What Makes Samsung Tops in Tvs

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The Korean electronics giant's supply chain management system has catapulted it ahead of Japanese brands Sony, Panasonic, and Sharp Every Monday morning, Lee Chun Jae begins his week at Samsung Electronics by setting in motion manufacturing operations around the world for the Korean giant. Lee is the operational chief at the 70-member command center of Samsung's supply chain management (SCM) system, and on Mondays he sends out the week's new instructions for production and shipping to 20 television and monitor factories in 11 countries. Over the weekend, the system had generated weekly, monthly, and quarterly sales forecasts based on the previous week's data on sales, manufacturing, supplies, and product development. Doing the job is like being "a conductor of an orchestra," says Lee. "SCM allows all units to operate in harmony." The elaborate system is the crucial weapon that has enabled Samsung to pull off a coup (BusinessWeek.com, 10/4/07) in the ruthlessly tough home electronics industry. Company executives believe the system, together with innovative design and parts standardization, has propelled Samsung ahead of Japanese electronics giants Sony (SNE), Matsushita Electric Industrial (MC), which is adopting its popular brand name Panasonic as its corporate moniker, and Sharp (SHCAY) in the television industry. The Japanese used to rule the TV world. But in 2007, for the second consecutive year, Samsung was No. 1 in the global TV market. Statistics from market researcher DisplaySearch show Samsung's share of 13.6% in overall TV sales, compared with runner-up LG Electronics' 11.4%. They were followed by Philips (PHG), with 7.4%, and Sony, with 6.6%. In the more crucial flat-panel TV segment, Samsung's 17.2% share was way ahead of No. 2 Sony's 10.6%, Philips' 10.2%, LG's 9.7%, and Sharp's 8.9%. Learning by Trial and Error Samsung executives credit

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