As we start to see more and more shoots of growth in the economy things are starting to really pick up; increased sales, increased velocity, increased positivity, increased noise. This is the time to increase the visibility in your supply chain; extend how far you can see into your supply chain, with better connectivity to key customers and suppliers, improved data sharing on key products materials and production lines or increased granularity of shared data.
Approaches that help can range from
- SaaS supply chain visibility tools such as E2open that will improve your real-time connectivity to your upstream and downstream partners.
- Supply chain reporting tools such as Every Angle that give you better finger on the vital signs in your SAP driven Supply Chain.
- Demand Driven sense and respond tools that position inventory accordingly within your network to respond to real-time demand in efficient and effective ways. Such as SO99+ from ToolsGroup.
- Or just putting in some improved basic messaging tools to your 2 or 3 main suppliers or customers, that are reviewed and adjusted on a daily / weekly basis.
All of these approaches will increase your perspective on your supply chain, enabling you to see more and know more. Now here is the trick, not every piece of knowledge needs to be reacted to, some additional information is already within normal tolerance and therefore is covered in the planned variability. Its only when this new and better information hits a key threshold that adjustments need to be applied. Consequently you can now see the unexpected changes coming sooner, which gives you greater confidence with your plans and a business that is better ready to adjust from business as usual.
Think of it like this:- If you try and walk down Oxford Street in the rush hour looking a few inches ahead of your feet, your journey will be peppered with interruptions, changes in direction, a few bumps on the way and even a few irate responses. However if you lift your head up and now look further ahead now your walk is more measured, more purposeful and steadier - there are times when you need to make adjustments, there are others when you do not. The journey will be with faster, less stressful and will result in other players flowing with you rather than resisting!
How far do you look ahead with confidence, is it a few days, a few weeks or a few months? As variability increases, as the economy further accelerates this will initially breed more re-activity if we do not lift our horizons!
Want to find out more about these topics speak to
Dave Food