From white goods producers to intermediary manufacturers, companies are trying to make their supply chain more efficient (taking cost out of what represents 20% of their cost base), while limiting their risks in an expanded global network of suppliers and customers worldwide.

For best in class firms, the supply chain strategy is closely linked to the global manufacturing strategy and looks at increasing sales in addition to cutting cost. This requires even better understanding of customer segments to project into the distribution specifications in terms of service and cost.

• "We had no idea of their performance or the extent of the damages and we were getting customer complaints galore," explains Al Fitzpatrick, director of customer service for the industrial division of Toshiba. "That's when we decided to completely revamp our logistics operations. We wanted to get our outbound shipments under 1% damage ratio for total shipments. Next we wanted 97% on-time performance for our carriers. Lastly, we wanted to reduce our transportation costs." Today, under 1% of freight arrives damaged with only two reportable claims in the past 18 months.