Abstract
Product variety has been on the increase for the last several years. Firms are striving to identify effective operational strategies to deal with the growth in product variety. Postponement can be a powerful strategy for managing product variety. In this paper, we introduce concepts related to postponement, discuss successful industrial applications and identify key enablers and factors influencing the successful implementation of postponement.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Alderson, W., Marketing efficiency and the principle of postponement. Cost and Profit Outlook, September 3 (1950).
Asanuma, B., Co-ordination between production and distribution in a globalized network of firms: assessing flexibility achieved in the Japanese automobile industry, in The Conference on Japan in a Global Economy, Stockholm School of Economics, Stockholm, Sweden (1991).
Business Wire, Applied textiles selects V3 systems enterprise supply chain execution. Business Wire, April 9 (2002).
Brown, A., Lee, H., and R. Petrakian, Xilinx improves its semiconductor supply chain using product and process postponement. Interfaces, 30(4) 65–80 (2000).
Dapiran, P., Benetton—global logistics in action. Asian Pacific International Journal of Business Logistics, 5(3), 7–11 (1992).
Davis, T. and M. Sasser, Postponing product differentiation. Mechanical Engineering, 117(11), 105–107 (1995).
Ernst, R. and B. Kamrad, Evaluation of supply chain structures through modularization and postponement. European Journal of Operational Research, 124(3), 495–510 (2000).
Feitzinger, E. and H. Lee, Mass customization at Hewlett-Packard: the power of postponement. Harvard Business Review, 75(1), 116–121 (1997).
Fisher, M. and A. Raman, Reducing the cost of demand uncertainty through accurate response to early sales. Operations Research, 44(1), 87–99 (1996).
Garg, A., An application of designing products and processes for supply chain management. HE Transactions, 31(5), 417–429 (1999).
Harle, N., Pich, M., and L. Van der Hayden, Mark & Spencer and Zara: Process Competition in the Textile Apparel Industry, Business School Case. INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France (2001).
Hoyt, D. and E. Lopez-Tello, Lucent technologies: achieving the ‘impossible’ by using provisioning and postponement, in The Practice of Supply Chain Management: Where Theory and Application Converge, T. Harrison, H. Lee, and J. Neale (eds.), Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston, MA (2003).
Johnson, M.E. and E. Anderson, Postponement strategies for channel derivatives. International Journal of Logistics Management, 11(1), 19–35 (2000).
Lee, H., Design for supply chain management: concepts and examples, in Perspectives in Operations Management: Essays in Honor of Elwood S. Buffa, R. Sarin (ed.), Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston, MA, pp. 43–65 (1993).
Lee, H., Effective inventory and service management through product and process redesign. Operations Research, 44(1), 151–159 (1996).
Lee, H. and C. Billington, Managing supply chain inventory: pitfalls and opportunities. Sloan Management Review, 33(3), 65–73 (1992).
Lee, H. and C. Billington, Materials management in decentralized supply chains. Operations Research, 41(5), 835–847 (1993).
Lee, H., Billington, C., and B. Carter, Hewlett-Packard gains control of inventory and service through design for localization. Interfaces, 23(4), 1–11 (1993).
Lee, H. and C. Billington, Designing products and processes for postponement, in Management of Design: Engineering and Management Perspective, S. Dasu and C. Eastman (eds.), Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston, MA, pp. 105–102 (1994).
Lee, H. and C.S. Tang, Modelling the costs and benefits of delayed product differentiation. Management Science, 43(1), 40–53 (1997).
Lee, H. and C.S. Tang, Variability reduction through operations reversal. Management Science, 44(2), 162–172 (1998).
Martin, M., Hausman, W., and K. Ishii, Design for variety, in Product Variety Management: Research Advances, T. Ho and C.S. Tang (eds.), Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston, MA, pp. 104–122 (1998).
McCarthy, F.T., All Yours. The Economist, April 1 (2000).
McCutcheon, D.M., Raturi, A.S., and J. Meredith, The customization-responsiveness squeeze. Sloan Management Review, 35(2), 89–99 (1994).
Meyer, M. and A. Lehnerd, The Power of Product Platforms. The Free Press, New York, NY (1997).
Pine, B.J., Mass Customization: The New Frontier in Business Competition. Harvard Business School Press, Cambridge, MA (1993).
Rockhold, S., Lee, H., and R. Hall, Strategic alignment of a global supply chain for business success, in Global Supply Chain and Technology Management, H. Lee and S. Ng (eds.), POMS Series in Technology and Operations Management: Volume 1, Production and Operations Management Society, Baltimore, MD, pp. 16–29 (1998).
Simchi-Levi, D., Kaminsky, P., and E. Simchi-Levi, Designing and Managing the Supply Chain: Concepts, Strategies, and Case Studies. McGraw-Hill, New York, NY (2000).
Simison, R.L., Toyota develops a way to make a car within five Days of a customer order. The Wall Street Journal, August 6 (1999).
Spiegel, R., Building an Efficient Company in a Downturn, Electronic News. Cahners Publishing Company, June 11 (2001).
Swaminathan, J.M., Enabling customization using standardized operations. California Management Review, 43(3), 125–135 (2001).
Swaminathan, J.M. and H. Lee, Design for Postponement, in OR/MS Handbook on Supply Chain Management, T. deKok and S. Graves, Elsevier Publishers (2003).
Swaminathan, J.M., Smith, S.F., and N.M. Sadeh, Modeling supply chain dynamics: a multi agent approach. Decision Sciences, 29(3), 607–632 (1998).
Swaminathan, J.M. and S. Tayur, Designing task assembly and using vanilla boxes to delay product differentiation: an approach for managing product variety, in Product Variety Management: Research Advances, T. Ho and C.S. Tang (eds.), Kluwer Publishers, Boston, MA, pp. 85–102 (1998a).
Swaminathan, J.M. and S. Tayur, Managing broader product lines through delayed differentiation using vanilla boxes. Management Science, 44(12), 161–172 (1998b).
Swaminathan, J.M. and S. Tayur, Managing design of assembly sequences for product lines that delay product differentiation. HE Transactions, 31(4), 1015–1026 (1999).
Ulrich, K., Randall, T., Fisher, M., and D. Reibstien, Managing product variety: a study of the bicycle industry, in Product Variety Management: Research Advances, T. Ho and C.S. Tang (eds.), Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston, MA, pp. 177–205 (1998).
Waller, M., Dabholkar, P., and J. Gentry, Postponement, product customization, and market-oriented supply chain management, Journal of Business Logistics, 21(2), 133–159 (2000).
Whang, S. and H. Lee, Value of postponement, in Product Variety Management: Research Advances, T. Ho and C.S. Tang (eds.), Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston, MA, pp. 66–84 (1998).
Zinn, W. and D. Bowersox, Planning physical distribution with the principles of postponement. Journal of Business Logistics, 9(2), 117–136 (1988).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2004 Springer Science&Business Media, Inc.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Venkatesh, S., Swaminathan, J.M. (2004). Managing Product Variety Through Postponement: Concept and Applications. In: The Practice of Supply Chain Management: Where Theory and Application Converge. International Series in Operations Research & Management Science, vol 62. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-27275-5_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-27275-5_9
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-0-387-24099-2
Online ISBN: 978-0-387-27275-7
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive