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Supply Chain execution in the near term should focus on maximizing Throughput.
If the goal of a business organisation is to make more money, now as well as in the future, the near term focus of the supply chain team should be to maximize the Throughput (T), since Operating Expenses (OE) are more or less fixed in the near term.
How do we define Throughput? It’s the money the organisation makes by selling an additional unit of a product. The money that comes in by selling the product is the Revenue, and the marginal money spent in selling it is the Truly Variable Cost (TVC) incurred in doing so. TVC includes the direct cost of raw and packaging materials, as well as the variable cost of production, distribution and selling. We must avoid adding any allocated cost in TVC.
If you are managing the near term supply chain execution for any other objective, remember to check the impact of various decisions on Throughput. If Throughput gets negatively impacted, have a hard look at that decision, as it would often come in the way of achieving the goal.