 1.526 million
kilometres, less than one-fourth that of the United States. China's infrastructure is
ranked last of seven of the world's most highly industrialised nations. As a result,
June Lim, Malaysia Continues to Improve Logistics Infrastructure, MHD Supply Chain Solutions
(November 2001), 14.
Diversity of Capabilities
Differences in:
Economic development and political stability
Customs duties and taxes (some free trade zones)
Language, complexity of documents, countryspecific branding and packaging
Currency and stability
companies entering the Chinese market often find that standard theories of supply
chain management do not apply, because the country cannot always support the
timely and economical movement of materials. China's government has announced
major initiatives to improve the infrastructure; for the time being, though, supply
chain performance improvements are innately handicapped.
But China is not the only country with an inferior logistics infrastructure. In fact,
there really is no pan-Asian integrated transport and distribution network to leverage.
However, the potential and the rewards associated with infrastructure improvements
are clear, particularly because the economies of many countries rely on intra-Asian trade.
People:
The shortage of experienced supply chain professionals is a global issue that
simply is more acute in Asia. In fact, the regions quest for supply chain
excellence was nearly nonexistent until recently, which meant that few skilled
managers were recruited and hardly any supply chain courses of study existed
in top Asian universities. Fortunately, many Asian universities now are working
to add supply chain management to their curricula.
Enabling Technologies:
In North America and Europe, implementation of materials resource planning
systems began in the 1960s. By the mid to late 1990s, many companies across
these regions had completed enterprise resource planning (ERP) and business
reengineering initiatives, and were poised to build "intelligent supply chains"
using focused applications for demand management, procurement, interenterprise collaboration and customer relationship management.
In Asia, however, local, regional and global players were far less inclined
to embrace leading-edge technologies, primarily due to skill limitations, infrastructure shortcomings and a general reluctance to invest in intangible assets.
In fact, many Asian companies have not reengineered their logistical operations
and are only starting to implement ERP solutions. Even some multinationals
have yet to integrate their ERP platforms regionally. Without a reliable ERP
system as a central repository for accurate transactional data and standardised
business processes, even basic operational improvements materialise more slowly.
Compared to North
American and European
companies, Asian
companies have been
slow to embrace
outsourcing.
eCommerce Diversity
Internet penetration levels vary greatly across Asia, with highs of more than 25
percent in Hong Kong and lows of less than 1 percent in China and India. Moreover,
Accenture client experience indicates that most Asian companies use the Internet
solely to share information and not as a mechanism for streamlining or managing
their supply chains. As a result, efficient online payment systems, third-party
eServices providers, mechanisms for managing supplier risk, and regulations that
protect against electronic payment fraud often do not exist. Nor is reliable data for
due diligence available publicly as it is in the US and Europe. Thus companies
typically use letters of credit, which heightens security but adds complexity, time
and inefficiency.
Some industry analysts report that, within a couple of years, 20 percent of the
world's business-to-business transactions will involve Asia. But with an eCommerce
infrastructure that significantly lags the US and most of Europe, Asian players will
have little choice but to tolerate supply chain inefficiencies and bring on extra
players to build and maintain supply chain relationships.
Organisational Diversity
Asias linguistic, cultural and regulatory diversity has forced many multinationals
to organise along geographic lines, with each division set up as an independent,
country-specific profit centre. This approach helped many organisations penetrate
local markets, but it also perpetuated supply chain inefficiencies by fragmenting
product development, buying, manufacturing, logistics and planning efforts. In
effect, opportunities to build cost-saving, sales-enhancing synergies continue to
be undermined by the organisational barriers to a regional supply chain strategy.
