Inputs to your Business Plan. There is not a ‘best’ way to design your Supply Chains and plan Logistics operations. It depends on multiple elements, including the business model, approach to markets and geographical locations, industry type, products and processes. But, you can use the ‘One Plan’ approach for a structured way to identify the Supply Chain objectives, structure and operations … Read More
Use external inputs to your Business Plan with care
About your Business Plan. Forecasts of future demand and supply are full of uncertainties, especially when considering future business conditions that your organisation will need to operate within. To give some authority to the numbers used, models and estimates of the future should be substantiated by assumptions. These limits provide an understanding about the level of acceptance and use of … Read More
The value of customer service for your Supply Chains
Positioning customer service. Delivering a product or service in full, on time, with accuracy (DIFOTA) is the major challenge of Logistics Management. A consistent 100 per cent customer service is not possible statistically and, as service levels increase so do costs (such as the cost of holding inventory), often without a commensurate increase in sales. The role of Logistics is … Read More
Relationships and power in Supply Chains are critical
Relationships and power. Relationships in Supply Chains are not static; as corporate policy and the broader business environment change, so will the dynamics between buyer and seller. My previous post ‘Business strategy decisions and Supply Chain outcomes’ discussed the effect on Logistics from a change to a retailer’s pricing policy. But changing the pricing mechanism is also an example of … Read More
Business strategy decisions and Supply Chain outcomes
Decisions and costs. Your CEO makes an announcement about a change in policy. The statement may sound straightforward, but must Supply Chains be changed to meet the new objective? And does the CEO understand what the Supply Chain professionals will need to do and by when? These questions were highlighted by the actions of a major discount department store chain … Read More