Supply Chain Scheduling: Cost-cutting potential

Increasing pressure on competitive global markets means companies have to rigorously capitalize on any cost-cutting potential. It has thus become common practice to introduce logistics practices that aim to cut costs, such as just-in-time and just-in-sequence material flows. However, innovative approaches should also be considered as a proactive way to generate advantages in competitive markets and build barriers to entry in monopolistic or duopolistic markets. Supply Chain Scheduling is such a new approach. The pioneers of this field of study, who include Hall and Potts (2003), Kreipl and Pinedo (2004), and Agnetis et al. (2006), define Supply Chain Scheduling as the coordination of the machine and delivery schedules of two or more supply chain stages. For example, a manufacturer of special-purpose machines cannot assemble its machines until its suppliers release the required components like customized motors, cases, and control modules. A modular constructor cannot build warehouses or car parks until special industry doors, concrete modules, and steel components are supplied. Schedules that result from a separate planning approach of the involved companies do not necessarily match up to produce an efficient overall schedule. By focusing on the coordination of several stages’ operations, Supply Chain Scheduling aims to improve overall performance criteria, such as total logistics costs or the supply chain makespan, in order to improve the entire supply chain’s competitiveness.