HIGH-TECH/ELECTRONICS
The Next Great Innovation Will Come
from the Customer
The industrial economy has been replaced by the information economy. For high-tech supply
chains battling the recession and focusing on demand-driven strategies, it’s the customer that
has undergone the most dramatic transformation. Selling, fulfilling and servicing these cus-
tomers will require new supply chain designs.
—C.J. Wehlage, research director at AMR Research
igh-tech supply chains learned from the dot-com
era. They learned to better manage inventories
using more effective planning models and tighter
supplier collaboration. What will be the lesson from the
H
consumer as well. In a recent survey on high-tech, new-product
strategies, 63 percent of respondents stated that customer needs
management was the most important requirement in their product lifecycle management solution. Of note, 43 percent said they
2008/2009 recession? Customer collaboration will be required in have a process to collect online customer feedback and directly
design, cost, solution, service and support. The information con- feed that information into new product features. For some high-sumer is digital, highly mobile, and learning and sharing at a tech supply chains, downstream partners and key customers are
tremendous pace. Purchase decisions are influenced by online now part of an S&OP structure, participating in pre-S&OP meet-groups and networks. Demand-driven supply chains have to ings and decisions.
move beyond the traditional store-front replenishment model,
and towards a segmented, customer-focused model.
The Outlook
Take a major mobile phone brand that monitored customer In 2010, the information economy will continue to drive cus-behavior patterns. By understanding their unique needs, the tomer collaboration in high-tech supply chains. Being demand-company found that a large segment used only 10 percent ( 15 of driven will require a much greater relationship with each
150) of the available features on its phone. The cost to serve this customer. Effective segmentation of these customers will ensure
segment was too expensive. The company redesigned the phone the right resources are focused on the highest profitability. Thereto have only 15 features. The design, marketing and materials fore, we see an increased need for integrated scenario modeling
costs went down. The largest cost reduction? Service and sup- and network optimization solutions, much more flexible replen-port. It’s a lot less expensive to train support people on 15 fea- ishment models, and greatly improved demand-planning
tures than 150.
processes. Only then will high-tech supply chains be able to
Product design is being influenced more by the information serve the information consumer.
