Life Cycle Considerations for Supply Chain Strategy

Abstract

The goal of this chapter is to propose a framework for the dynamics of supply chains from a life cycles point of view. It is inevitable for supply chains to be affected by the life cycles of the product. There are three important interrelated life cycles that have effects on the dynamics of supply chains and are associated with the product. These are: (i) the innovation (Abernathy & Clark, 1983), (ii) the market (Kotler, 1999), and (iii) the location (Vernon, 1966). The first life cycle related to the innovation illustrates how the product and production process progress. It gives us a hint to consider the feasibility of the location dependent on the degree of innovativeness of the product. The second one related to the market clarifies the marketing objectives in each stage. It suggests the reasonable location strategy. The last one related to the location proposes the relation between the product and the reasonable location of the manufacturing facilities. It is operational because it considers the timing and the reason to shift the manufacturing facilities. In this chapter, we discuss the mission and structure of the supply chain in the different stages of these life cycles. We illustrate the proposed framework using the case of the VCR.