Warehousing/distribution
joint venture or handled
by local or joint venture
third parties
Rudimentary automated
systems
Delivery lead-times in weeks
not days
Manual accounting
Nonexclusive distributors
Distribute product to stores
Credit with stores
Execute in-store promotions
Some have willingness and
capability to improve
Little visibility of
subcontracted distribution,
unpredictable service
Figure 2: A typical supply chain network for a hypothetical consumer products company operating in China.
and 400 Korean wholesalersall with margins of more than 25 percent. In South
Korea, a manufacturer that desires nationwide distribution must work with as many
as 50 wholesalers. By contrast, there are only eight such wholesalers in the entire
United States, four of which distribute 80 percent of pharmaceutical manufacturers
output at an average margin of less than 5 percent. With Chinas accession to the
World Trade Organization (December 2001), some regulatory restrictions controlling
distribution channels and logistics services are being lifted. But until the transition is
complete, the development of advanced supply chain networks will remain constrained.
4. Organisational Models
In North America and Europe, conglomerates are a declining organisational form.
In Asia, however, vertical and horizontal conglomerates continue to dominate and
shape their markets. In fact, about 30 percent of Asia's 50 largest companies could
be classified as conglomerates. In Korea, the top 30 conglomerates account for
more than 90 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP). In Southeast Asia,
Hong Kong and Taiwan, family-owned conglomerates also are the rule, while in
China the equivalent State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) dominate.
Despite the efficiencies that Asian conglomerates might derive from their scale,
scope, wealth and long-standing relationships, this organisational model inhibits
supply chain efficiency. That is because the entities within most conglomerates
take a portfolio approach to investment decision making, which has encouraged
the development of disparate technology systems and architectures that inhibit
companywide transparency of information. This results in fewer enterprise performance
measures and less opportunity to collaborate at the group level (e.g., by leveraging
aggregated spend, rationalising and sharing supply chain assets, jointly developing
and sharing forecast and planning data, and leveraging core competencies
across entities).
5. Cultural Mind-Set
Across Asia, three culturally based barriers stand in the path of meaningful, sustainable improvements in supply chain efficiency:
3. Market Penetration
For most global companies, Asian market penetration is deepest in the more-developed
countries, such as Japan, Singapore, Korea and Hong Kong, as well as in urban
centres along China's east coast. Not surprisingly, supply chain networks and infrastructures also are more fully developed in these areas, and thus they often are
hubs from which broader, pan-Asian capabilities are launched. Still, as countries
such as Indonesia, China, India and Vietnam become key markets or new points of
penetration, current supply chain networks and infrastructures will have to be
reconfigured and new capabilities will have to be developed.
Asia Industry: Redefining the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain, Economist Intelligence Unit Regional Economic News
(October 15, 2001).
David Manion, Asia Pacific Supply Chain Survey, CommerceNet (November 19, 1999).
Supplier
10
Buy
Make
Move
Sell
Customer's
Customer
Customer
IT Follow-on
IT Follow-on
Organise Follow-on
Organise Follow-on
Alternate
Channel
Alternate
Channel
Alternate
Channel
Alternate
Channel
Key:
Establish Foundations
IT and Systems
The Opportunities:
Seven Approaches for Supply Chain Success in Asia
As the previous overview of challenges makes clear, realising supply chain improvements in this part of the world is not easy. Yet it can be done. As summarised in
Figure 3, the remainder of this paper profiles seven ways that companies operating
in Asia can significantly improve their supply chain efficiency and competitiveness:
Opportunity
Opportunity
Opportunity
Opportunity
Opportunity
Opportunity
Opportunity
11
Obviously, Asias diversity complicates the task of prescribing solutions that successfully relate to more than one group or business context, which is why many of
the cited opportunities must be addressed on a country-by-country, company-bycompany and/or supply-chain-by-supply-chain basis.
The numbering of opportunities in Figure 3 is deliberatean attempt to proffer a
logical order to approaching supply chain tasks and determining what is achievable.
For companies dealing with underdeveloped infrastructures and tough regulatory
constraints, simply excelling at the basics would be a significant achievement. For others (operating in more sophisticated environments), the task of synchronising supply
chains and connecting networks of eMarkets might be a more appropriate goal. The
greatest likelihood, however, is that multinational corporations operating throughout
the region will have to address both scenarios.
