The Fascinating Future of SCM
Who would have said ten years ago that SCM is an exciting discipline? Not many! But isn’t it exciting what is currently going on? We can observe a number of disruptive innovations that are about to shift the way business is done. If we want to get a taste of what we will experience in SCM in the near future, we can look at how high-tech companies define it already now (see for example Microsoft’s definition of SCM): It will be about true visibility across end-to-end processes – and these processes involve raw material suppliers, component suppliers, …, and ultimately consumers. We might soon need to trash current textbooks that are based on over-simplistic OR models and Excel sheets. Such approaches are often too static to keep pace with current developments. Business schools will have to re-think their SCM curricula: Programming skills and knowledge about artificial intelligence might soon be expected by any SCM graduate.
Thank you for this post, Andreas! Currently there are so many things happening… We need to bring the innovation perspective into the SCM discussion.
Supply Chain Management is 70% about People (Change Management), 20% about Processes and 10% about Technology.
Productivity on the Supply Chain is not about People not about Objects.
Correction !!!
Supply Chain Management is 70% about People (Change Management), 20% about Processes and 10% about Technology.
Productivity on the Supply Chain is about People not about Objects.
Supply Chain can take a leaf or two from connective tissue in the human body. Blood, blood vessels, the lymphatic system, etc. Too many forget about reverse logistics as well. One important question is effects on consumers. What consumers want within the context of what consumers really need. That is the reason for the existence of SCM in the first place.