Many companies have gained, and continue to gain, competitive advantage from information technology logistics solutions. Wal-mart's distribution strategy is a good example. For them a focus on the consumer led to greater profit- ability. There are two key aspects to the supply chain: The technology to manage the logistics. Building relationships and common (win-win) goals for participants in the chain.
HOW TO GAIN COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
If value can be added all through the chain, and performance improved, everyone should win, especially the consumer, since there is no added value whatsoever unless the consumer makes the purchase. It's important to remember that what is profit to the company is cost to the consumer. In the global car market, for instance, where the average margin on cars for the producer is 2%, the more economies that can be made by outsourcing elements or sub-assemblies upstream (up the chain) to companies entirely focused on a particular aspect of the production process, the better. In the Ford motor companies case, their focus is on developing the brand, New Product Development (NPD), and getting closer to the customer, whilst stripping costs out of the chain. The main factor for most businesses is activity integration to create a seamless channel of delivery. In SCM best practice is often considered to be the practice of ECR