Understanding and Managing the Services Supply Chain

Abstract

SUMMARY Services have become increasingly important as the driving force in the U.S. economy. However, there has been little research to date on services supply chains. It is believed that service businesses can benefit by applying some best practices from manufacturing to their processes. However, the inherent differences in services create a need for supply chain management tools specific to the services sector. This article documents the growing importance of the services sector and of services purchasing. Next, it develops a supply chain framework appropriate for a services supply chain by comparing and contrasting the applicability of three product‐based manufacturing models: Global Supply Chain Forum Framework, SCOR and Hewlett‐Packard's Supply Chain Management Model. Finally, this research describes the challenges for procurement professionals managing purchases for a services supply chain and provides suggestions for use of supply chain management theory, and practices for improvement.

A comparative study of manufacturing and service sector supply chain integration via the uncertainty circle model

“…Some manufacturing-based supply chain models applied to services, and which thereby fulfil the test for establishing new management theory identified by Micklethwait and Wooldridge (1996), include: the Hewlett-Packard Model, the Global Supply Chain Forum Framework and the SCOR Model (Ellram et al, 2004;Giannakis, 2011;Sengupta, et al, 2006). Each model required adaptation to reflect the indispensable contribution of the customer in supply chain service provision, particularly since the customer assumes the dual role of demand creator and principal supplier to the supply chain.…”

“…Manufacturing and service supply chains are established on the premise that organisations need to manage and control their assets and process uncertainties to deliver value to customers in a cost-effective manner (Ellram et al, 2004, Towill, 2006. These shared aims have led researchers to apply operations management and systems engineering lenses originally developed for manufacturing to service supply chains (Goldhar and Berg, 2010;Parnaby and Towill, 2009).…”

“…In manufacturing, such amplification is evidenced by excess inventory and in the service sector it appears as customer backlogs, queues and inefficient capacity utilisation. Ellram et al (2004) propose that capacity in service supply chains is an analogous measure for inventory in manufacturing…”

Conhecimento e Avaliação dos Trade-offs de Custos Logísticos: um Estudo com Profissionais Brasileiros

“…For example, companies in the businesses of education and religious practices do not transfer goods from supplier to customer; rather, they transfer intellectual teachings and spiritual doctrines, respectively (Ellram, Tate, & Billington, 2004).…”

Model Construction of Supply Chain of Innovative Producer Service—Perspective of Service Outsourcing Based on SOA Theory

“…In his article, Cohen (2001) referred to the after-sales service supply chain model as computer manufacturers and service providers in the North American computer industry. In the past, scholars have generally regarded the literature of Ellram (2004) as the mark of the scholars' dedication in the service supply chain. The paper studies the service formed in the business process of outsourcing.…”