Do your customers sound like these demanding customers?  OK, so that may be a bit over the top, but directionally correct with many of the companies I’ve talked to.  Customers are a lot more demanding today than ever before.  This is true whether you’re in a high volume or low volume high mix business.  In fact, we have a customer that makes million dollar plus equipment that is highly configurable, the last thing you’d expect to be a commodity, yet their customers often treat it as if it is.  They expect to be able to change the configuration options right up to the last minute, and if you don’t accommodate, they will go elsewhere.

So, what to do?

First, you need to have an early warning system that is capable of identifying demand changes and understanding which ones can have a negative impact on your business.  You’ve got to ensure that your key staff have this information readily available to them.

Once you know about the changes in demand that will negatively impact your business, you’ve got to be able to take quick action.  This requires your “responders” to have visibility into your global supply and demand picture – simultaneously.  I stress this because most systems give you a view of demand or a view of supply, but not an integrated demand-supply view side-by-side.  And, this is critical.  It’s critical because when things aren’t going according to plan, you need to make the right course corrections to deal with the realities as they unfold.   This is all about making tradeoffs and it requires you to understand what your options are and the impact on your business should you implement any of the available options.

Customers are becoming more demanding as expectations rise and more options become available to them.  There are options for dealing with these situations, but it requires you to adjust demand management processes and ensure responders have tools to support responsive actions.

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Tags: Demand management
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