As Figure 4 shows, there also must be a clear path that companies follow in their
quest for supply chain effectiveness. This is particularly true in Asia, where operating
environments can be varied and unsophisticated, and basic infrastructure systems
and capabilities are of utmost importance. In effect, the development and mastery
of core capabilitiesconsistent processes and procedures, integrated IT, accurate
and reliable data, straightforward performance measures, and thoughtful management of peopleare even more important to companies doing business in Asia. Thus,
true leaders and innovators do not question the need for a logical, evolutionary
approach to supply chain improvement. Instead, they look for ways to do it quicker
and smarter.
Across Alliance
Partners
With
Customers
and Suppliers
Leading Companies
Between
Business
Functions
Typical Companies
Within
Business
Activities
Functions
Process
12
13
Variability
Time
Availability of material
for on-time fulfilment
of demand
Service objective or
stock-out cost
Service
Stock
Levels
Cost
Buy
Raw materials
Manufacturing costs
Work-in-process
Finished goods
Transportation costs
Material handling costs
Sourcing
Economics
2.
14
Companies with well-managed, relationship-focused procurement practices outperform other companies in financial terms (total shareholder return, return on equity,
return on assets, cash flow, return on investment) and in productivity terms (sales
per employee, income per employee, real growth in sales).
However, it is clear that Asian companies lag their US and European counterparts
in consolidating and leveraging purchasing activities across the enterprise. They also
have been slower to adopt strategic sourcing practicesmaking suppliers true business
partners and thus bringing greater transparency to the overall procurement process.
In the short term, those companies may be foregoing the benefits of solutions that
accompany strategic sourcing techniques, such as online auctions. Further down the
road, they probably will be unable to match the lower cost-of-goods-sold profiles
attained by industry leaders that have implemented highly efficient eProcurement
solutions. In fact, the Aberdeen Group calculated that eSourcing applications have
the potential to save US businesses more than $690 billion per year.
4
Make
Companies operating
in Asia have a great
opportunity to improve
efficiencies across
the core supply
chain processes.
Aberdeen Group, Strategic e-Sourcing Could Save Business $1.7 Trillion on a Global Basis, press release
(April 3, 2001).
15
Move
For many Asian companies, the greatest cost-reduction opportunities are those
associated with logistics and distribution. Consider Korea, where the cost of transportation, storage, unloading and packaging accounts for 16.3 percent of the
country's GDP, compared to 9.9 percent of the United States and 9.6 percent of
Japans. In most parts of Asia, in fact, distribution centre productivity, layout and
operations are rudimentary at best.
In many cases, the key to better logistical performance is technology. For instance,
Mayne Logistics recently implemented EXE Technologies supply chain execution
software at Unilever's facilities in Malaysia. On-time performance rates subsequently
rose from 75 percent to 99.8 percent. Route planning and transport-management
systems also are underrepresented in Asia, which could mean large opportunities to
reduce net landed costs. Data mapping technologies for transport management
systems are in their infancy, but documented increases in transport efficiency should
drive their use higher in the near future. Given the amount of product movement
that occurs in Asia, transportation optimisation should be a top priority.
5
Sell
In the US and Europe, tailoring supply chain responses to customer requirements has
yielded revenue increases from 3 percent to 5 percent for companies. But in Asia, a
"one size fits all" approach often prevails. As a result, broad opportunities exist for
companies to increase revenues and market share by understanding: a) the costs
associated with serving each customer; b) what specific services customers require;
and c) services for which customers are prepared to pay. Market leaders then will use
those insights to align their supply chain culture, capabilities, infrastructure and
people with the specific responses required by their best customers. The Asian companies that have followed a programme to segment and tailor their supply chain
responses to specific customer requirementsdeveloping a more holistic cost-toserve perspective that integrates sales and the supply chainhave seen significant
cost and revenue benefits.
Other sell-related opportunities also are available as the result of Asian companies
limited success at:
Understanding the relationship between line fill and revenue. (Increases in line
fill generally lead to an increase in revenue.)
Acknowledging a connection between inadequate service and increased costs.
Measuring customer satisfaction from an external perspective. (Many companies
simply do not query customers on a regular basis, preferring instead to rely on
internal measures of service performance.)
