Operations Management: Time-Based Competition in Supply Chains

This report examines the strategy of time-based competition and its impact on supply chain systems, focusing on how it enhances organizational growth. It begins with an overview of time-based competition, highlighting potential benefits for organizations. The report discusses key elements of successful supply chains, including 'fast to market' and 'fast to product' concepts, and analyzes their application within Wilmar International. The analysis covers how Wilmar International uses time-based competition to improve its supply chain and gain a competitive edge. It concludes by assessing the effectiveness of this strategy for Wilmar International, demonstrating its benefits in improving operational efficiency and market responsiveness.

Running head: SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Supply Chain Management
Name of the Student:
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Executive Summary
This report intends to shed light on the strategy of time-based competition and the manner in
which it had not only improved the supply chain systems used by the different organizations
but at the same time had enabled them to attain a higher growth rate as well. The report
begins by offering an overview of the strategy of time-based competition and also the likely
benefits that the use of it is likely to offer to the organizations. The report next discusses the
key elements of successful supply chains and also the concepts of ‘face to market’ and ‘face
to product’. The report next undertakes an analysis of the manner in which these concepts are
being used by the organization Wilmar International. The report finally concludes with a
discussion of the benefits that the usage of this strategy had offered to the organization under
discussion here.

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Table of Contents
Time-based competition.............................................................................................................3
Key elements of successful supply chains.................................................................................3
Fast to Market............................................................................................................................5
Fast to Product............................................................................................................................5
Implementation..........................................................................................................................6
Wilmar International and its use of time-based competition.....................................................7
Effectiveness of the strategy for the organization......................................................................9
References................................................................................................................................10

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Time-based competition
The concept of time-based competition was first articulated by George Stalk, Jr, in
this 1988 article “Time-The Next Source of Competitive Advantage” which first appeared in
the journal Harvard Business Review (Walker 2016). Chen, Preston and Swink (2015) have
articulated the viewpoint that the time base competition can be seen as a broad competitive
strategy which is intended to help the organizations to attain competitive advantage over the
rivals through the improvement of the supply chain system that they are using. More
importantly, as opined by Kozlenkova et al. (2015), the primary focus of the strategy under
discussion here is on the entity of time and thus the strategy states focuses on the effective
utilization as well as the management of time as a way to achieve sustainable competitive
advantage.
According to Christopher (2016), the evolution of this strategy can be seen as the time
as well as delivery related problems that the different business enterprises had been facing
since the traditional times. For example, the entity of time forms an integral part of the
business process of an organization and as a matter of fact the overall business as well as
financial prospects of an organization depend significantly on the speed with which it is being
able to manufacture quality products or services and also deliver it to the customers (Liu et al.
2016). However, since the traditional times, the organizations because of their reliance of the
manual supply chain systems used to lose out on a large number of customers because of the
delay in the manufacturing as well as the delivery of the concerned of the products or services
(Heckmann, Comes and Nickel 2015).

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Key elements of successful supply chains
As opined by Sanders (2016), the focus of the contemporary organizations is on the
attainment of the entity of competitive advantage so as to thrive in the ever competitive
business world. Wieland, Handfield and Durach (2016) are of the viewpoint that in order to
adapt themselves to the changing nature of the business world and also to enhance the quality
of their business operations the organizations are increasingly resorting to the use of various
kinds of innovative strategies for the improvement of the supply chain system that they are
using. The primary motive of the organizations behind the usage of these strategies is not
only to ensure a stable supply chain system but also to reduce the time needed to procure as
well as deliver products or services (Mangan, Lalwani and Lalwani 2016). The frameworks
of time-based competition and just-in-time production (JIT) are the two innovative supply
chain management techniques which are being used by the contemporary organizations for
the enhancement of the prospects of their business (Hugos 2018).
Ralston et al. (2015) have articulated the viewpoint that there are several entities
which are the key components of the successful supply chains that distinguish them from the
ineffective ones. In this regard, mention needs to be made of the ease with which an
organization is being able to get the raw materials that are needed for the manufacture of
products or services, the rapidity with which the finished products or services can be
delivered to the customers, the use of innovative technologies and machineries for the
reduction of time of manufacturing and transfer of finished products or services to the
customers and others (Ross 2016). It is pertinent to note that the strategy of time-based
competition had been formulated in such a manner that it encompasses each of these key
elements of the success supply chains and this is one of the major reasons why the strategy is
being extensively used by the different contemporary organizations. Furthermore, for the
effective utilization of the strategy of time- based competition the organizations are required

