Global Supply Chain Management Organization at Siemens in the Advent of Industry 4.0

Abstract

Contemporary supply chain management involves integration, collaboration, networking, the Internet as a channel. The latter is about to be disrupted by the Internet of Things and industry 4.0. Contemporary Supply Chain Management involves supplier integration over product lifecycle. This creates structural organizational opportunities for Global Supply Chain Centers, organized as a corporate functional unit for an organization, a shared service center or a Business Process Organization that manages supply chain intermediation. The opportunities of such units are unravelled, the major of which: closing bulk contracts at a large discount price, especially for commodities; closing contracts with suppliers to assure supply availability and quality; economies of scale; complex product over lifetime advantages. These are possible for a large corporation or a Business Process Organization. This chapter aims to explore, analyze and evaluate the construction of a Global Supply Chain Management at Siemens since 2009 to date in the advent of Industry 4.0 promoted by Siemens.