Email
sinha.rk.dr@gmail.com
What is agility in Supply Chain?
There seem to be several misconceptions about supply chain agility. When I discuss it with industry leaders, they often define it simply as faster action.
Speed of action is only one of the capabilities defining agility. Let’s explore the full scope of agility.
Agility starts with situational awareness. On the demand side, it means tracking demand continually at the granular level and deciphering demand shifts early. It also means predicting near term demand outlook and refreshing it continually as more data arrives. On the supply side, it refers to tracking OTIF performance of vendors, manufacturing and distribution.
The second aspect of agility is flexibility in all operations, so that we can take appropriate response, amongst several alternatives, based on the situation. It involves cutting down batch sizes, producing multiple products on the same line, reducing lead times, and improving frequency of all backend operations… vendor delivery, production run and distribution.
The third aspect of agility is faster response. It involves doing away with frozen periods, converting latest demand outlook to supply plans continually, and executing without delays.
Improving supply chain agility encompasses improving on all the three dimensions.