Expert Insight: Supply Chain InView
  By Ann Drake  
     
  March 19 , 2007  
  Look Again - Supply Chain Strategy is Never Finished  
     
 

Real-time information and lots of communication are key to agility

 
     
 
Drake Says:
If you view your supply chain solution as “finished,” you’re in for some surprises.

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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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