Functional Roles in Supply Chain Change

None of our men are experts. We have most unfortunately found it necessary to get rid of a man as soon as he thinks himself an expert — because no one ever considers himself expert if he really knows his job. 

If the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. 

In Chapter 10 we discussed the Plan-Do-Check-Act approach to implementing supply chain projects. We also described at some length the role of top management in implementation. However, the reality is that the doers who implement new supply chain processes will come from one or more functional departments. So an important part of the task under current discussion, Implementing Collaborative Relationships, is marshalling these resources. A major obstacle is that improvement team must learn new skills to be effective. In addition to hammers, they must become proficient with saws, wrenches, and other tools of the trade. This chapter provides a guide to participation in our five supply chain implementation tasks  

Implementing collaborative relationships. (This task is the subject of diis chapter.) 

The five tasks will draw on an organization s resources in new ways. However, as a practical matter, most companies operate along the lines of traditional functions, organized into separate departments. Examples in a manufacturing company are procurement, engineering, manufacturing, and distribution. People in these fxmctions naturally become the experts. Too infrequently, people move from one function to another. Over time they know more and more about the business of the department and less and less 

One reengineering consultant has said that the existence of walls between the functions is the primary reason for the consulting industry. Indeed, consultants derive much of their revenue from improving communications, integrating information flows, or mediating across these man-made boxmdaries. DaimlerChrysler, in a case described in Chapter 13, provides an example how a large company dealt with what the company refers to as battleship departments. 

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TABLE 14.1 Functional Roles in Supply Chain Change... 

Organizing the change effort functional roles in supply chain transformation... 

Organizing fhe change effort and functional roles in supply chain... 

His situation calls to mind the discussion in Section 2.1 about different industry supply chain viewpoints. These begin with lip service, where the supply chain label is placed on an existing department with no real change in the scope of responsibility. Other viewpoints do have expanded roles but tend to focus on either procurement or distribution, functions associated with purchasing, warehouses, and transportation. 

Supply chains and operations functions are important for organizations. If you ask anyone in a supply chain or operations role, they will tell you that what they do each day is incredibly vital—and it is. Those in the field understand the importance of their roles and can articulate why, usually from the standpoint of operational performance. They can tell you the rate of defects, fill rates, order accuracy, inventory turns, and many other operational performance measures. After all, this is how their performance is measured. What is often missing from their explanations is how their actions directly affect the financial performance of the organization. Other than describing their key economic role in the organization as cost reduction, there is little more financial depth to the explanation. With the information and discussion provided by this book, we can change this. 

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