1.如果在一家便利店购买一听苏打水，请描述供应链的不同阶段，并且说明涉及的流程。
Whenacustomerpurchasesacanofsodaataconveniencestore,hispurchaserepresentstheendofasupplychain’sdeliveryofanitemandthebeginningofinformationregardinghispurchaseflowingintheoppositedirection.
Thesupplychainstagesincludecustomers,retailers,wholesalers/distributors,manufacturers,andcomponent/rawmaterialsuppliers.Acustomer’spurchasemovesproducttowardsthecustomeranddollarsandinformationtowardstheretailer.
Theretailerplacesanorderfromthewholesaler/distributortoreplenishstock,therebymovinginformationbackupthesupplychainwhilemovingproductdownthesupplychain.Astheorderisfilled,theretailerwillmovedollarsbackupthesupplychain.
Thewholesaler/distributortransmitsinformationanddollarstothemanufacturerwhoproducesproductandshipsitdownthesupplychaintothewholesaler.
Finally(orinitially,dependingonyourperspective)themanufacturermovesorders(information)anddollarstowardssuppliersinexchangeformaterialflowintotheirproductionprocesses.
当一个顾客在便利店买一听苏打水，他的购买行为代表着一个商品在供应链中传递的结束，同时他顺利的购买行为代表着信息在供应链相反方向的开始。
供应链平台包括消费者、零售商、批发商/分销商、生产者和零件/原材料供应商。一个顾客的购买行为是商品向顾客的转移与信息向零售商的转移。
零售商从批发商/分销商那列出一份订单，以便补充库存。因此信息是沿着供应链逆向移动而商品是顺着供应链正向移动。当订单完成后，零售商将会把资金沿着供应链的逆向传至供应链上游。
批发商/分销商将信息与资金传递给生产者即生产产品，并将（产品）顺着供应链送至批发商手中的一方。
最后（或最初，取决于你自己的观点）生产者将订单（信息）和资金转移给供应商以换取材料来投入生产流程。
5.考虑顾客从亚马逊订购书籍的供应链，辨别推/拉界限以及这两个流程的推动和拉动阶段。
InAmazon’soriginaloperationsdesignthepush/pullboundaryexistedbetwixttheretailer(Amazon)andtheirdistributor.Amazonorderedproductfromthedistributorandthecustomerorderarrived.Today,Amazonhassixwarehouseswhereitstocksaninventoryofitemsitisconfidentthatwillsell.Inthisscenario,thepush/pullboundaryexistsbetweenthecustomerandtheretailer.
Processesinthepullphasearetheorderfulfillment,shipping,customerreturns,andcustomerbilling.Processesinthepushphaseareproduction,stockreplenishments,shipping,andpayment.
在亚马逊的原始运营设计中，推/拉边界存在于零售商（亚马逊）和他们的分销商之间。亚马逊从分销商和顾客手中获取订单后订购产品。如今亚马逊有六个仓库，在这六个仓库中存放着确定会被卖出的商品。在这种情况下，推/拉边界存在于顾客和零售商之间。
拉动阶段为订单的满足，运输，顾客的反馈与顾客的发票。推动阶段是生产，库存的补充，运输与付款。
第2章供应链绩效：赢得战略匹配与战略范围
8.7—11便利店、超级市场连锁店和没过好市多这样的折扣零售商，他们面临的隐含不确定性有什么不同？
Whencustomersgotoaconveniencestorechainsuchas7-Eleven,theygotherefortheconvenienceofanearbystoreandarenotnecessarilylookingforthelowestprice.Implieddemanduncertaintywouldbehighascustomersarelookingforavarietyofproductsandconvenienceversuscostanddemandlevelsarehardtopredict.
Asupermarketchainfocusesoncostandquality,withsomespecialtychainsaddingflexibilitybycarryingabroaderrangeofproductsthatmaybetargetedtowardscustomersinterestedinorganicproductsorethniccuisine.Implieddemanduncertaintyforasupermarketchaintendstobelow;shoppersaretypicallyrepeatcustomersandhaveaconstantdemandlevel.Thesupermarketsupplychainmustberesponsivebyreceivingproducequicklytoensurefreshnessandhaveahighservicelevel.Supermarketsupplychainstendtobewell-establishedandcanimprovestrategicfitbyemphasizingspeedtomaintainfreshness,henceperceivedquality.
LowpriceisveryimportanttocustomersofdiscountretailerssuchasCostco.Thiscustomeriswillingtotoleratelessvarietyandevenpurchaseverylargepackagesizesaslongasthepriceislow.Customerdemandcanbemorepredictableandsupplysideneedsarelargeandfairlystable.
9.当供应链的每个环节仅仅专注于自己的利润时，在作决定时会引起哪些问题？识别一些有助于零售商和制造商共同努力去拓展战略匹配范围的行动。
Highinventories,poorquality,lowcustomerservice,increasedreturnsarejustanumberofproblemsthatoccurwheneachstageofasupplychainfocusessolelyonitsownprofits.Thetruckingcompanyrequiresfulltruckloadsfordeliveryforcingtheretailertocarrymoreinventorythanwantedorneeded.Thesupplieroffersdiscountstotheirbuyerstomaximizeproductionbutforcingthebuyerstopurchaseinlargerquantitiesthandesired.Thisconceptwasveryprevalentduringthe1950sand1960sascompaniestominimizelocalcostsandmaximizetheirownprofits.
Today,retailersandmanufacturershavetheopportunitytoplanpromotionsjointlysuchasWal-MartandP&G.Theycansharesalesinformationtodeterminecustomertrends.Jointproductdevelopmentopportunitiesarebeingexploredthroughoutthesupplychainbetweenretailers,manufacturersandrawmaterialsuppliers.
当供应链的每个环节仅仅专注于自己的利润时,(会造成)高库存、低质量、低客户服务，获得的回报。运输公司要进行整车运输迫使零售商持有的库存比需求多。供应商给买家提供价格折扣以使生产最大化，却导致购买者买进超过需求的大批量商品。这个观念，在公司将成本最小化并且使自