Measuring what is shipped as demand, rather than true demand (what
customers first ask for prior to negotiation, back orders, or other manual or
automated manipulation of the customers initial requests).
Robert J. Bowman, Despite Obstacles, Shippers Score Success in Asia, Global Logistics & Supply Chain Strategies
(July 1999).
16
17
Fulfilment and
Transportation
Procurement
Implement improvements
Rationalise distribution
centres across business
units/markets
Optimise supply/demand
balancing across business
units/markets
Lower transportation
contract rates and improve
performance across Asian
markets through load
and creation tendering,
carrier selection, and
optimisation services
Achieve operational
excellence in fulfilment
and transportation across
business units/markets
(e.g., track and trace,
payment services)
Customers
Supply/Demand
Planning and
Replenishment
People and
Capability
Build capability rapidly
across business
units/markets
Optimise training costs
and increase training
effectiveness across
business units/markets
Facilitate transfer of best
practices across business
units/markets
Integrated Order
Management
Integration Tools
ERP
Warehouse
Management System
Legacy Systems
Order Processing
Demand Planning
Constraint-Based
Master Planning
Demand Planning
Demand Forecasting
Transport Optimisation
NEON Systems
Peregrine
Systems
SeeBeyond
webMethods
Transportation
Management/Optimisation
Shipment Requests,
Track and Trace
18
Forecast/Material Requirements
Procurement Processes
Customer Collaboration
Demand Collaboration
Product Collaboration
Supplier Collaboration
Companies striving for supply chain competitiveness must first organise for efficiency
(Figure 7). That means optimising the whole, not the constituent parts of their supply
chains. Asian organisations, however, historically have done the opposite: They have
organised their supply chains around local markets, functions and business units. As
a result, there is a deeply ingrained legacy of duplicated and inefficient supply chain
infrastructures, technologies, operations, processes and people.
19
Following are four ways that Asia business leaders can rationalise their supply chain
operations to increase efficiency:
Regional Capabilities
Emerging
Markets/Companies
Developing
Markets/Companies
Developed
Markets/Companies
Developed
Localise
the supply chain
Key Characteristics
for Supply Chain
Management
Regionalise
the supply chain
Integrate, collaborate,
think centrally or
regionally, act locally
Rationalise
the supply chain
Rationalise, collaborate
and synchronise
Emerging
Product
Development
Procurement
Manufacturing
Logistics and
Distribution
Possible Configuration:
Country centre
localises formula
Regional centres
harmonise for their region
Possible Configuration:
Possible Configuration:
Possible Configuration:
Handled and planned
Regional or global centres Regional
regionally when
manage direct material
Some activities outsourced
between countries
procurement
(e.g., assembly/packaging)
Indirect and packaging
Handled and planned
materials procured regionally
locally when within
countries, often by the
Demand aggregated
manufacturing entity
regionally
Rationale:
Ensure consistency
and fulfil local
customer requirements
Rationale:
Rationale:
Reduce costs
Achieve cost efficiency
Ensure regional consistency through economies
of scale
Provide scheduling
Provide scheduling
flexibility at factories
flexibility at factories
Rationale:
Limited benefits
in regionalising
Figure 8: Summary of operating models and trends in regionalising supply chain management.
20
Demand
Management
Typically performed regionally
Product planning
typically performed locally
based on regional/central
demand plan
Possible Configuration:
Regional sales and
operations planning
Regional scheduling
of production at
local factories
Rationale:
Optimise regional production
Maintain balanced
supply chain
The authors thank Jeremy Rowe and his Accenture team for the research that informed this chart.
21
Archiving practices that are inconsistent. Historical records often are not
kept or are lost.
Targets that are not grounded in best practices, and do not represent the
consensus of all participants. Rules of thumb for calculating key performance
measures such as days of inventory coverage and forecast accuracy are applied
instead of robust measures that have quantitative validity and reliability.
Key performance indicator (KPI) source data that are not captured and/or
maintained as history. For example, true demand often is not ascertained,
since only the negotiated demand is recorded. Moreover, true order histories
are lost, because source documents and records that are used to calculate
Accentures Supply Chain Academy solution tailors virtual supply chain training on almost any supply chain
management subject and offers a cost-effective option for Asian companies.
