Successful Collaboration

[Sandy Vosk]

Collaboration is a hot topic for many businesses today, especially in the supply chain industry. Some of the key factors that are creating this are the impact of globalization, shorter product life cycles, drastic swings in oil prices, the complexities of managing the storage and movement of goods and the ever increasing capabilities of technology.

Effective collaboration can increase customer satisfaction and profitability for businesses by significantly improving the order to cash process (customer collaboration), the purchase to pay process (supplier collaboration) and the manufacturing process (collaboration with designers, suppliers and contract manufacturers). Key financial benefits can result in:

Administrative savings
o Lower transaction costs
o Fewer data errors
o Fewer invoice discrepancies
Improvements in key performance metrics
o Reduced out of stocks at customer/retail location
o Increase in perfect order percentage
o Reduced inventory holding costs/lower safety stock requirements
o Faster order to cash cycle time
o Increased customer satisfaction

There are many "experts" in collaboration but one of my favorites is David Coleman, Founder and Managing Director of Collaborative Strategies. David has an extensive background in collaboration and has authored a number of books on the subject. His fourth and most recent book on the subject, "42 Rules for Successful Collaboration" , is truly a collaborative effort, containing 42 unique viewpoints from members of David's groups, communities and social networks, including Pat Lupica and myself from the Supply Chain Experts community.

The book is an easy read and composed of 3 unique sections on People, Process and Technology. As David shares in the Forward "The 42 Rules format helps break up this collective wisdom into bite sized and easily digestible chunks." If you can take just one nugget from the book and apply it to your business it will be worth it, but I promise you that you will find more.

Sandy Vosk is President & CEO of Allied Tracking Systems, Inc. a technology company that specializes in supply chain solutions which improve operational efficiency, business intelligence, asset management and collaboration with customers, suppliers and partners. For additional information, please go to allied-tracking.com

[Dr. Edward Knab]

You make an excellent point, many if not most senior executives find themselves frozen by the current economic uncertainty. As their sales dropped during the downturn, they reduce staff, cut benefits, reduced travel expense to minimum, eliminated training programs, and cut spending in areas like technology, market research, and product development. Now that they've taken all the "standard" actions that executives taken during a downturn; they now find themselves aimlessly waiting for some type of oracle or sign that the recession is over and everything has returned to normal, as it always has been.

Unfortunately, it is never going to happen this way. The world is fundamentally changed, the change has been significant, and the world we return to will be significantly different than that of past memories. Things will never be the same! Never Ever!

Executives must come to grips with this new reality and stop thinking, downsize, downsize, downsize. The new world is going to be significantly different than the past, capital will become a scarce commodity forcing companies to keep inventories lean and flexible, travel will be replaced by video conference, more individuals will work from their home, remote offices will all be eliminated, mega malls will become ghost towns and new and more efficient technology will be integrated into mainstream businesses. The Big Box retailers are going to find their cost model is to high and they can't afford the carrying cost of their inventories.

The winners in this recession global recession are going to be those organizations that adapt to the new reality quickly and efficiently. Will this happen overnight, likely not, but it will happen quickly and those who are not prepared will be left behind.

This is not the time to act like an ostrich with your head in the sand waiting for things to get better. Winning companies will be looking at streamlining their supply chain, cutting redundant cost, and implementing systems that can rationalized inventories across the entire globe. They will use this time to get a foothold in new markets and globalize their business. They should be looking today for strategic partnerships, joint ventures, and new relationships that deliver products and services at significantly lower cost.. The winning companies will use this downturn to fundamentally change the way they do business; they will implement Web 2.0 technologies and use social media a manner that allows consumers to buy direct.

Executives are paid to provide leadership within their organizations and you can't do that with your hands in your pockets. Companies need to strategically think about how they can deliver goods and services for less, efficiently in the future and pull their wallets out and fund of the projects that will provide tomorrow's profits.

If you or your organization finds itself waiting for things to get better call Supply Chain Experts, we will provide you with unique solutions to supply chain challenges that will prepare your organization for the new reality.

Dr. Edward F. Knab
Productivity Constructs, Inc.
800 660 8718 office
949 413 7333 mobile
[e-mail]
www.productivityconstructs.com

Dr. Knab is an academic practitioner and seasoned Global Supply Chain expert whose company, Productivity Constructs, is focused "helping companies optimize people, processes and performance to achieve their full potential.." Dr. Knab can be contacted for speaking engagements, coaching, or consultation at [e-mail], [e-mail] or www.edwardknab.com.


Tags: chain, supply, change, design, efficiency, financial, forecast, inventory, leadership, manufacturing