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Supply Chain

No one disputes the economic impact of supply chain management. But for the most part, initiatives to improve supply chain processes to date have fallen short of expectations. Part of the reason may be that the execution of these programs is flawed or is inadequately planned by people who don't possess the right training and skills. Some common supply chain mistakes and guidelines to prevent them are presented. They are: 1. always viewing the supply chain as a chain, 2. continuing to do business as usual, 3. having the wrong idea about control, 4. failing to synchronize demand and supply signals, 5. believing that technology is the real enabler, 6. failing to gain real visibility, 7. adopting a one-channel-fits-all approach, 8. misreading the people factor, 9. not leveraging global elements of supply chain operation, and 10. underestimating the size of the transformation task.

Full Text (4595 words)
Copyright Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier, Inc. Jul/Aug 2004[Headnote]
Why do so many companies fail to extract the full value out of their supply chain transformation efforts? Most failures occur at the intersection points between employees, process, and technology. From the perspective of one veteran practitioner and consultant, here are the ten most common mistakes that companies make when trying to enact meaningful change in their supply chains.

No one disputes the economic impact of supply chain management. Study after study has linked supply chain performance to shareholder value and shown that total supply chain costs account for more than half of the finished cost of a typical product. Rut for the most part, initiatives to improve supply chain processes to date have fallen short of expectations. How else can you explain why inventory has continued to grow at a 3-pcrccnt compound annual growth rate over the last decade? And why 30-percent of new consumer goods products lail to meet basic financial returns?

Part of the...