Tyndall Says:
|
Logistics
Service Providers (LSPs)
are still primarily perceived
as just that, and there
are few examples of strategic
relationships.
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do you say? Send
us your comments here
|
I
am pleased to relate some observations
from the AMR Supply Chain Executive
Conference, held recently in
Scottsdale, AZ.
My
thanks to AMR for the opportunity
to participate, and was sold
out at 800 people.
AMR
emphasizes “Demand-driven
Supply Networks” as being
the right strategy for how all
companies should operate their
supply chains. This theme
was consistently addressed at
this conference within the larger
theme of “Globalization:
Balancing Risk and Opportunity.”
AMR
is also known for its annual
“Top 25 Supply Chain Companies.”
I will leave this year’s
announced list for others to
review. It is rewarding,
however, to see some new companies
in some new industry segments
appear on the list. The
AMR methodology for evaluating
supply chain excellence is relatively
simple, but strict, and in general
it holds up year after year
in the winners that build shareholder
value.
It
is also rewarding to see several
companies doing the right supply
chain things. There were
excellent presentations by executives
at Novartis, Caterpillar, Polo
Ralph Lauren, and Coca-Cola;
as well as an executive panel
on sustainability with Dow Chemical,
Alcoa, and Fluor. All
revealed strong initiatives
and progress on such advances
as integrated operations, “operations
intelligence,” collaboration,
risk management, demand management,
and enabling technologies.
In addition, there were positive
advancements in responding to
environmental, greening and
energy issues, and of course
globalization.
Speaking
of globalization, before I go
any further on content, let
me praise the exceptional keynote
presentation by former Secretary
of State, General Colin Powell.
If anyone out there has not
had the privilege to hear him
speak, I highly recommend you
do so whenever you have the
opportunity. He is highly
entertaining, inspirational,
and conveys an understanding
of leadership second to none.
He uses true stories to illustrate
his points, and relates totally
to his audience each time.
His focus for this group –
on the importance of globalization,
appropriate immigration and
competition, and the global
value of supply chain excellence
– was also spot on.
As
he stated, we need to move “from
battlefields to playing fields”
– those of economic democratization,
energy, environment, education,
and dealing with regional issues
such as those in the Middle
East. He is positive and
optimistic that America can
regain its global leadership
standing. General Powell
is a true American hero and
statesman.
The
AMR conference is full of content.
In addition to the main presentations,
there were some 18 breakout
sessions on a number of relevant
topics. Obviously, while
I could not attend all of these
sessions, I did see a few, and
would like to share just a few
interesting findings:
- Dashboards
are becoming cockpits, and
beyond – to enable more
orchestration of supply chains’
management and excellence.
- Brand
owners are increasingly taking
on their entire supply chains.
- The
Toyota production system practices
are finding their way into
other companies, adapted as
appropriate.
- Reacting,
to anticipating, to collaborating,
to orchestrating, is the evolutionary
progress model -- from silos,
to companies, to cooperating
with a few suppliers and customers,
to collaborating with all
key suppliers and customers.
- Network
redesigns are becoming more
important (this session was
packed) as companies deal
with globalization and changing
customer demands.
- Lean
manufacturing – while
a good thing – can cause
“brittle supply chains,”
which lose their agility and
flexibility.
- Sales
and operations planning (which
SCDigest has often highlighted)
continues to be a major challenge
in almost every company.
Forecasting errors persist
because demand is market-driven,
not computer-driven or supplier-driven.
- Change/culture
management remains as the
key barrier to many of these
new strategies – but
leadership behaviors is equally
a constraint.
- Logistics
is becoming more of a network,
and a mobile one at that.
- Logistics
Service Providers (LSPs) are
still primarily perceived
as just that, and there are
few examples of strategic
relationships.
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