Moving from Operations Management to looking at the extended Supply Networks started in the Consumer Goods industry and is today a widely accepted way of looking at this important company process in a much more concise way. Huge efficiency gains have been achieved and still more refined models of the supply chain processes are being developed leading to increased effectiveness.
The model as such is a linear one and herein lies the major shortcoming. Over the last decade markets have become much more volatile. A major reason for this phenomenon is the scarcity of certain resources as for example rare earth. These effects will increase and new models of supply are required. The concept of a circular economy can potentially become as strong a stimulus as originally the concept of the extended supply chain.
Businesses can develop completely differentiated new market models and decouple themselves in collaborative networks from the current uncertainties of doing business.