SupplyChainTalk: Orchestrating the future of supply chain management

On 24 July 2024, SupplyChainTalk host Ana Maria Velica was joined by Martin Corner, Head of Supply Chain and Logistics, Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd, Tim Richardson, Director, Iter Consulting, Fernando Augusto do Amaral, Head of Supply Chain - UK&I, BAT; and Manda Schweitzer-Miller, Industry Marketing Principal, Kinaxis.

Views on news

Interconnectivity of the global supply chains creates risks that we don’t fully understand until major disruptions such as the CrowdStrike outage take place, which, in turn, call for the deployment of stronger risk tools. However, businesses often feel deluged by the offerings of tech companies. Meanwhile, advancements in AI have both increased risks and opportunities to mitigate them. This incident has also made a strong case for having contingency plans. It remains to be seen how far-reaching the ripple effects of the incident will be on the companies affected.

What it takes to orchestrate the supply chain

Even in traditional industries, such as automotive, there has been a shift from procurement to brand and customer led approaches built around resilient and agile supply chains. As a result, manufacturing and purchasing have become steps in the value chain.

Governance should play a key role in increasing supply chain resilience, as, despite the availability of  state-of-the-art technology, there are still companies that don’t know how to manage an ERP system. Orchestration of the supply chain involves planning and forecasting too. Different functions (planning, execution, production scheduler)  should collaborate in this new world.

By implementing a supply chain orchestration functionality, businesses can make their operations more efficient and increase revenue. Supply chain should ideally become the owner of an integrated sales and operations planning process.  The function can serve as a bridge between the varying demands of the organisation and come up with the best balance scorecard solution for the company.

IBP and supply chain orchestration are the only tools that can help avoid write-offs and stockouts. However, surveys show that companies keep investing in point solutions, despite S&OP solutions with a holistic view and a  monthly cadence bringing much better results. Data-driven, fact-based decision making can be the panacea for internal and external fragmentation and siloed working, which is also key to building trust through offering better customer outcomes.

The panel’s advice

• While supply chain professionals are trying to stay above water in the midst of disruptions, their superiors keep throwing Rubic’s cubes at them regarding what new technologies they should deploy or how they should upgrade the supply chain.
• As planning for the short term has become increasingly difficult, some businesses already start to focus on the medium and long term – typically 36 months.
• As a supply chain professional, try to be present in as many conversations as possible to demonstrate that the function is no longer a cost centre but a driver of success.
• S&OP is the fundamental process that underpins everything else.
• With integrated business planning in place, there is no need for an annual planning process – only monthly reviews.
• Understand the business’s weaknesses before shopping for technologies.