Holste Says: |
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The key to survival is adaptability - combining the ability to observe new trends together with a willingness to change. |
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What Do You Say?
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As many consultants and industry experts have pointed out, improvement programs and initiatives need planning. Setting up supplier relationships, even defining the sourcing philosophy and processes, requires more planning. Creating customer relationships with meaning, depth, and purpose (and understanding their business imperatives) calls for still more planning.
The pace of change today is faster than ever before. The key to survival is adaptability – combining the ability to observe new trends together with a willingness to change. Those companies who cannot adapt are unlikely to survive.
Don’t Let Daily Tactical Issues Subvert Strategic Planning
Planning is the cornerstone of any change initiative, whether technological, process, or cultural. Within the DC planning for labor is vital for reasons of both cost management and service performance. On a weekly or daily basis this needs to be done for flexible operational staffing and to meet expected peaks and valleys of activity. It also needs to be done for longer planning horizons, to prepare for growth as well as the inevitable changes in customer order profiles and SKU mix. Personnel recruitment, training, development, and retention are all strategies requiring planning.
Busy DC executives and managers are so often involved in tactical issues (getting things done) that it becomes easy to overlook the need for planning at the strategic level. However, growth oriented companies are the ones that are committed to continuous improvement strategies, accompanied by superb plans. In those companies planning is closely related to operations.
The following is a list of critical planning questions (provided by The Progress Group www.theprogressgroup.com ), all with operational implications, that should be addressed in a comprehensive strategic continuous improvement plan.
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