Comments on: Why can’t we all just get along? http://blog.kinaxis.com/2009/12/why-cant-we-all-just-get-along/ Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:48:00 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Al Godley http://blog.kinaxis.com/2009/12/why-cant-we-all-just-get-along/comment-page-1/#comment-5328 Al Godley Wed, 06 Jan 2010 00:13:57 +0000 http://blog.kinaxis.com/?p=2533#comment-5328 Anyone that has or does work in supply chain areas knows that it is NOT the data that is important but the ability to interpret the data in context of what else you know....about the market, the customers, your sales force, your marketing efforts, your competition, etc. Data without experience, context and knowledge is just numbers and they have less than no meaning. Making decision on just the numbers leads to bad decisions, fire drills and total breakdown of trust. Let's say you have a new product and you want to absolutely insure there is no chance a customer will not have access when you begin selling it. So, you flood the market, stuff the channel and pack the shelves. Then, you have to let that sell down to normal levels before re-orders come in. If you look at the numbers (re-orders) you could assume it is not selling. If you look at other numbers (POS data) you could assume it is "over selling" and in both cases you could either adjust production too low or too high. Collaboration, sharing more than the data but the insight is critical. This goes both ways. Insuring the customer knows what the component re-order points are, when that is due and the impact of missing it is critical. Collaborating to on plans to "hedge" the bet can be done if both sides discuss options, share insights and explore options and ideas. I might be wrong, but I can send you the numbers to back this up! :) Anyone that has or does work in supply chain areas knows that it is NOT the data that is important but the ability to interpret the data in context of what else you know….about the market, the customers, your sales force, your marketing efforts, your competition, etc. Data without experience, context and knowledge is just numbers and they have less than no meaning. Making decision on just the numbers leads to bad decisions, fire drills and total breakdown of trust.

Let’s say you have a new product and you want to absolutely insure there is no chance a customer will not have access when you begin selling it. So, you flood the market, stuff the channel and pack the shelves. Then, you have to let that sell down to normal levels before re-orders come in. If you look at the numbers (re-orders) you could assume it is not selling. If you look at other numbers (POS data) you could assume it is “over selling” and in both cases you could either adjust production too low or too high.

Collaboration, sharing more than the data but the insight is critical. This goes both ways. Insuring the customer knows what the component re-order points are, when that is due and the impact of missing it is critical. Collaborating to on plans to “hedge” the bet can be done if both sides discuss options, share insights and explore options and ideas.

I might be wrong, but I can send you the numbers to back this up! :)

]]> By: Gilbert Tuplin http://blog.kinaxis.com/2009/12/why-cant-we-all-just-get-along/comment-page-1/#comment-4737 Gilbert Tuplin Fri, 11 Dec 2009 14:50:51 +0000 http://blog.kinaxis.com/?p=2533#comment-4737 The 3 Ts spring to mind - Time, Transparency and Trust. These are the foundation for effective and collaborative commerce. Both Time and Transparency can fundamentally be addressed with a combination of IT tools and techniques, however Trust is the key and the hardest to achieve. Trust is required in order for all parts of the supply chain to co-operate, once co-operation occurs co-ordination of all activities are enabled, and this then leads to collaboration in order to achieve competitive advantage. I recommend reading Dr Richard Wildings article "The 3 Ts of Highly Effective Supply Chains" http://www.som.cranfield.ac.uk/som/dinamic-content/news/documents/focussum2002.pdf The 3 Ts spring to mind – Time, Transparency and Trust. These are the foundation for effective and collaborative commerce. Both Time and Transparency can fundamentally be addressed with a combination of IT tools and techniques, however Trust is the key and the hardest to achieve. Trust is required in order for all parts of the supply chain to co-operate, once co-operation occurs co-ordination of all activities are enabled, and this then leads to collaboration in order to achieve competitive advantage. I recommend reading Dr Richard Wildings article “The 3 Ts of Highly Effective Supply Chains” http://www.som.cranfield.ac.uk/som/dinamic-content/news/documents/focussum2002.pdf

]]> By: Ian Redfearn http://blog.kinaxis.com/2009/12/why-cant-we-all-just-get-along/comment-page-1/#comment-4736 Ian Redfearn Fri, 11 Dec 2009 14:40:51 +0000 http://blog.kinaxis.com/?p=2533#comment-4736 I think one of the problems is that the data requested by each party is usually data that you would expect to exist but in a lot of cases it does not. In my experience the reason data is not shared is that it either does not exist or it is not readily available. I have seen situations where you would expect the brand owner to have better visibility of their sales channel than they actually have. I have even seen major, global corporations that still do not have integrated, readily available operational and planning data. This generates a standoff with both parties claiming they don't want to share information but both knowing that it would be beneficial to do so (it seems as if it is better to work in the dark than admit your own shortcomings). The drive towards the true integrated, extended enterprise will only come when businesses address their own underlying data problems. I think one of the problems is that the data requested by each party is usually data that you would expect to exist but in a lot of cases it does not. In my experience the reason data is not shared is that it either does not exist or it is not readily available. I have seen situations where you would expect the brand owner to have better visibility of their sales channel than they actually have. I have even seen major, global corporations that still do not have integrated, readily available operational and planning data. This generates a standoff with both parties claiming they don’t want to share information but both knowing that it would be beneficial to do so (it seems as if it is better to work in the dark than admit your own shortcomings). The drive towards the true integrated, extended enterprise will only come when businesses address their own underlying data problems.

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