Drake Says:
|
If
you view your supply chain
solution as “finished,”
you’re in for some
surprises.
What
do you say? Send
us your comments here
|
Have you ever
seen one of those works of art
that seems to change depending
on your point of view? Walk
to the left and you see one
scene; move back to the right,
and another emerges.
Managing today’s
supply chain is a lot like that,
and it’s dramatically
different than it was just a
short time ago. When business
cycles and patterns were more
stable and predictable, a well-designed
supply chain was considered,
if not a masterpiece, then at
least a finished work. The task
of managing it was mostly maintenance.
We all thought that improvements
occurred mostly at the beginning
and then tapered off.
In today’s
business environment, if you
view your supply chain solution
as “finished,” you’re
in for some surprises. Customers
may choose to outsource to solve
a particular problem or implement
a specific strategy, but we
can’t just view it from
that perspective. Almost as
soon as a supply chain is up
and running, it’s likely
to need modification. An alert
provider will be constantly
reassessing the situation and
continually looking for opportunities
for improvement through synchronization,
information management, new
buying behaviors of customers,
and many other factors. We need
to be watching, looking at the
processes and systems from every
angle.
No matter how
“beautiful” or perfect
your supply chain solution may
feel when you design and implement
it, the enemy is resistance
to change, and you won’t
be prepared for today’s
dynamic supply chain management.
How do you
prepare? Make real-time
information visibility a top
priority, communicate, communicate,
communicate with your partners
and customers, and prepare your
organization to expect
the unexpected.
Oh, and one
more thing: Keep your eyes on
the business…and don’t
blink!
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