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02.10.06
Supply Chain Management - 6 Topics To Where It Is Going
 By
Thomas Craig
Supply chain management has grown in company importance and value contribution
from its roots as "shipping and receiving".
This is true for large corporations and for small-medium enterprises (SMEs). External
events, such as deregulation and international sourcing, have driven the evolution.
Questions revolve around the future of supply chain management. Tactical and strategic
needs need to be addressed.
Assessment of internal (within the company) and external (outside the company)
gaps in supply chain management can provide indications of what must be done.
Some of these are:
Ongoing emphasis to compress time and increase inventory velocity.
Time to bring new products to market, time to bring in hot selling products to
stores and customers-these and other needs to move products more quickly to increase
revenue and profits will continue as a pressure point of supply chain management
and company demands. Longer time and slower inventory velocity create a great
and hidden profit impact to P&Ls with diminished merchandising and sales impact
and revenues and with capital tied up for extended time and generating lower returns.
All this could reduce profits by 20% to 40%. Lean supply chain management for
international, global supply chains will be mandated.
Increased
supplier performance. Key to time compression and faster inventory velocity
and turns, key to lean global logistics will be improved supplier performance.
Experience shows that suppliers fail to meet ship dates or delivery dates over
25% of the time. This is especially so for international sourcing. Better reliability
will also require vendors to change over production, make smaller runs and deliver
product faster. And they will have to improve quality at the same time. The challenge
will be ongoing with changes in where suppliers operate their factories.
Outsourcing transformation. Outsourcing will change. Much
outsourcing has occurred to fix the symptoms of problems; it has not attacked
the real, underlying problems. Transactions and functional supply chain elements
have been transferred to outside parties, often 3PLs.
Supply chain management is a horizontal process that crosses the company and spans
countries in scope. Time, distance and the nuances of operating in a vertical
organization are challenges. Therefore identifying needs and problems requires
that the process itself must be addressed and how outsourcing improves the overall
process.
Outsourcing will focus on business process outsourcing (BPO). Supply chain outsourcing
will be divided along the lines of key needs. For example, it will be separate
for domestic supply chain management and international supply chain management.
Or it will divided as to inventory velocity or inventory value with different
supply chain processes for fast, medium and slow moving products or for high,
medium or low value products. Supply chain BPO will be an active part as firms
move to compress time and increase inventory velocity.
The outsourcing transformation will lead to competitive advantages and to increased
company and shareholder value. Designing a dynamic and flexible supply chain process
will not be a function of 3PLs utilized or a "one stop shopping" approach for
3PLs. It will require a blend of company and multiple 3PL participation. Key to
the change will be the development a breed of logistics service provider that
will manage the supply chain process, not just manage transactions, such as shipments,
or manage one logistics element such as warehousing or ocean shipping.
Focused supply chain role for technology. Supply chain planning
and supply chain execution are important areas for operating effective lean supply
chains. They are required for strong supply chain performance. They will be process
enablers, not silver bullets to fixed poor and flawed processes. Such focused
technology applications will
facilitate reducing time, improving supplier performance, collaborating among
key trading partners and gaining visibility throughout the entire supply chain
from purchase order to delivery order. The technology will be scaleable, easily
configurable, be hosted by outside service and will be paid for as on a "per transaction"
or similar approach. This will reduce the risk and large capital requirements
that have accompanied such technology.
Penetration of NVOs as 3PLs into Small-Medium Enterprises.
For SMEs that source internationally, the NVO has often been the transport service
provider. Large ocean carriers have not aggressively pursed the small-medium shipper.
The Federal Maritime Commission has given NVOs the ability to negotiate and establish
service contract like agreements with customers. NVO Service Agreements (NSAs)
will be used by NVOs to become 3PLs to the SME. This is a growth opportunity for
the NVO to move from the traditional freight commodity service into customized,
integrated logistics provider. NVOs, as 3PLs, can be the vehicle for SMEs to improve
the inbound supply chain and manage supplier performance.
Read
the rest of the article.
About the Author:
LTD
provides logistics consulting for strategic and tactical needs. The scope of capabilities
is broad--supply chain management, outsourcing, transportation, warehousing, inventory
management, and more for both domestic and international needs. Clients include
retailers, wholesalers/distributors, manufacturers, logistics service providers
and 3PLs. |