The Global Research Team, Michigan State University, World Class Logistics: The Challenge of Managing
Continuous Change, Council of Logistics Management (1995).
22
23
The best firms in Asia recognise that performance measures provide the link between
business strategy and operational execution, which is why most use monthly, weekly
and daily scorecards to hone in on the right activities and help set common goals for
supply chain performance. Those leaders also apply rigorous measures based on highquality data rather than rules of thumb. Most importantly, they clearly define what is
needed to achieve total supply chain efficiency and competitiveness.
For Asian companies, effective performance measurement and benchmarking could
be the best opportunity to translate supply chain strategy and improvement initiatives into real business results. But without those capabilities, they cannot see how
they are doing today, nor can they know how they are progressing or when they
actually have achieved success. In effect, they are driving blind.
The result: Dell successfully has implemented its direct sales model across Asia,
and Dell factories in China and Malaysia are capable of delivering made-to-order
personal computers to business customers within tight time frames. Currently,
Dell's plant utilisation levels are at 90 percent, while production planning cycle
time is down to two hours.
Outsourcing in Asia
High
Buy
Development
Support
Build
Moderate
Ability to Differentiate
Ally/Acquire
Dell obviously understands that access to the best supply chain capabilities is more
important than ownership of those capabilities. In fact, outsourcing has become a
mainstream way for companies in the US and Europe to obtain supply chain capabilities that help them:
Bring new capabilities online quickly and productively.
Minimise capital investment.
Convert fixed costs into variable costs.
Respond quickly and economically to changes or surges in demand.
Preference for
Outsourcing
Outsource
Low
Low
Moderate
In-House Ability
High
Robert J. Bowman, For Asian Supply Chains, Good News and Bad, Supply Chain Brain (July 2000).
25
10
26
Douglas A. Jaffe, Caron Harrison and Wilvin Chee, Taking Logistics into the 21st Century: A Study of Logistics in
Asia-Pacific (Excluding Japan), IDC (July 2001) 27-28.
27
There is a strong rationale for creating an independent supply chain service organisation that consolidates management of the supply chain across business units or
markets. For those companies that independently manage supply chain activities
within each business unit or market, such a transformation can result in numerous
benefits, as outlined in Figure 11.
Buy
Supply/Demand Planning
Distribution
Make
Logistics
Market/Business Unit 1
Supply/Demand Planning
Customer
Management
Buying
Supply/Demand Planning
Distribution
Make
Logistics
Customer
Management
Buying
Make
Distribution
Logistics
Customer
Management
Market/Business Unit 3
Buy
Joan Magretta, Fast, Global and Entrepreneurial: Supply Chain Management, Hong Kong StyleAn Interview with Victor Fung,
Harvard Business Review (September-October 1998), 105-106.
Customer
Management
Distribution
Logistics
Buy
Customer
Management
Buying
Make
Distribution
Logistics
Customer
Management
Customer
Management
Buying
Make
Distribution
Logistics
Customer
Management
Market/Business Unit 4
Supply/Demand Planning
Distribution
Make
Logistics
Rationale/Benefits
Accelerating savings and release of cash
Overcoming resistance to change in regions, countries and
functions overcomes strong organisational inertia
Provide a reason and rationale to change the operating
model by introducing a new supply chain service organisation
Achieve rapid development of people and skills, instant
access to capabilities and infrastructure
Achieve fact-based, rational decision making by including
an outside party that isn't influenced by existing models
Direct centralised savings to areas that can achieve the
highest economic value-add
Figure 11: Transforming the supply chain across markets and/or business units.
Not surprisingly, this movement of raw materials, semifinished goods and finished
products poses a significant supply chain challenge, particularly to smaller
businesses. However, many Asian players are working hard to fill the void. A premier
example is Li & Fung, Hong Kong's largest export trading company, which works
with more than 7,500 suppliers across 37 countries. Working primarily over the
Internet, this innovative firm coordinates the pan-supply-chain efforts of
numerous suppliers, manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers and customers. It
collaborates with virtually all of them on forecasts, capacity management
and resource availability, thus enhancing each party's flexibility, responsiveness
and agility.
