Supply Chain Mapping for a Complex Consumer Purchase

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of the map’s purpose (i.e., whose point of view is the map from?).

The map is created from the point of view of the customer, in this situation the Owner of the household.

Creating a supply chain map for all major undertaking like this is extremely beneficial for the sponsor of this project. It helps analyze the plan in full details so that there are no surprises in either the schedule, the cost or the quality of the final output.

Often in such projects, the customer limits himself to deal with his main contractor and assumes that all the sub-contracting matters will be taken care of by him. During the actual execution of the program, sometimes the issues arise. This might include unavailability of the desired subcontractor, lack of materials or equipment needed to carry out the work, lack of availability of inspection services required in order to continue to move the work forward, lack of requirements of working capital at different stages in order to continue the supply chain moving etc.

The supply chain map is a very effective tool to force us in thinking through the issues which might come as a result of interdependencies of different entities involved in getting the final result achieved.

To give a couple of examples in the context of the basement renovation project:

o Supply chain map helps us understand which all major materials suppliers are part of the chain. Once we realize that, it is easy to make a plan with the main contractor to either visit those materials providers or get the samples brought to our place so that the determination of the right product can be made well ahead of the schedule. This helps avoid any surprises due to unavailability of desired specifications or grade of materials needed.

o Another example is identification of services like electrical inspection needed to adhere to the relevant municipality codes. If we don’t realize around what date the inspection is going to be needed, we may not be able to proceed the work further when we are waiting for that inspection to occur. By looking at the supply chain map, one can easily identify the need for the inspection service and that can be scheduled in advance on a tentative basis for approximately when the work will be ready for his inspection.

The point that this exercise brings home is that be it industrial purchases or complex consumer purchases, supply chain mapping is a very important tool to understand the different entities involved and their interactions and everyone’s scope. This makes it very efficient to have a full view of the project and plan the different elements in an educated manner.