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to compress or reduce the time that is needed for various operational activities like propose,
develop, manufacture, market and also to deliver the finished or the completed products or
services to the customers (Soosay and Hyland 2015). This in turn reduces the amount of time
which is needed by the organizations for the manufacture as well as the delivery of the
products or services and thereby not only enhances the effectiveness of the supply chain of
the organization but at the same time enables the organizations to earn a higher amount of
profit as well on the score of timely delivery of products or services (Lii and Kuo 2016).
Thus, it can be said that the organizations through the usage of time-based competition
strategy had not only being able to reduce the time which was needed for the manufacture as
well as the delivery of products or services to the customers but at the same time had been
able to offer quality services to the customers as well. This in turn had increased the
profitability of their organization and thereby enabled them to attain a higher level of growth.
Fast to Market
As opined by Suri (2016), the concept of “fast to market” forms one of the core
components of the entire strategy of time-based competition is mainly concerned with the
manner in which the time which is needed for product development cycle and also new
production introduction can be reduced in an effective manner. For example, it is seen that
the manufacturing of products or services using the traditional machineries takes a significant
amount of time and the organizations lose out a large number of customers because of this
(Wang et al. 2015). Thus, through the usage of this concept the organizations can deliver
products or services at a faster rate to the markets and thereby earn a higher amount of profit
through the sale of these products or services.

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Fast to Product
According to Prajogo, Oke and Olhager (2016), the concept of “fast to product” is
another important aspect of the strategy of time-based competition which is being used by the
organizations to reduce the time which is needed for production lead time as well as delivery
speed. The primary focus of the organizations behind the usage of this concept is to reduce
the time that is needed to complete the product manufacturing process which in turn enables
the organizations to offer the delivery of the products or services on time to the customers.
Fredendall and Hill (2016) are of the viewpoint that this is important from the perspective
that the contemporary organizations generally like to opt for the products or services of an
organization which offers timely delivery.
As stated by Sanders (2016), the entities of ‘fast to market’ and ‘fast to product’
become especially important from the particular context of the various time-sensitive
operations of the supply chain used by the different organizations. In this regard, it needs to
be said that there are various time-sensitive operations within the supply chain system used
by the organizations like the procurement of raw materials, manufacture of products or
services, delivery of these products or services and others (Chen, Preston and Swink 2015). It
is pertinent to note that the above mentioned concepts through the reduction in the time of
product manufacturing cycle and also by ensuring the timely delivery of the finished products
or services had greatly improved the effectiveness of these time-sensitive operations and
thereby helped the organizations to not only earn a higher amount of revenue but at the same
a higher level of growth as well (Mangan, Lalwani and Lalwani 2016).
Implementation
The organizations for the effective use as well as implementation of the time-based
competition strategy need to take the help of various kinds of innovative technologies as well

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as machineries. For example, for the reduction of the time of product manufacturing cycle the
organizations need to take the help of the state-of-the-machineries for the manufacture of
quality products or services that too in a lesser time (Kozlenkova et al. 2015). More
importantly, for the enhancement of the speed of delivery of the finished products or services
the organizations also need to take the help of various technologies like automation, robotics
and others so as to reduce the time which is needed for the same (Walker 2016).
Wilmar International and its use of time-based competition
The organization Wilmar International Limited, established in 1991 is Asia’s largest
agri-business organization and is the 2nd largest organization of Singapore in terms of the
revenue generated by it (Wilmar-international.com 2019). More importantly, in the recent
times it is seen that the organization offers a wide range of products to the customers like
palm oil, edible oils, protein meals, sugar, which are manufactured from biodiesel and
chemicals and others (Wilmar-international.com 2019). It is pertinent to note that the
organization despite the success that it had received in the recent times had faced various
kinds of issues related to its supply. For example, the earlier manual form of supply system
that it used to use cause delay in the delivery of the products to the customers because of the
delay in the manufacture of these products. The net result of this delay was the fact that the
organization lost many of its loyal customers to its rival and this adversely affected the
business prospects of the organization under discussion here (Mangan, Lalwani and Lalwani
2016). Thus, for the improvement of the supply chain system which it is currently using the
organization had opted for the use of the strategy of time-based competition.
Wilmar International Limited for the improvement of its supply chain system and also
to gain sustainable competitive advantage within the business market of Singapore is
currently taking the help of ‘fast to market’ and ‘fast to product’ processes of the time-based