12
11
11
Supply/Demand Planning
Distribution
Make
Logistics
28
Buy
Customer
Management
Customers
Across Asia, major opportunities exist to build collaborative supply chain capabilities
that span multiple business entities. If issues relating to trust, data capacity and
win-lose thinking can be overcome, then companies' regional and national supply
chains could become significantly more competitive and cost-efficient. Here are two
basic extension opportunities.
Supply/Demand Planning
Distribution
Make
Logistics
Suppliers
Buy
Customers
Suppliers
Market/Business Unit 2
12
29
13
Logistics
Leader
Followers
Supply Chain 1
Alliance Relationships
Logistics
Leader
Followers
Alliance Relationships
Market Dominance
Even further out, the distributed nature of Asian manufacturing, and the
subsequent trade flows that occur among Asian countries, suggest that a major
opportunity may exist to connect several hubs into a network of co-opetition
(cooperation and competition). In the long term, this sort of synchronisation
could help make Asian supply chains a formidable business force.
Market Dominance
30
Making the hub concept work involves developing solutions that move synchronisation beyond supply chain participants to trade chain participants
connecting customers, suppliers, enterprises, bankers, third-party logistics
providers, air and sea ports, freight forwarders, and customs/tax officials. In
places such as Hong Kong, there is no higher supply chain imperative, even
though overcoming hurdles relating to trust, data standardisation, language,
currency, security, bureaucracy, ownership and leadership will be a major challenge.
Market Dominance
Logistics
Leader
Followers
Supply Chain 2
Supply Chain 3
Figure 12: A vision of the best working with the best across Asia: This model demonstrates how several nationally
backed conglomerates could link their logistics capabilities into a network of supply chain service providers to synchronise
the flow of goods into, out of and across Asia.
Source: Andrew Berger and John Gattorna, Supply Chain Cybermastery: Building High Performance Supply Chains of the Future, Gower (2001), 25.
31
32
33
Establish the imperative or pressure for change. Complete a supply chain value
targeting exercise so that the benefits potential and business value are evident
and owned by key stakeholders.
Develop a time-phased business case and road map in which priorities are based
on driving significant value early from the supply chain. Success breeds success.
It is vital that all supply chain initiatives in the road map are integrated with
other organisational initiatives.
Articulate a supply chain vision that supports the companys operating model
and is compelling for all stakeholders.
Bowman, Robert J., Despite Obstacles, Shippers Score Success in Asia, Global
Logistics & Supply Chain Strategies (July 1999).
Appoint an executive sponsor and process owner who will champion the change.
Create the capacity to change. That is, clearly define responsibilities, train the
appropriate people and provide worthwhile incentives.
Jaffe, Douglas A., Caron Harrison and Wilvin Chee, Taking Logistics into the 21st
Century: A Study of Logistics in Asia-Pacific (Excluding Japan), IDC (July 2001),
27-28.
Establish an end state through performance measures that are clearly tied to
strategic and operational goals. Communicate these measures and goals, and
then rigorously monitor performance.
Lastly, the time to act is now. For those companies that do not begin to capitalise on
these opportunities in Asia, be assured that the competition will do so.
This white paper is adapted from a chapter in the forthcoming Gower Handbook of
Supply Chain Management, Fifth Edition, edited by John L. Gattorna. The book is to
be published by Gower Publishing Ltd., UK, in early 2003.
34
Bibliography
Kim, M., LG Electronics' Global Supply Chain Management System Goes Live,
Business Wire (September 5, 2001).
Lim, June, Malaysia Continues to Improve Logistics Infrastructure, MHD Supply
Chain Solutions (November 2001), 14.
Magretta, Joan, Fast, Global and Entrepreneurial: Supply Chain Management, Hong
Kong StyleAn Interview with Victor Fung, Harvard Business Review (SeptemberOctober 1998), 105-106.
Manion, David, Asia Pacific Supply Chain Survey, CommerceNet (November 19, 1999).
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