How Do We Stop Managing Chaos?

SUPPLY CHAIN MADE EASY: How Do We Stop Managing Chaos? Supply Chain people all around the world are struggling. They were struggling before the pandemic. And they are still struggling. Many businesses are challenged by supply chain. The job is chaotic at best and what ends up happening is that supply chain personnel are trying to manage that chaos. Let’s look at why. Precision and Prediction The systems that we use for supply chain are based on precision and prediction. Now normally, those words don’t work together. And we know that. So why do we think Supply Chain is so different that they can guess at the answer and remain precise? No Standard Process There is no standard process to determine how much to buy and when to buy it. Everyone, even those in the same company, use intuition and experience to “outsmart” our systems by manipulating the output because they know that precision can’t work in an imprecise world. In our companies where we claim to be “process driven”, how embarrassing is that? Reducing Costs There is a management focus on reducing cost. But reduced cost is an outcome of the actions that are being taken. Reducing cost is not the action on which to focus, it is the outcome. At home, you don’t negotiate your electric company rates, you reduce your use of electricity and see the resulting decrease in your bill. It’s time to Stop Managing Chaos. The solution starts with re-thinking the systems we’ve been using for more than 50 years. And that leads to the methodology called Demand Driven Material Requirements Planning. If you’re frustrated and unable to see the path forward, it starts with inventory management and fixing the inadequate systems you’ve been forced to work with. Once you see the solution that I’ll present to you, you will never be able to “unsee” it. The fact is that there is a solution and it’s a thought-ware solution. Contact me for a no-obligation conversation about Demand Driven MRP.