Strategy, supply chain

Where in the product life cycle do our products sit, and how have we adjusted our supply chain strategy to match Where are the competitors products located in their life cycle ... 

Need for a supply chain strategy. As companies worked on the... 

Implemented projects without a holistic plan. For most companies, the implementation of projects has been without a holistic plan. As companies now attempt to digest their many projects and technologies from the last 30 years, it vdll be hard for them to connect the dots and string them together. For many this will force reimplementation. Supply chain strategy matters more now than ever. 

As the value discussion evolves, the need for a supply chain strategy becomes paramount. Business leaders want to know how they can align operational silos to improve the business strategy. This results in the development of a supply chain strategy. Figure 2.2 is a framework for this development. 

Just as an athlete is bom with innate potential, the supply chain s potential is definedby this effective frontier. As the supply chain race progresses, the key decision is how to make sense of all the market data, and make the right choices to trade off these conflicting metrics to drive higher value through the execution of the supply chain strategy. 

Like a tug-of-war, within the supply chain, there are push and pull relationships between trading partners at each node. For leaders, this is a conscious design element in the determination of supply chain strategy. 

In the development of the supply chain strategy, there is a critical question for each company to answer. It is, "How and what should be outsourced " Outsourcing to third parties can happen in all supply chain links—sales, distribution, manufacturing, procurement, and iimovation— in building a value chain. It can add value, reduce costs, and improve time to market, but it increases the need for planning, supply chain coordination of day-to-day activities and inventory, and visibility. Although companies can outsource their day-to-day supply chain activities, they cannot outsource... 

The questions surrounding outsourcing and the building of strategic relationships through value networks are answered in the development of the supply chain strategy. This is easier said than done. It is ongoing. Most supply chains are complex. 

Value networks do not just happen. Extending the supply chain outward from the enterprise through strategic relationships is an integral piece of the supply chain strategy. It takes time. It is a staged progression. Concentrated effort and a shared vision are essential. Network orchestration is critical. 

To extend the supply chain from an internal to an external focus requires skills, incentives, resources, planning, and leadership. There are many stops and starts. Relationships need to be treated differently based on importance, capabilities, and strategic alignment. Before companies can build successful value networks, they have to be clear on what determines value in the supply chain strategy. 

The greatest and most lasting impact on value happens when they converge and support the supply chain strategy. We find that supply chain leaders are often good at all three types, while supply chain laggards have not begun to define these critical network relationships. 

Get to know your own DNA. Just as deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) forms human cells with twisted strands of polymers forming a double helix, each item has its own DNA. You can only master the supply chain when you know each item s DNA. The twisted pairs or long polymers in the DNA cell makeup are replaced by demand and supply strands (representing the rhythms and cycles of demand and supply) in the supply chain. The processes of supply can only be effectively designed outside-in with a goal in mind (e.g., supply chain strategy). 

The results are substantial. Companies reaching stage 2 of supply chain maturity in sales and operations planning are able to drive an average improvement of 2 percent increase in growth and a 3 to 7 percent improvement in asset utilization. Other benefits include reductions in inventory and improvements in new product launch success. S OP allows companies to make the right trade-offs in metrics based on the supply chain strategy. 

Supplier development programs matured the fastest in discrete industries. The Nokia/Ericsson story was a catalyst for high-tech and discrete manufacture adoption. A supplier development program is an orchestrated initiative using the supply chain strategy to define supplier relationships. It includes one or more of these key elements ... 

Need for supply chain strategy. The importance of supply chain strategy in the design and building phases of supply chain horizontal processes becomes clear very quickly. Don t start without it. 

Focus on the bricks. How well have you defined the supply chain strategy around each element of the brick framework ... 

In the race for Supply Chain 2020, there is not enough time for consensus. This is often the elephant in the room. Instead, there needs to be a guiding coalition. While the term collaboration is bandied about, work teams can only collaborate when there is goal clarity. It happens when there is a clear win-win value proposition and teams have a common goal. The supply chain team needs clarity of role and purpose. The challenge for leadership teams is defining the supply chain strategy in a way that all functions see the entire elephant, not only different parts. 

As companies answer these questions and build their supply chain strategies, it is time to look forward. We can learn from history, but need to forge the path forward to drive differentiation. Before we can run the race, we must train. This training requires behavioral modification in three areas building supply chain agility, learning how to listen and learn, and valuing process innovation. 

While these future road map views will vary by adoption rates, they also may vary by other factors. This includes the industry, the design of the supply chain strategy, and the number of supply chains. Using these inputs, leadership teams should project their view of what they believe the rate of change will be for their supply chain. The highest success happens when this road map is cross-functional with a forward-looking duration of at least three years. 

The second challenge I see is one that is critical to every business leadership. Just as any company is always tweaking its marketing or innovation strategies to better anticipate and respond to marketplace dynamics, its supply chain strategies need to evolve as well. It is the... 

A supply chain strategy process to move towards a customer centric operation. 

Channel-driven fulfillment is the redesign of order processes to become demand driven, not order driven, and the supply chain strategy used is based on service level agreement for pull-based replenishment to define an order. Replenishment decisions are evaluated continuously for each channel based on profitability and product placement goals. Supply chain velocity and demand visibility are key elements for a successful execution of channel driven. 

Harrison (2003) describes three different supply chain strategies that a company... 

The advantages and disadvantages of Push and Pull supply chain strategies have led companies to look for a new supply chain strategy that exploits the best of both worlds The Hybrid Push-Pull supply chain strategy. 

Harrison (2003) also argues that the chaUenge for the firms is to define which of the three supply chain strategies described above is most appropriate for each product. Figure 2.4 below provides a framework to match supply chain strategies with products and industries. In the vertical axis, it is shown informatimi on uncertainty in customer demand, while the horizontal axis represents the importance of economies of scale, either in productirai or distribution ... 

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