Postponement Based on the Positioning of the Differentiation and Decoupling Points

Structural analysis of supply chains often involves postponement to some degree. The concept has received a lot of attention in the literature but the understanding of how to operationalize the concept still deserves some attention. A framework is introduced that provides an integrative picture of how different aspects of supply chain and operations management interplay in a postponement context. The framework is founded on a process/object perspective where a set of characteristics, properties and concepts are identified for each entity.