(Editors’ note: This is the second of a five-part series of articles about the journey to creating an enterprise-to-enterprise (E2E) business network that enables demand-driven supply capabilities.)
Emerging digital technologies and the consequent need for new capabilities are disrupting all aspects of business: people, process, and technology. Today’s supply-chain operating models are being challenged to deliver unprecedented levels of agility and economic value.
To survive and thrive, businesses today require invigorated and innovative supply-chain leaders. First and foremost, they must be partners who can drive the convergence of business, digital, and I.T. strategies. They must be able to lead a fundamental rethinking and reskilling of the organization at the strategic and leadership levels.
Such dramatic changes must be executed from the top of the organization downward – and that’s not a classic strength of supply-chain strategy execution. Companies can no longer afford to wait years for I.T. to implement complex and expensive systems keyed to supply-chain businesses cases that are based on a siloed mentality.
I once heard a leading supply-chain executive say during an international presentation, “We thought we understood supply chain and we had nailed it. Now digital has appeared and we are all confused.” Staggering!
So what needs to change, and what stays the same?
The challenge of generating value from end-to-end, demand-driven supply chains – with the understanding that overarching business goals haven’t changed – boils down to a few fundamental use cases:
As they journey down this transformation road, leadership teams are learning that integrative and systemic thinking is a necessity. They must bring together an array of siloed projects, metrics, and performance measures, in a manner that’s sustainable and doesn’t compromise end-to-end business performance.
Companies must learn to quickly identify and manage scenarios through the creation of capabilities such as:
Going forward, businesses must reevaluate the key capabilities that make up real performance transformation. One galvanizing approach used by leaders is to identify the best use cases, then mobilize resources around those priorities.
Start by analyzing and executing the following strategic use cases:
Next: Transformation Is a Journey
Roddy Martin is Chief Digital Strategist with TraceLink.
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