Thankful for Effective Supply Chains

According to the American Farm Bureau Federation’s 28^th annual survey, the average cost of a classic Thanksgiving Day dinner for 10 people declined .44 from 2012. Now, there just has to be effectiveness and efficiency in those supply chains for that to occur. As you bite into your pumpkin pie this year, contemplate these questions posed by Terry Weiner, supply chain expert with MEP.

The following post is #1 of a series and highlights the requirements of an effective supply chain. This series of posts will provide an overview of the Supply Chain Optimization process and preview some of the concepts and tools that are part of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Supply Chain Optimization program.

• When was the last time you really looked at how effectively your supply chain is performing? I mean, really looked into all of the aspects of cost, performance, quality, and value.
• Is the supply chain performing to the specifications of your Supply Chain Strategy?
• Do you even have a Supply Chain Strategy, and if so, is it in alignment with your corporate strategy?
• Are your suppliers aware of the supply chain strategy and do they know what their part is in helping to achieve it?

The Supply Chain Optimization Process

This series of posts will provide an overview of the Supply Chain Optimization process and preview some of the concepts and tools that are part of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Supply Chain Optimization Initiative.

This program is based on establishing a comprehensive view of the supply chain and improving the visibility and responsiveness through all tiers supporting the supply chain. It is designed to be scalable, to leverage and coordinate throughput improvements at any level of the supply chain, whether it is supporting a small to mid-sized contract manufacturer or a large multi-national OEM, the concepts and tools are applicable.

An optimized high performing supply chain requires management attention to 5 critical areas:

1.� Alignment – The supply chain strategy needs to actively align and support the corporate goals of future growth, innovation and sustainability.

2.� Value – The supply chain strategy should identify suppliers who will assist us in achieving our future goals through collaboration and providing a means of growing our mutual businesses through sharing of ideas, capabilities and capacity.

3.� Managing Risk – A well thought out Risk Management Plan is necessary to prevent supply chain interruptions and unexpected events that would render our product uncompetitive, unavailable, or unattractive to the marketplace.

4.� Comprehensive View – The performance of the entire supply chain must be examined in order to identify current and potential future constraints. If we only look at suppliers who represent current bottlenecks we will fail to recognize potential future constraints.

5.� Metrics – We can’t improve what we don’t measure. If we don’t measure the “right things” the problems will persist.

So, stop thinking of work and finish that pie! Look for our next post or visit� California Manufacturing Technology Consulting® (CMTC) to read subsequent posts from Terry.

Terry is a Senior Consultant with� Terry has over 20 years experience in process improvements, quality management implementation and supply chain optimization.

Photo courtesy of bakingbites.com