Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive … and more agile, adaptable and aligned than your supply chain?

The secret of big-company, heavy-hitters is this: It’s not enough to have a high speed and low cost supply chain. To really break through the next level of efficiency, you need to play your cards a little differently. That’s where agile, adaptable and aligned come into play.

• Agility: Agile supply chains can turn on a dime. They can adapt to short-term changes; they also can bail you out when time is of the essence.  They do that by staying in close touch with supply chain partners. By closely monitoring the supply and demand, agile supply chains can react in a flash. At the same time, they usually keep in stock a small stash of essential but inexpensive goods or parts, to prevent delays.
• Adaptability: When the market talks, your supply chain is listening. When it’s time to make a strategic supplier switch, you’re ready. In some cases, you might even customize supply chains and vendors based on different products or needs.
• Alignment: The supply chain players work closely with other departments and other functions — sales, forecasts, etc. The goal is to initiate necessary actions that’ll avoid conflict, share risks and decrease costs.

 An example of how this works:

One convenience store parent company charges carriers a penalty when they fail to deliver on time. But the company also balances that, helping the carrier save money by excusing them from the time-consuming practice of requiring the company’s managers to verify the contents of all shipments.

Tags: partners, sales, supply chain