Attaining world-class supply chain management and collaboration means developing and managing supply chains and partnerships so that your company is flexible and resilient, with response times and delivery performance that will beat the competition.
Future supply chains need to cope with the long-term trends of mass customisation, ever shorter life cycles and the more recent volatile conditions that are here to stay. In these market conditions, many companies will benefit from a “smart” supply chain, which combines the drive to eliminate waste (i.e. anything that doesn’t add value) with agility and responsiveness (i.e. the ability to handle unpredictability with speed and flexibility).

A smart supply chain enables fast, flexible supply of tailor-made products at competitive cost levels. It excels in having few product and process quality issues, reduced operational costs, increased flexibility, and high internal process speeds. It integrates customers and business partners to create value in both the primary and support processes.

Building a smart supply chain requires a holistic approach that integrates product and process design, organisation design, and digital solutions:

  • an unambiguous supply chain strategy
  • product configuration for late postponement
  • processes that are aligned with strategy and designed for minimal order cycle times
  • a flat organisation with multidisciplinary teams and no silos
  • integration with partners throughout the supply chain
  • an aligned performance management system with real-time information from the end-to-end process
  • supply chain visibility with the ability for stakeholders throughout the supply chain to access real-time data related to the order process, planning, inventory, delivery and potential supply chain disruptions