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competition strategy. For example, it is seen that the organization through the use of ‘fast to
market’ process had been able to reduce the time that it used to require for the product
development cycle (Liu et al. 2016). However, at the same time it needs to be said that this
had become possible for the organization because of the fact that the organization in the
recent times had removed the old machineries that it used to use for the manufacture of
products and replaced it with newer as well as better ones (Christopher 2016). It is pertinent
to note that the organization currently taking the help of the technological advancements of
the nation of Singapore and also importing advanced machineries from the other nations of
the world for the effective attainment of this. This in turn had reduced the amount of time that
it used to take for the manufacture of products and thereby had enabled to manufacture
products at a much faster rate and cater to the demands of the customers in a better manner.
In this regard, it needs to be said that the focus of the concerned organization in the present
times is on the manner in which the delivery time as well as the time that is needed for the
manufacture of the products offered by them can be reduced. This is perhaps one of the major
reasons why the organization under discussion here is extensively taking the help of different
kinds of technologies for the improvement of the supply chain system that they are currently
using.
Wilmar International Limited, on the other hand, through the usage of ‘fast to
product’ had been able to enhance the speed with which it used to deliver the products to the
customers. However, it is seen that the organization for the effective usage of this process had
given up the earlier manual system of delivery that it used to use and had replaced it with a
newer one which relies on automation and robotics (Ross 2016). This in turn had enabled the
organization to deliver the finished goods at a comparatively faster rate and thereby helped it
to retain a large number of customers who in the earlier times used to switch over to the
organizations because of the delay in the delivery of products (Ralston et al. 2015). The net

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result of this is that the organization under discussion here had not only been able to retain its
loyal customers but at the same time new customers as well which in turn had enabled the
organization to earn a higher amount of revenue as well (Ross 2016). More importantly,
through the extensive usage of the strategy of time based competition the organization at the
same time had been able to offer quality products to the customers and that too in a very
shorter time and this in turn had greatly enhanced the satisfaction level of the customers. This
in turn had enabled the organization to attain competitive advantage over its competitors in
the business market of the nation of Singapore and also helped it to earn a higher amount of
revenue as well.
Effectiveness of the strategy for the organization
The effective usage of the time-based competition strategy had not only enabled the
organization to improve the supply chain system which it used to use in the earlier times but
at the same time had enabled it to earn a higher revenue as well. For example, in the 2018 the
gross revenue earned by the organization increased by 9.7% which can not only ascribed to
the effective business strategies used by the organization but at the same to the time-based
competition strategy used by it as well (Wilmar-international.com 2019). In this regard, it
needs to be said that the growth rate attained by the other organizations in this industry is 2%
or 3% which is way lower than the one attained by Wilmar (Clay and Feeney 2018). More
importantly, by ensuring the reduction of time in the product manufacturing and also the
timely delivery of products in the markets the organization in the recent times had been able
to enhance its customer base in a significant manner which in turn is reflected in the
increased percentage of revenue earned by the organization. However, at the same time it
needs to be said that the organization can use the strategy under discussion here, for the

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introduction of new products in the business market of Singapore and thereby attained an
even higher amount of financial growth.

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References
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value creation in supply chain management. Journal of Management Information
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Christopher, M., 2016. Logistics & supply chain management. Pearson UK.
Clay, P.M. and Feeney, R., 2018. Analyzing agribusiness value chains: a literature
review. International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, pp.1-16.
Fredendall, L.D. and Hill, E., 2016. Basics of supply chain management. CRC Press.
Heckmann, I., Comes, T. and Nickel, S., 2015. A critical review on supply chain risk–
Definition, measure and modeling. Omega, 52, pp.119-132.
Hugos, M.H., 2018. Essentials of supply chain management. John Wiley & Sons.
Kozlenkova, I.V., Hult, G.T.M., Lund, D.J., Mena, J.A. and Kekec, P., 2015. The role of
marketing channels in supply chain management. Journal of Retailing, 91(4), pp.586-609.
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Mangan, J., Lalwani, C. and Lalwani, C.L., 2016. Global logistics and supply chain
management. John Wiley & Sons.

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Prajogo, D., Oke, A. and Olhager, J., 2016. Supply chain processes: Linking supply logistics
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Suri, R., 2016. It's about time: the competitive advantage of quick response manufacturing.
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698.
Wieland, A., Handfield, R.B. and Durach, C.F., 2016. Mapping the landscape of future
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212.

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Wilmar-international.com 2019. Wilmar International Home. [online] Available at:
https://www.wilmar-international.com/ [Accessed 28 Jan. 2019].