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Validate key Supply Chain assumptions.
Supply Chain policies, processes and practices are built on several underlying assumptions. Many of these are rarely questioned.
I have been helping companies in making their end-to-end supply chain more agile. When it comes to flexibility in supplies, many companies hit a roadblock in the procurement leg.
When I discuss the issue with the team, they feel that vendors are generally less flexible than our internal operations. Let’s see its implications.
Agile supply chains need to be flexible and responsive to changes in demand pattern. It includes vendor supplies as well. If we assume that vendors are inflexible, asking for any change in vendor deliveries looks like asking for a favour, leading to hesitation by the procurement people.
When I ask them to validate this assumption with a few key vendors, they are surprised to find that vendors are, in fact, much more flexible. It happens to be a key turning point in their agile journey.
There are numerous examples of such underlying assumptions, which need to be surfaced and questioned.
Would love to hear your views on vendor flexibility…