Value chain management (VCM) is the integration of all resources starting with the vendor's vendor. It integrates information, materials, labor, facilities, logistics, etc. into a time-responsive, capacity-managed solution that maximizes financial resources and minimizes waste. In other words, efficient and effective value chain management optimizes value for the customers' customer. The following sections discuss the development of VCM, integrated supply chain planning and scheduling, full resource management, cycle time responsiveness, chain-wide resource optimization, and information integration.

Development of Valuechain Management

Using the previous definition as a basis, it is helpful to review how VCM was developed. Traditional industries focused on vertically integrated operations. For example, if you manufactured a product, you wanted to control the material sources, the transportation, the warehousing, the production, and possibly even the retailing of your product. The theory held that more vertical elements that were under your direct control...