Industryweek 14824 Myerson Lean Supply Chain Header 595
Industryweek 14824 Myerson Lean Supply Chain Header 595
Industryweek 14824 Myerson Lean Supply Chain Header 595
Industryweek 14824 Myerson Lean Supply Chain Header 595
Industryweek 14824 Myerson Lean Supply Chain Header 595

Supply Chain Technology: Haste Makes “Waste”

Nov. 5, 2014
Do your due diligence to make sure supply chain technology is a good fit for your company’s needs and its competitive strategy before jumping in completely.

It’s not always easy to separate winners from losers ahead of time. This is especially true when deciding on supply chain technology. When it’s a “winning” technology, then it can truly enable a Lean supply chain. However, when it’s a “loser”, according to Alex Niemeyer of consultant McKinsey (“Picking winning supply-chain technologies”), investments in integrated supply chain planning systems can sometimes grow to hundreds of millions of dollars and often times may not add value, but can also result in a lot of value actually being destroyed.

While we can all think of negative examples, looking backwards (i.e., 20/20 “hindsight”) where selection and implementation of supply chain software and technology never reached its potential, Niemeyer gives some current examples with potential such as the use of digital technology (ex: 3D printing) and improved, collaborative forecasting technologies and processes, both of which can help reduce how inventory levels as well as shorten the lead times.

Another area mentioned is data analytics which when used in collaborative efforts can be quite useful in improving supply chain efficiency and effectiveness. Specifically he talks about the use of “high volatility” analytics to not only better manage not but also to use it as an opportunity for competitive advantage when a competitor is affected or in a new market.

I guess the moral of the story is to not fall so fast for “hype” on a new technology, but instead do the necessary, and thorough, due diligence to make sure it’s a good fit for your company’s needs and its competitive strategy (and that it works “as advertised”) before jumping in completely.

Popular Sponsored Recommendations

The Ultimate Guide for Surviving Economic Uncertainty & Supply Chain Disruption

March 13, 2024
Are disruptive external forces putting a squeeze on your supply chain? Nulogy can help. Access our Survival Guide to uncover 5 critical areas of investment for external supply...

Future-Proofing Your Business with Smart Manufacturing

Jan. 2, 2024
An IndustryWeek-Plant Services-Smart Industry-Automation World-hosted webinar sponsored by Amazon Web Services

Building on Resilience

March 24, 2024
Splunk surveyed leaders across the manufacturing industry and 44% of them reported weekly critical outages due to security incidents. And over half of them said that they don’...

Four Keys To Operational Excellence

Sept. 20, 2023
As manufacturers face supply chain disruption and shrinking margins, increasing operations performance is critical. Our smart manufacturing guidebook can help you achieve the ...

Voice your opinion!

To join the conversation, and become an exclusive member of IndustryWeek, create an account today!