Int. J. Operational Research, Vol. 9, No. 4, 2010 443 Copyright © 2010 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. A systems approach to order fulfilment Yousef Amer* and Lee Luong School of Advanced Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, SA 5095, Australia E-mail: Yousef.Amer@unisa.edu.au E-mail: Lee.Luong@unisa.edu.au *Corresponding author M. Azeem Ashraf School of Electrical and Information Engineering, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, SA 5095, Australia E-mail: MdAzeem.Ashraf@postgrads.unisa.edu.au Sang-Heon Lee School of Advanced Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, SA 5095, Australia E-mail: Sang-Heon.Lee@unisa.edu.au Abstract: Supply chain management aims to add value across the supply chain, and customer service is now a major strategic issue. Supply chains are complex and subject to variables of forecast, supply, process and transportation which can lead to problems, such as the Bullwhip effect, product lateness, damaged goods and stock outs. A key issue that companies are facing today is how to monitor and control performance across the chain. This paper presents design for six sigma (DFSS), which focuses on customer requirements from the onset, as an effective methodology for monitoring and controlling supply chain variables, optimising supply chain processes and meeting customer’s requirements. By applying DFSS methodology to the key supply chain process of order fulfilment, a customised representation of detailed activities of order fulfilment processes is demonstrated providing key performance indicators. A theoretical transfer function for predicting the performance of the perfect order incorporating fuzzy set theory provides a way of monitoring supply chain performance. Keywords: SCM; supply chain management; supply chain strategy; performance measurement; customer service management; DFSS; design for six sigma; order fulfilment; perfect order and fuzzy set theory. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Amer, Y., Luong, L., Azeem Ashraf, M. and Lee, S-H. (2010) ‘A systems approach to order fulfilment’, Int. J. Operational Research, Vol. 9, No. 4, pp.443–465.