Going the extra mile and still getting customer complaints?

Going the extra mile and still getting customer complaints?

Customers want the impossible from our supply chains:

– fastest speed

– lowest cost

– in full and on time delivery

So how do you make this happen?

Modularize your supply chains.

By having supply chain segments, you optimize a segment on one type of performance and then link it to another segment that provides a different type of performance.

The trick is in the integration.

You must know all the segments of your supply chain.

Do this by creating maps that show which segments fit together for which customer group.

Procurement provides supply chain segments (because different supply chain performance requires different suppliers – even if the product is the same)

Manufacturing provides supply chain segments (the lines are designed to handle specific product volume in specific amounts of time and quantities optimally – so you may have different lines creating the same product if your customer groups require different performance – you can’t run small, unit sized lots down repetitive, high volume lines optimally)

Warehousing and logistics have at least one segment – and probably more since these areas are rapidly evolving to handle some final assembly, eaches delivery, full truckload delivery (different performance requirements for these last two), etc.

It used to be we had one set of operations and everything had to fit into it.

Now we have advanced methods of segmenting customers. This means we have more than one way to put our supply chain segments together – all of which are dependent on the requirements of the customer we are serving.

Knowing which segments must perform together for which customer group is critical to fast moving, reliable, agile supply chains.

Define segments based on the performance they provide, easily.

Keywords and concepts: integration, supply chains, segmentation, optimization

About the author: Cynthia Kalina-Kaminsky with Process & Strategy consults with and provides training for organizations eager to increase their competitive value by helping enable growth, align performance, make and move product (even when the product is electrons). She is teaching SCOR (Supply Chain Operations Reference model) in Baton Rouge this October. SCOR is the framework Fortune 500 companies use to increase their performance.