What's happening in European supply-chains?

Many multinational companies are supposedly viewing Europe as one region and re-shaping their approach to the supply of products to customers. Several factors are thought to be driving this trend, notably the degree of merger and acquisitions activity; the need for improved financial performance; the pressure to reduce inventories and costs, facilitated by improvements in communication and information technology systems. All of this is in the context of European market and monetary harmonisation. This paper investigates the extent and effect of the amanegement of supply chains on a pan-European baisis by multinational business. A survey was used to examine changes, both made and anticipated. to operational strategies, processes, organisational structures and physical infrastructure across a range of businesses and industry sectors. Cost reducation, driven by the need for profit and shreholder return, was found to be the priority for developments in supply chains.Many businesses reported consolidation of manufacturing and distribution activities whilst retaining discrete country-by-country organisational structures for managing customers and markets.Logistics Service Providers were seen in a traditional role as suppliers of commodity warehousing and transport services and lacked true pan-European capability. Despite the often-vaunted concept of a pan-European business model, individual businesses wwere seen to be negotiating their own path to balancing economies of scale with customers' service needs and expectations.