Financial and financial engineering considerations in supply chain and product development pipeline management

Enterprise-wide decision problems are receiving increasing attention in the process systems engineering literature. In particular, the supply chain and product development pipeline management components of this general class of problems have been subjects of intensive research in both their deterministic and their stochastic forms. The supply chain management (SCM) problem has seen work largely focused on the process operations and logistics components while for the product development pipeline management (PDPM) problem much of the attention has been on MILP formulations addressing the consequences of product failure during its development. In their full realization, both are recognized as challenging stochastic multi-stage decision problems. In this paper we discuss three important aspects of these problems that require further research: the realistic representation of the financial components and appropriate criteria for this class of problems, strategic management of supplier and customer relationships through inventory management and option contracts, and innovative approaches to suitably value and integrate a broader range of decisions available to management. We highlight and extend relevant contributions and case examples drawn from the recent literature that are emerging on these topics and use this work to point out further challenges.