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Consistency in Supply Chain performance trumps over periodic heroic efforts.
Many companies struggle to maintain a consistent Supply Chain performance. They experience periodic crisis situations when one of their team members puts in a heroic effort and saves the day. The team goes through such bouts of stress to maintain their acceptable level of performance.
On the other hand, we do find some teams where such firefighting is non-existent. Nobody needs to put in a heroic effort. They deliver a consistent performance, often at a level significantly higher than others.
How do we design and run such a supply chain?
The key lies in knowing the current capability level and performing consistently at that level. Promising a higher level of performance creates such fires. Accepting a lower level creates frustration in the team.
The three key capabilities we need to assess are demand sensing, backend flexibility, and overall system responsiveness. Unfortunately, most companies don’t have the requisite system to measure these.
Of course, we also need the Process of Ongoing Improvement (POOGI) to improve these capabilities continually.
How would you assess your supply chain on these capabilities?