Supply Chain Management For Dummies

by Daniel Stanton

Putting together all the links in the supply chain

Supply Chain Management For Dummies gives you the full rundown on what a supply chain is, how it works, how to optimize it, and the best education for a rewarding supply chain career. This new edition is fully updated for changes to the supply chain in a post-Covid world. You’ll learn about the latest supply chain technologies, analytics and data-based optimization, and new strategies for delivering on your organization’s promises. This approachable resource can take your supply chain management skills to the next level with step-by-step explanations, expert tips, and real-life examples. 

Gain a foundational knowledge of issues in supply chain management  Learn about today’s global supply chains, plus trends like reshoring and near-shoring  Wrap your mind around how an organization’s moving parts can be coordinated in today’s high-tech world  Discover strategies for dealing with disruptions, focusing on diversity, and increasing resilience  This For Dummies guide is great for entry-level supply chain professionals and anyone who needs an update on need-to-know concepts and recent changes in supply chain management. 

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Finance, Management

369 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 16, 2023

About the author

Daniel Stanton is an Assistant Professor of Operations Management at the Jack Welch Management Institute. He is an internationally recognized public speaker and the author of several courses for LinkedIn Learning. His industry certifications include Six Sigma Black Belt, PMP, CSCP, and SCPro.

Reviews

[Animekh Misra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I confess that I started this book as a dummy. Now, I stand at the last page, and I ain't a dummy anymore.

There's a lot to learn here. I am a Software Developer on SAP ERP, and I wanted to know where I fit in the big picture of SCM. I must say, I now have an appreciation of my work, the people around and the forces driving this enormous business scheme.

The book is easy to follow & relate, and have sufficient examples when and where needed. Graphic illustrations also help. But one might loose interest overtime.The book does not use jargons and even explains some business words commonly used in the field. This book does not go to the nitty-gritty details of each module (the book is not intended for that).

The author did say at the beginning that the reader can, if he wants, jump to any part of the book and continue reading from there. I was a dummy, so I read it all. Each chapter carries its weight on the book. A glance over the Table of Contents would brief you about what you'll be getting into.

I feel the I can implement the RACI matrix in my daily life. We'll see about that… The Career Alignment Diagram is interesting too.

'"A friend of mine has a sign on her desk that reads "Good, Fast, Cheap … Pick Any Two." The message is relevant for supply chain management because you often have to figure out what's most important to you and be willing to compromise on the rest.'

All said, this is a good book.

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would recommend this book to someone in high school or college who is interested in business management. There are a lot of fundamentals here that someone in that experience range would find useful.

If you are like me and have worked in a business for a few years then you might be familiar with a lot of the content. Even so, the conceptual frameworks may come in handy.

[Lisa E]

Dry, OMG yes. But helpful when you're trying to learn the lingo.

[Chuck Kollars · Rating 5 out of 5]

My goal in reading this book was to understand what all the "buzz" about 'Supply Chain Management' is. Both for my purposes and as a very thorough introduction to all aspects of the issue, this book does very well.

After reading this book it seems to me that 'Supply Chain Management' is just a new term for "running a business"; it encompasses every aspect of an organization. The new approach does have an advantage over the old "graybeard with sterling intuition that runs the company" approach. Now tens or hundreds of enterprising managers can productively work in parallel, rather than having "mahogany row" be a bottleneck for making strategic decisions.

There are a whole lot of fairly new tools; they are mostly ways to use computers in much greater depth, both to routinize large operations and to gather summary information that's useful in identifying and implementing better strategies.

In a way this modern way of running a company (which happens to be named 'Supply Chain Management') is about doing a really good job of running a very very large commercial organization, one such as Amazon, Toyota, Apple, General Motors, Samsung, etc.

Of course all aspects of the "old" supply management -risks, strategies, unexpected major changes, inventory levels, vendor information sharing, etc.- are still dealt with.

[Quique RS · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me dan un poco de apuro los libros "...For Dummies", pero vi que este tenía críticas buenas, y cualquier otro que tratara este tema valía el doble.

Me ha gustado bastante, trata muchísimos temas de Supply Chain a nivel general y es ameno con ejemplos bastante claros. No profundiza en algunas cosas, pero supongo que para eso debe haber libros más complejos (y caros). También hay cosas sobre las que hubiera preferido que hablara menos o en menos detalle, como el tema que trata de formación,ya que lo que menciona es algo que imagino que se da en USA, pero que en otros sitios ni lo olemos o tenemos programas de formación distintos.

Lo que menos me ha gustado es la calidad (hojas que son de grosor casi de papel de periódico, y las tapas que se fastidian con mirarlas), el formato que al ser un poco ancho se hace incómodo si lo vas a ir llevando por la casa como hago yo y la inserción de hipervinculos web (con toda la retahíla de la dirección) que se hace poco lógica en formato físico.

8

[Bill Driegert · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've had the pleasure of knowing Daniel for over a decade and recently had him give a talk to our team. We both attended the MIT Supply Chain Masters program, and his book covers and distills many of the key lessons of a supply chain program. Even as an experienced practitioner, it was helpful to fill in knowledge gaps and refresh my understanding of core SC topics. I highly recommend this book to anyone, whether or not your new to supply chain or experienced.

[Abhi Yerra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Did I read a whole book on supply chains for fun? Yes, yes I did. This book was great for it too as the author broke down the entire supply chain into parts and defined each part and how it interacts with the whole including logistics, technology, project management, warehousing, and finance. I’d recommend reading this book to get an understanding of how the supply chain functions.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love systems and process management, so it's no surprise that I found this interesting. Well-laid out and well explained. If you're looking to understand the various ways in which materials, money and information flow through our experiences via people, processes and technology -- this is a good introduction.

[Ivan Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a valuable resource for people like me who are learning about supply chains and need a basic understanding. I found it helpful as the basis of the system dynamics modelling of supply and value chains.

[Maria Mahabir · Rating 5 out of 5]

Textbook in readable language

The author does great in making many complex topics digestible. It is a fantastic read for anyone wanting to learn or add context of what happens in a supply chain environment.

[Stork · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good technical review, nothing earth shattering though.

[Hung · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good introductory book on Supply Chain Management. This book is good for those who want to learn 10,000 ft view outlook on what the SCM industry is really about. I recommend this book!

[Vincent V · Rating 5 out of 5]

A rather good introduction to the science of efficient resource usage.

[Oanh Truong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Each section has examples to explain the concept and make it very easy to understand and follow - lots of terms and definitions- helpful if you need an overview about supply chainI

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good overview. The studio version says ’processEEEs’ about 50 million times LOL.

Well read other than that though.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

My major is supply chain management, but even with working experience in the field, initially, I felt overwhelmed by my boring text books and couldn't focus on what I was reading. I did this by audio book on 1.2x speed and blasted through it. Hearing it and having some plain English explanation laid the ground work for terminology and basics of the jargon. This allowed me better grasp on the direction of the boring and poorly written text books. I definitely recommend this for anyone else with a similar situation or someone who wants to consider going into supply chain management. It's where the money's at...

[Alejandro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well organised, but only useful if you have literally zero knowledge about supply chain.