Welcome to 2012! A fresh start, a new beginning, an opportunity to improve or re-define ourselves! Hold on. If you are reading this it’s safe to assume you have at least a passing interest in Supply Chain Management and you are also aware that analyzing, improving, innovating, and evolving are the key tenets of SCM so if you are waiting for a new year to integrate such practices into your daily work, there’s little chance to achieve the organization’s goals and maybe it’s time to update the resume.
So what does the change in the calendar mean for leaders in the field of Supply Chain Management? I’ve always believed that January 1st is a prime opportunity to look back on the past year and get a sense of the trends that may have ended or may carry over into the next year. Any ideas on major supply chain themes for 2011?
Risk? Yes, risk seemed constant over the past 12 months. Uncertainty? Yes. Absolutely. Let’s take a brief moment to consider only the largest news stories related to supply chain risk and uncertainty:
- Japan 6.8 Earthquake / Tsunami [January]
- Egypt Uprising and Mubarak’s Ousting [February]
- Fukushima Nuclear Plant Damage [March]
- 800+ tornadoes hit US East Coast & Midwest [April]
- Iceland Volcanic Ash Clouds [May]
- Thailand Floods [July - September]
- Japan 6.8 Earthquake / Tsunami [January]
- Egypt Uprising and Mubarak’s Ousting [February]
- Fukushima Nuclear Plant Damage [March]
- 800+ tornadoes hit US East Coast & Midwest [April]
- Iceland Volcanic Ash Clouds [May]
- Thailand Floods [July - September]
- Libya Civil War [August - October]
- Hurricane Irene [August]
- East Coast Snow + Floods [October]
- Philippines Floods [December]
Wow. Almost mind numbing. It was obviously a tough year in many respects, and this list is by no means comprehensive nor does it touch upon supplier financial stability, work stoppages (local or national), civil unrest, or smaller localized weather and political incidents. Even a traffic accident on a freeway 3 miles from a factory can cause a major disruption to a lean supply chain.
It I safe to assume that as the global supply chain becomes more integrated into a wider variety of products, such global, regional, national and local disruptions will increase in parallel with supply chain complexity. Therefore, it is vital that we evaluate the components and services that are irreplaceable and devise strategies for minimizing disruptions to key areas of the chain. This sounds like pure common sense and maybe even “SCM 101” but once you really consider how many risk avoidance plans you have in place, it may come as a shock as to how focus on the daily grind has left us truly unprepared.
Each supply chain is its own living, breathing entity and each product requires different key components to be produced. So even if I could, I’m not going to provide all the answers today…after all, there is still college football to be consumed before the work week begins. However, this WSJ article on Boeing addressing supply chain risk should help to spark some ideas and start 2012 off with a purpose: Evaluate inherent risk and plan risk avoidance into each new strategy. When your competition is losing sales and sitting idle due to disruptions while you have activated your plans and quickly recovered, the work put into annual risk avoidance preparation will feel like a small price to pay for success.
And speaking of continuous improvement, I am resolved in 2012 to greatly increase my presence on this Chain Ink blog and @jcinglie on Twitter in order to create a resource and think tank for supply chain professionals. If you enjoy the limited content so far, please comment or follow me on Twitter. Knowing I have an audience will give me the motivation to stick to my resolution and to make sure that the content of this space is in keeping with high quality standards.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!
- Hurricane Irene [August]
- East Coast Snow + Floods [October]
- Philippines Floods [December]
Wow. Almost mind numbing. It was obviously a tough year in many respects, and this list is by no means comprehensive nor does it touch upon supplier financial stability, work stoppages (local or national), civil unrest, or smaller localized weather and political incidents. Even a traffic accident on a freeway 3 miles from a factory can cause a major disruption to a lean supply chain.
It I safe to assume that as the global supply chain becomes more integrated into a wider variety of products, such global, regional, national and local disruptions will increase in parallel with supply chain complexity. Therefore, it is vital that we evaluate the components and services that are irreplaceable and devise strategies for minimizing disruptions to key areas of the chain. This sounds like pure common sense and maybe even “SCM 101” but once you really consider how many risk avoidance plans you have in place, it may come as a shock as to how focus on the daily grind has left us truly unprepared.
Each supply chain is its own living, breathing entity and each product requires different key components to be produced. So even if I could, I’m not going to provide all the answers today…after all, there is still college football to be consumed before the work week begins. However, this WSJ article on Boeing addressing supply chain risk should help to spark some ideas and start 2012 off with a purpose: Evaluate inherent risk and plan risk avoidance into each new strategy. When your competition is losing sales and sitting idle due to disruptions while you have activated your plans and quickly recovered, the work put into annual risk avoidance preparation will feel like a small price to pay for success.
And speaking of continuous improvement, I am resolved in 2012 to greatly increase my presence on this Chain Ink blog and @jcinglie on Twitter in order to create a resource and think tank for supply chain professionals. If you enjoy the limited content so far, please comment or follow me on Twitter. Knowing I have an audience will give me the motivation to stick to my resolution and to make sure that the content of this space is in keeping with high quality standards.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!
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