Trending in 2011 - Supply Chain as a Visible Differentiator
Just before boarding the flight to US for IBM Pulse, Bob Ferrari of Supply Chain Matters had a media interview with me. While the primary objective was to discuss about the EAM sector and what we plan to showcase at Pulse, conversation invariably moved over to a broader supply chain fabric.
Last year, for those who remember, as part of my SCM predictions for 2010, I had stressed on the need for convergence and integration across supply chain. For me, this was achieved through
- Integrating disparate functions (forecasting with procurement, transportation with warehousing and work management with inventory)
- Near real-time visibility across the supply chain (ideally - if not, at least cutting across business functions), via an alert and event management framework
This year, with SCM being in greater focus as a more visible partner in organizational strategy, my view was on how supply chain can be the driver for
- growth (revenue impact)
- cost (profit impact) and
- differentiation (competitve strategy impact)
These are sometimes achieved through specific business functions, for eg: indirect procurement program focus on cost management while anything on the sell-side whether its enhanced B2B commerce features or store inventory visibility would drive revenues. How would you use supply chain to differentiate your organization vis-a-vis the competition - at the customer-side, supplier-side and partner-side?
More on my interview with Bob here: http://www.theferrarigroup.com/supply-chain-matters/2011/03/02/smarter-asset-management-interview-with-gopi-krishnan-of-infosys-technologies-part-two/
