A Study On The Application Of Postponement In Food Supply Chain Integration

After WTO post-transition period, the food industry of our country is facing tremendous impact that Foreign food enterprises bring on .In order to ensure state food security and the sound development of food industry, it is highly important for food supply to develop bigger and better. Food supply integration is an effective way to strengthen the competiveness of food supply chain. Food supply chain must keep harmony between the industrial scale and customization.This paper is focused on food supply chain integration from the application perspective of postponement theory and the goal is to solve the harmony problem between economies of scale and customization. Based on related literatures about supply chain integration theory ,postponement theory and the interactional research between supply chain integration theory and postponement theory from home and abroad,this article establishes the theory basis for further research, then makes a general analysis of food supply chain integration based on postponement. Specifically, this study mainly analyses the necessity of food supply chain integration and the necessity and feasibility of the application of postponement in food supply chain integration,then puts forward the basic process of the application of postponement theory in food supply chain integration. Finally, this passage makes description and evaluation for postponement application to rice supply chain integration. The author thinks that the application of postponement theory can help food supply chain integration achieve both economies of scale and customization.The conclusion is showed as follows:(1)The industrial scale and customization will bring a great challenge for food supply chain integration;(2)Food products'common demand and personality demand divide food supply chain into push supply chain and pull supply chain ,which is also the food product differentiating point;(3) Postponement theory is a practical policy to promote food supply chain integration to achieve dual goals of economies of scale and meeting personality demand.