Every supply chain is composed of a set of virtuous or vicious circles; deficiencies in one area cause or reinforce weaknesses in other parts of the chain. This notion, that a supply chain will fail to demonstrate significant and sustainable system-wide improvements from staggered initiatives, offers a new way of looking at a supply chain - as an integrated whole, not as a set of individualized and independent processes. To put it another way, a supply chain is deftly calibrated only to the extent that each part of the chain triggers a virtuous circle in the next.
