"Manufacturing is in the throes of a massive shift from a production-centric to customer-centric business model," observes Randy Littleson, vice president of marketing with Kinaxis Inc., a provider of response management solutions. As he explains, traditional production-centric business models use a plan-and-execute standard that has become too rigid.
"Responsiveness to demand volatility is the new basis of competition," Littleson says, necessitating "customer-centric business models that focus on sense-and-respond processes," and help manufacturers "meet increasingly demanding and erratic customer buying behavior."
The plan-and-execute model, according to Littleson, relies on "machine thinking," which he describes as a closed-loop execution process that takes human input out of the equation. It would be better, he suggests, if manufacturers came to rely on real-time business intelligence and human collaboration to create demand-driven supply networks that are responsive to constant change.
Multi-enterprise visibility -- consolidating data from multiple sites (internal or external to the organization) for a holistic view of the extended supply chain and/or fulfillment network.
Real-time, collaborative analysis tools -- detecting and enabling those in the organization impacted by a change to collectively perform "what if" analysis of action alternatives.
See Also
About the Author
Dave Blanchard
Senior Director of Content
Focus: Supply Chain
Call: (941) 208-4370
Follow on Twitter @SupplyChainDave
During his career Dave Blanchard has led the editorial management of many of Endeavor Business Media's best-known brands, including IndustryWeek, EHS Today, Material Handling & Logistics, Logistics Today, Supply Chain Technology News, and Business Finance. He also serves as senior content director of the annual Safety Leadership Conference. With over 30 years of B2B media experience, Dave literally wrote the book on supply chain management, Supply Chain Management Best Practices (John Wiley & Sons, 2010), which has been translated into several languages and is currently in its second edition. He is a frequent speaker and moderator at major trade shows and conferences, and has won numerous awards for writing and editing. He is a voting member of the jury of the Logistics Hall of Fame, and is a graduate of Northern Illinois University.