Supply Chain Diagnosis

You go to the doctor and tell her that your supply chain hurts. She asks you to lie down and answer the following questions:

Are the departments in your company properly aligned?

Describe responsibilities, deliverables and service levels between Purchasing Production, Sales, Marketing and Logistics. Make the supply chain costs visible via activity based costing and charge the relevant costs to the responsible department. Redefine your key performance indicators so that the performance of a department is measured by its overall contribution to the supply chain instead of its individual performance.

Are you collaborating with your suppliers and customers?

Document the goods and information flow between your company and your suppliers and customers. Establish a streamlined flow of goods without unnecessary repacking and restacking. Arrange (electronic) shipment information and barcoded goods, so that scanning one barcode suffices to identify, count and register an incoming product. Savings are in productivity as well as in accuracy.

What is your visibility on the supply chain?

If you can see which products your supplier has in stock, it is possible to sell these products to your customers with a reliable leadtime with zero stock. Also exchange demand forecasts, outstanding orders and production plans to optimise the delivery performance. Real-time alerts on any delays in the supply process enable you to inform your customer in advance of a delayed delivery.

What is your role in the supply chain?

Modern information systems enable new roles in the supply chain. Once your supplier has information on forecasts, inventories and orders, it is possible to set up rules for the supplier for replenishing stock (vendor managed inventory). Likewise it is possible to outsource distribution planning to a third-party logistics service provider (3PL) or even a 4PL. By centralising supply chain decisions, an increased efficiency may be achieved.

If it still hurts after three months, please make an appointment with a specialist.