Rapid Fire Fullfilment

www.hbr.org

Spanish clothier Zara turns
the rules of supply chain
management on their head.
The result? A superresponsive
network and profit margins
that are the envy of the
industry.

Rapid-Fire Fulfillment
by Kasra Ferdows, Michael A. Lewis,
and Jose A.D. Machuca

Reprint R0411G

HBR Spotlight

The 21st Century
Supply Chain

COPYRIGHT © 2004 HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOLPUBLISHING CORPORATION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Managing the modern supply chain is
a job that involves specialists in manufacturing, purchasing, and distribution,
of course. But today it is also vital to
the work of chief financial officers, chief
information officers, operations and
customer service executives, and certainly chief executives. Changes in supply chain management have been trulyrevolutionary, and the pace of progress
shows no sign of moderating. In our
increasingly interconnected and interdependent global economy, the process of delivering supplies and finished
goods (and information and other
business services) from one place to
another is accomplished by means of
mind-boggling technological innovations, clever new applications of old
ideas, seemingly magicalmathematics,
powerful software, and old-fashioned
concrete, steel, and muscle.
An end-to-end, top-to-bottom transformation of the twenty-first-century
supply chain is shaping the agenda for
senior managers now and will continue
to do so for years to come. With this
special series of articles, Harvard Business
Review examines how corporations’
strategies and structures are changing
and howthose changes are manifest in
their supply chains.

The Articles
The Triple-A Supply Chain
by Hau L. Lee
October 2004
The best supply chains aren’t just fast and cost-effective. They are also agile and adaptable,
and they ensure that all their companies’ interests stay aligned.
Reprint R0410F; OnPoint 8096

Leading a Supply Chain Turnaround
by Reuben E. Slone
October 2004
Five yearsago, salespeople at Whirlpool said the company’s supply chain staff were “sales
disablers.” Now, Whirlpool excels at getting the right product to the right place at the right
time—while keeping inventory low. What made the difference?
Reprint R0410G

Aligning Incentives in Supply Chains
by V.G. Narayanan and Ananth Raman
November 2004
A supply chain stays tight only if every company in thechain has reasons to pull in the
same direction.
Reprint R0411F; OnPoint 8363

Rapid-Fire Fulfillment
by Kasra Ferdows, Michael A. Lewis, and Jose A.D. Machuca
November 2004
Spanish clothier Zara turns the rules of supply chain management on their head. The result?
A superresponsive network and profit margins that are the envy of the industry.
Reprint R0411G

Building Deep SupplierRelationships
by Jeffrey K. Liker and Thomas Y. Choi
December 2004
Two Japanese automakers have had stunning success building relationships with North
American suppliers—often the same supplier companies that have had contentious dealings
with Detroit’s Big Three. What are Toyota and Honda doing right that their American
counterparts are missing?
Reprint R0412G

We’re in This Together
byDouglas M. Lambert and A. Michael Knemeyer
December 2004
If your latest supply chain partnership failed to live up to expectations, as so many do, it’s
probably because you never stated your expectations in the first place.
Reprint R0412H

Spanish clothier Zara turns the rules of supply chain management on
their head. The result? A superresponsive network and profit margins
that are the envyof the industry.

Rapid-Fire Fulfillment

COPYRIGHT © 2004 HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL PUBLISHING CORPORATION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

by Kasra Ferdows, Michael A. Lewis,
and Jose A.D. Machuca

When a German wholesaler suddenly canceled a big lingerie order in 1975, Amancio Ortega thought his fledgling clothing company
might go bankrupt. All his capital was tied up
in the order. There were no...