This unit covers the skills needed to analyse and map a value chain including the clear identification of a manufacturing enterprise's place in and contribution to the value chain. The unit will cover the identification

of enterprises in a value chain including their relationships and the activities undertaken by value chain enterprises. The identification skills include identification at the virtual or information level, the technical or process level and at the physical or logistic level.

The unit includes the analysis of value adding and non-value adding activities and the information needs for successful value chain mapping including information technology (IT) needs.

This unit covers the analysis of the supply chain, the demand chain as well as the overall value chain.

In a typical scenario, the person (who may be a production/plant manager, purchasing/technical officer or similar) needs to analyse a value chain, a supply chain or a demand chain in order

to understand the interactions between all members and determine the value added/potential value added by each member.

This is the basis for the design of Just in Time (JIT) and for the determination of waste. Value chain analysis is not just a one off activity but rather an ongoing activity of reanalysis as the value chain changes as its members progress towards truly competitive manufacturing.

This unit has the prerequisite of: