Principles of Responsive Supply Chains for Small Businesses

We have heard of small business are fast and agile. Nowadays, it is not big companies squashing small ones, but the fast leaving the big and slow companies behind.

So what makes a fast, responsive small business. The answer is to have a responsive supply chain. Principles of responsive supply chains are:
1. Lower production lead times (through pre-positioning raw material, or have some one create it in subassemblies, or reserving capacity)
2. Lower transportation lead times (air rather than sea/land/rail)
3. Parallel manufacturing
4. Small lot production
5. Frequent deliveries
6. Close coordination (design, manufacturing, commercial team sitting together)
7.  Good Forecasting (http://fastsupplychain.blogspot.com/2011/09/method-to-quantify-higher-profits-from.html)