{"id":7391,"date":"2018-11-01T08:56:17","date_gmt":"2018-11-01T12:56:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demand-planning.com\/?p=7391"},"modified":"2018-11-01T08:59:00","modified_gmt":"2018-11-01T12:59:00","slug":"why-we-need-to-take-stock-of-our-supply-chain-and-we-dont-mean-inventory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demand-planning.com\/2018\/11\/01\/why-we-need-to-take-stock-of-our-supply-chain-and-we-dont-mean-inventory\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Rules For Truly Adaptive Supply Chain Planning"},"content":{"rendered":"

Companies that have survived decades of change have done so by flipping the script on long-established business tenets, and ripping up the rule book to adapt to new business realities. However, the maxim “the more things change, the more they stay the same\u201d still rings true for many businesses that have neglected to gauge how legacy supply chains are faring in the midst of all this change. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Regardless of industry sector, it\u2019s almost too easy to get caught up in the day-to-day chaos of routine business operations, particularly if company results are reasonably successful with few customer complaints and acceptable financial returns. This operating model of \u201cif it ain\u2019t broke, don\u2019t fix it\u201d ignores inevitable internal and external shifts in supply and demand. Instead of just coasting along, if we want to remain truly competitive, we should be taking stock of our supply chain planning processes and performing our due diligence to ensure we\u2019re always equipped to proactively support change. Below are some of the more common fluctuating variables within supply chain planning that should be considered and addressed on a periodic basis.<\/p>\n

Use S&OP To Determine Important Customers and Products<\/h2>\n

Demand management<\/a> is much larger than simply forecasting\u2014over time, customers and products come and go, and a customer that\u2019s critical today may not be so important tomorrow. Our focus on products at time-of-launch becomes much different as they move toward end-of-life. But how does an organization define \u201cimportance”?\u00a0 A robust S&OP<\/a> process is the answer. Much of its value lies in its support of corporate objectives and financial goals, especially when an organization is challenged with identifying the characteristics or attributes that make a given product or customer segment important, for any number of qualitative or quantitative reasons.<\/p>\n

Priorities change, so develop a process that can proactively identify and manage that change.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

S&OP<\/a> helps organizations stay on task with the larger challenge\u2014periodic reevaluations of customer and product importance\u2014to ensure these rankings still support the organization\u2019s current strategic goals. It\u2019s good to remember that strategic goals are longer term in nature, not to be confused with the near-term, tactical day-to-day issues and necessary course corrections. S&OP<\/a> programs give enterprises the ability to play the long game, and regularly adjust customer and product priorities based on a strategic view, which is a critical advantage in successfully supporting an organization\u2019s corporate objectives and financial goals. Priorities change, so develop a process that can proactively identify and manage that change.<\/p>\n

Monitor Changes In The Market & Be Prepared<\/h2>\n

Customers both new and old can have very high expectations of service and delivery, conjuring up sometimes challenging requirements in today\u2019s demanding marketplace. The reality is that we can\u2019t plan for every customer request that comes our way. Still, it\u2019s important to continue monitoring these requests to determine which of them are necessary or worthy of consideration in the future. For example, working with a group that was two years into a multi-year journey of global process change, e-commerce\u2014not considered relevant at the start of this engagement\u2014emerged as a challenge. The impact to demand planning, inventory management, distribution, and order fulfillment was quite significant. When considering evolving market requirements, understanding the relationships and integration challenges to your end-to-end processes will minimize the impact these changes will have on future implementations.<\/p>\n

Actively Promote Knowledge Development In Your Company<\/h2>\n

Some people within organizations have short tenures, while others stay for a long time. For these long-time individuals, it\u2019s human nature to become personally invested in an established role within a business. This isn\u2019t a bad thing when key functions are being performed and the organization is doing well.<\/p>\n

The upside:<\/strong> that these hard workers within the organization gain a solid understanding of the business.<\/p>\n

The downside<\/strong>: they often lose touch with the outside world, without access to crucial insights regarding what similar companies are doing.<\/p>\n

Best practices are relative to their applicability within an organization, so it\u2019s important to look outside of one\u2019s own experiences to grow knowledge and apply these new insights to improve processes within one\u2019s own organization. Continuing education and networking are two ways to gain new proficiencies, and global organizations like the Institute of Business Forecasting and Planning<\/a> is an excellent resource. Promoting your staff development through various training sessions, certification courses, and global conferences helps expand your company\u2019s vision toward a broader view of what the rest of the world is doing. Leverage this new knowledge to improve your own processes.<\/p>\n

Technology is an enabler, certainly, but only as a tool to accomplish the solution, not the solution itself.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Keep Technology Current But Let S&OP Process Drive Proper Governance<\/h2>\n

Many organizations jump on the technology bandwagon, convinced it will provide the solution for all their problems. Technology is an enabler, certainly, but only as a tool to accomplish the solution, not the solution itself. These systems depend on instruction\u2014in the form of process rules which originate from the various organizational owners\u2014to help businesses make appropriate decisions. A solid S&OP<\/a> program rides to the rescue, again, by instilling proper cadence and governance before new or enhanced technology is considered to improve speed and accuracy. Technology advancements are being introduced every year, so there\u2019s no shortage of software vendors that can support S&OP<\/a> and Supply Chain planning processes. Enterprises typically don\u2019t switch to new technology frequently, but developing awareness of what\u2019s available can better support a longer-term strategic plan for continuous improvement.<\/p>\n

Achieve ROI Faster by Engaging Experts<\/h2>\n

When was the last time you looked beyond the four walls of your own organization, or the processes that manage it?\u00a0 What are other companies doing in your industry sector? Are you aware of new trends and practices that have come and gone over the years? These are valid questions organizations should consider when evaluating their own supply chains. Today, toolsets like block chain, AI, RPA, and predictive data analytics hold promise, and many organizations are incorporating them into their own processes. A company\u2019s reluctance to engage with outside experts based on perceived ROI concerns is a missed opportunity to quickly tap into external knowledge and insights surrounding latest trends and best practices.<\/p>\n

A commitment to review, re-evaluate, and evolve is critical to long term success.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Sir Isaac Newton\u2019s first law of motion, that an object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion, can be applied to Supply Chain and S&OP<\/a> Planning processes, which require periodic outside forces and effort to maintain continuous improvement.\u00a0 Taking stock of your supply chain, demand management<\/a>, and S&OP<\/a> processes with expert guidance to achieve awareness outside of your own organization will help your organization thrive and grow. A commitment to review, re-evaluate, and evolve is critical to long term success. \u00a0Companies that neglect this can be left behind.<\/p>\n

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Companies that have survived decades of change have done so by flipping the script on long-established business tenets, and ripping up the rule book to adapt to new business realities. However, the maxim “the more things change, the more they stay the same\u201d still rings true for many businesses that have neglected to gauge how […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5767,"featured_media":7396,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[381],"tags":[37],"class_list":{"0":"post-7391","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sop-process","8":"tag-sop"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demand-planning.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7391"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demand-planning.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demand-planning.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demand-planning.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5767"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demand-planning.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7391"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/demand-planning.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7391\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demand-planning.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demand-planning.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demand-planning.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demand-planning.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}