Demand Chain Management for value creation and innovation: the case of perishable products

The centrality of consumer's preferences and their changing nature force companies to constantly revise their procurement, manufacturing and distribution decisions, so to maximize their performance, to improve their competitive advantage and customers loyalty. The more effective the supply chain is in making the product available to the customer, the more value it is able to generate. According to the scientific literature on the topic, this paper offers an adaptation of the main competences required by the Demand Chain approach – in terms of marketing, product management, supply chain management and operations, to the case of perishable products. By implementing the DWV3 theoretical model, this paper proposes an integrated conceptual framework for checking the supply chain concept and architecture coherence, in order to understand whether a tailored manufacturing and logistics response is possible and what kind of advantages it may result in. The implementation is useful to show opportunities and difficulties related to crucial changes in the chain.