Sensing changing customer demand, then adapting planning and production while pulling from suppliers – all in real time!
Demand Driven Institute literally wrote the books on the Demand Driven method. Becoming Demand Driven requires a fundamental shift from the centrality of supply and cost based operational methods (commonly referred to as “push and promote”) to a centrality of actual demand and flow-based methods (commonly referred to as “position, protect and pull”). The term “actual demand” is extremely important in distinguishing it from a re-branded and somehow superior forecasting approach.
The Demand Driven Adaptive Enterprise (DDAE) Model now spans the operational, tactical and strategic ranges of an organization allowing it to continuously and successfully adapt to the complex and volatile supply chains we see today. It combines the fundamental principles of flow management with the emerging new science of complex adaptive systems (CAS). It is the way that successful businesses will work in the 21st Century.
Conventional supply chain management practices trace their roots back to the first true MRP systems in the mid 1960s.
Today's supply chains look nothing like the supply chains of the mid 1960s. They are much more complex and volatile. See the graphic showing many of today’s challenges.
Despite this obvious difference in circumstances conventional MRP systems still plan precisely the same way today as they did 50 years ago!
With our more powerful technology and the changing circumstances, are we now doing the wrong things faster?
I get it, I’ve been there. It’s not your fault. You’ve got tools that worked before, then the world changed, and those tools don’t work as well anymore. I’m not the hero, swooping in to save the day. I’m the catalyst so that you understand there is a solution and I’m the inspiration so that you, with your knowledge and your capabilities, will calm the chaos and save your own sanity. Together, we can stop fixing the duct tape and bring about lasting success.
I am a passionate Supply Chain Professional who, it turns out, is easily distracted. I love to write and share my experiences. I also enjoy connecting with people and having open discussions about how to move forward and how to embrace change. I am a Supply Chain Educator, teaching Demand Driven MRP classes and APICS Certification (CSCP) classes. Touring facilities and visiting with company leaders and other Supply Chain Professionals is my favorite way to spend time.
For years, I was too busy to follow my passion. I got caught up in the daily grind. I’m still busy, but now I’m following my passion. So, what used to be work now is called fun. I am constantly searching for things to learn. I wonder why, all the time. Why does it work like that? How did this happen? What can we do to prevent it? Who could tell us the process? When did everything change? We need to embrace solutions that resolve the disconnect between our plan and the reality we find.
The good news is that the solution is built upon many of the existing practices and there are only a few strategic changes that creates a system that works. It all starts with asking the right questions.
Let me show you the way forward. Let’s progress further, together. Contact me.
You can see my fun posts by searching for #smilecreator on LinkedIn as well.