Six Degrees of Separation: How's Your Supply Chain? Best practice of the week: 3.4 Supply chain

Our supply chains are now disrupted badly. The immediate effects are obvious and everywhere: hand sanitizer in short supply, nonexistent toilet paper and empty grocery store shelves. But global supply chain difficulties are affecting 75% of all businesses, ultimately impacting consumers. This might be the time to ask questions about your supply chain.

THE CENTER’S BEST PRACTICE OF THE WEEK: 3.4 Supply chain

Definition of Supply chain: "The optimized flow of products and services from their origin through one’s facilities on to consumption and then disposal."

Practice Summary

• Plan: Focus on customer’s critical needs, estimate overall margins, track performance metrics
• Source: Select best vendors for pricing, delivery and payment terms
• Integrate: Make supply chain partners standardize processes, remove redundancies and minimize inventory
• Make: Design, test, produce, package
• Deliver: Review your network of warehouses, carriers and work order and invoicing system
• Guarantee: Receive defective products and address customer queries
• Click the image below for the resources approved by our Review Board.

3 Good Questions (discuss in a management meeting):

1. How could we help our key vendors help us?
2. How should we optimize our shipping and delivery times?
3. Should we lease, own or contract for our fleet?

Global information networks have enabled big companies to adapt their supply chains to the crisis, such as on-line sales distributions of medical supplies by Amazon and CVS, and going into production of ventilators by car companies, e.g., General Motors and Tesla. Can you change what products and services you make? Can you deliver them in different ways?

***

The Center for Management Terms & Practices is the standards body for general management. It trains managers at every level to use the standard language and tools of management to foster effective collaboration in plans, decisions and projects. See The GMs Index and The GMs Toolkit. #managementtermsandpractices