Leading Change in Your Supply Chain

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Advancing your next generation supply chain can yield cost savings, increased productivity, top and bottom line improvement, and increased customer satisfaction across an organization. These rewards can be substantial, but are far from guaranteed. And, as we all know, implementing change can throw an organization into chaos.

Below are some specific supply chain challenges:

  • Increased tension in supply chain relationships- this is a common accompaniment of major change
  • Supply chains by nature are complex and interrelated- this proves overwhelming and can delay progress
  • Technology does many things, but technology alone cannot do it all

Given the complexities of supply chains today, change must be planned, coordinated and strategic. To achieve and realize improvements, the supply chain must be managed end-to-end with the ultimate focus on servicing the end customer. Additionally, improvements must come from the 'top-down' with direct support from executive leadership.

In order to be effective, management goals and objectives must be practical and achievable because the best supply chain strategy is one you can manage. This is critical to being successful so it needs to be workable, with key elements of organization, process, technology, and metrics clearly defined. Supply chain processes must be flexible in order to adapt to the ever-changing business environment- as management evolves, markets evolve, channels evolve and so does the supply chain.

Technology is a powerful tool, but it should not be the only driver to improve the supply chain. Best practice is to develop the complementary processes of the supply chain, then add technology to support the process.

If you have questions, or would like help managing change within your supply chain, please get in touch with us.

We are hosting our annual Blue Ridge community conference this Spring, April 30- May 2 in Atlanta, GA. This is a great time to connect with Blue Ridge experts and network with your peers about ways to manage change within your organization.

About Blue RIdge

Blue Ridge Supply Chain Planning and Price Optimization solutions empower distributors and retailers to tap into undiscovered margin through enterprise-wide inventory intelligence, automation and synchronization. Blue Ridge uniquely combines demand forecasting with pricing strategy, so that businesses can proactively understand the unpredictable and allocate the right inventory – right-priced across the entire mix – to accelerate top- and bottom-line results. In a world where the only constant is change, Blue Ridge provides more certainty, more speed, and more assurance – so companies can see the why behind the buy, and respond faster to the unexpected. That’s why major retailers and distributors rely on Blue Ridge for a more foreseeable future. For more information, go to www.blueridgeglobal.de