Value chain update
Why Supply Chain Architecture Is Crucial for Competitiveness Today
Many companies today have a historically grown supply chain – with unnecessary inventory levels, unclear planning depth, incorrectly positioned stock, or an overly long supply network. The result: high costs, slow response times, and low transparency. A high-performing supply chain requires a clear, market-aligned architecture. It defines how and where stock is positioned, which production stages run from stock or on demand, how value streams are structured, and how suppliers, plants, and warehouses can interact optimally. Those who think outside the box here win: higher delivery capability, shorter lead times, reduced inventory, and lower process costs.
Does this sound familiar?
– Does your production or warehouse logistics seem complex and uncoordinated?
– Is there a lack of a clear concept regarding which parts should be kept in stock, made to order, or even manufactured externally?
– Are your inventories growing, but your delivery capacity stagnating?
– Are you having to improvise within your network: with stock transfers, express shipments, and additional production?
– Do you have strategic growth targets, but your operational setup isn’t right?
Then it’s worth taking a look at your supply chain architecture.
Our consulting approach: Creating structure for market-driven performance.
With us, you can fundamentally redesign your value chain – data-driven, simulation-supported and strategically sound:
Setting decoupling points correctly
We analyze where in your supply chain warehousing and order processing should be separated. The goal is an optimal balance between flexibility, delivery capability, and inventory levels – taking into account replenishment times, capacities, and product structure.
Standard components in stock, variant creation late in the process: This is how you combine high flexibility with low inventory levels and short delivery times.
Standardkomponenten auf Lager, Variantenbildung spät im Prozess: So kombinieren Sie hohe Flexibilität mit niedrigen Beständen und kurzer Lieferzeit.
Combining value stream design and planning methodology
Together with you, we design value streams to ensure seamless and waste-free material and information flows. We combine lean principles with IT-supported planning mechanisms and tailor your control systems to specific product types and volumes.
Optimize network structure
We analyze your current warehouse, production and supplier structure and develop scenarios for an economically, logistically and strategically optimized supply chain network.
Simulationsbasierte Planung der Supply Chain Architektur
Mit Hilfe von Digitalen Zwillingen testen wir die Wirkung alternativer Architekturen – bevor investiert wird.
Examples of our consulting services
– Designing logistical decoupling points
– Value stream design with segmented planning logic
– Restructuring production and distribution networks
– Implementing postponement strategies
– Developing market- and product-specific control concepts
Typical questions we answer
– How many inventory levels are appropriate – and where?
– Which products are suitable for stock production, and which for make-to-order?
– How do we strategically position our plants, warehouses, and suppliers?
– How do we reduce complexity without compromising delivery reliability?
– Where are the cost drivers and inventory traps in our supply chain?
What makes us different
You won’t receive a standard process model from us, but rather a customized, market-aligned supply chain architecture – developed based on your data, your strategy, and your operational reality. We think from customer takt time to capacity, simulate interrelationships in a digital twin, and work with you to design a robust, flexible, and cost-optimized setup for your entire value chain.
Market-synchronous supply chain instead of standard processes
We develop individual structures, not blueprints.
Segmented control instead of a one-size-fits-all model
Control is differentiated according to product, volume, and customer requirements.
Digital twin as a decision-making tool
Our simulations make architectural effects visible in advance.
Linking strategy and operational reality
We combine top-down specifications with bottom-up data.
Consistent focus on implementation
Our concepts are feasible, comprehensible, and developed in collaboration with your teams.
A manufacturer of technical consumer goods restructured its supply chain to a market-synchronized architecture model.
Result:
Delivery time halved, inventory coverage reduced by 35%, service level increased from 89% to 98%. The CEO calls it “the biggest lever in years.”
FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions
What is a supply chain architecture?
Supply chain architecture describes how a value chain is structured: What roles do suppliers, production sites and warehouses play? Where is inventory held, and which products are made to stock or only after an order is placed? It also covers material and information flows. An effective architecture aligns these structures with customer requirements and business objectives.
How does redesigning the value chain differ from process optimization?
Process optimization improves workflows within an existing structure. Redesigning the value chain also examines the structure itself: Are the warehouse stages necessary? Is inventory held in the right locations? Does the production approach support the required delivery times? This can address causes of long lead times or high inventory levels that improvements to individual processes alone cannot resolve.
Is redesigning a supply chain a major undertaking?
That depends on which changes are practical and economically worthwhile. A new supply chain architecture does not necessarily require the entire network to be rebuilt at once. We first identify the most significant bottlenecks and use data and simulations to compare possible measures. Changes can then be introduced gradually, for example for selected products, warehouses or locations.
How do Lean Management and supply chain architecture work together?
Lean Management aims to reduce waste in processes and value streams. Supply chain architecture determines how those value streams are structured, including the location of warehouses and decoupling points. The two approaches complement each other: an appropriate structure provides the foundation for efficient processes across the value chain.
How can a digital twin help redesign the value chain?
A digital twin models important relationships within the supply chain. It can be used to compare alternative warehouse structures, decoupling points or production strategies before changes are implemented. The simulation indicates how each scenario is likely to affect inventory, product availability, lead times and costs.