Any tips for how to reduce  end-to-end supply chain costs while not sacrificing quality?

I would go on these topics:

- Reduce Waste

- Improve Inventory Management

- Strengthen Visibility Across the Supply Chain

- Optimize Supplier Relationships (Not Just Prices)

- Automate / Use Data to Drive Decisions

Hope can help.

Without knowing more specifics, I would focus on logistics and inventory costs. Typically, engineering studies or network optimization exercises using what-if analysis or scenario modeling can unearth the most impactful areas for reducing costs and eliminating waste.

Question really is: what is the reason why you want to reduce costs? If you can answer this without the knee-jerk reaction of "because our margins aren't where they should be" then you also have your answer.
Many times companies pursue cost reduction ad noseum, without actually checking if it makes sense under the given circumstances...as shareholders get greedy....then they shoot themselves in the foot and spend more on restoring where they were before than what they actually saved.

We recommend looking into the system and identifying where the most touches occur- are they value added or required? If not, it may be time to Lean out the process and some businesses overlook the cost of the supply chain in the last mile, where a good amount of Total Cost of Ownership can be mitigated through the supply chain impacting other parts of the business.

The key thing in supply chains is to look at overall system costs while dealing with individual elements. That is why integrated business planning is so essential because it is all about the tradeoffs. Do you want to minimize unit cost in manufacturing with long runs, then be prepared to lock up cash in inventory. It is always good to find the right balance. You can source at the lowest cost and then pay for quality and delivery delays that hold up production and result in missed sales orders. Local optimization vs. system wide tradeoffs is something that needs to be considered and SC technology now gives that e2e visibility to enable those tradeoffs.