optimal sequencing of that machine. This scheduling methodology is designed to make the best use of equipment. It reduces
cycle time and improves delivery for the end customer.
• Replenish using timed delivery routes. This is comparable to
taking a scheduled bus rather than a taxi to the airport, he says. It is
much more efficient.
look at the impact on customers and on the supply chain and
determine what actions we should take.”
By building a portfolio of potential response activities and
technology to support those activities, “we can respond more
quickly than we ever have before,” Olson says. “The key is to
quickly get your supply chain back up and running so you can be
responsive to customer demands,” he says.
Risk Management at Cisco Systems
Risk management at Cisco Systems “is all about time to recovery,”
says Wes Olson, managing director-manufacturing vertical
industry. To ensure that the company is prepared to act quickly
when the unexpected happens, Cisco uses Oracle technology to
perform numerous “what if” scenarios. By seeing the potential
impact that different occurrences would have on Cisco’s supply
chain and on individual customers, the company can create a
response plan for each of these possibilities.
“If there is an earthquake in a certain area, we might want to
look at a 100-mile radius around that to see what sources of supply we have in that area and whether any of these are single-source suppliers or suppliers of critical components to a large
customer base,” Olson says. If there are major issues, “we would
Maximizing the Value of Your Consultant
George Fowler, principal and vice president of supply chain consulting with Spinnaker Management, discusses how companies can
work with consultants from the very start of the engagement, to
ensure that the relationship yields long-lasting results throughout
the organization.
An outside consultant can be a tempting solution for a company
that lacks the internal resources and expertise to get an ambitious
project done. But both sides need to plan carefully in order to
ensure that the engagement yields measurable results, says Fowler.
It starts at the negotiating stage. Many relationships ultimately
fail because of mistakes made at the outset. The client must have a
clear vision of what it intends to achieve, and that vision must be
communicated up front to the consultant. In addition, the
parties need to determine the precise resources and costs
that will be brought to bear.
There’s also the risk of relying too heavily on outside
expertise. A company should identify one of its own
employees as a key point of contact with the consultant,
offering insight into its systems and business processes.
Fowler stresses the importance of having an internal sponsor who can serve as liaison between the outside consultant
and upper management. At the same time, he says, it’s
important not to rely on that individual as the engagement’s
sole source of support. Multiple departments should be kept
up to date on the project, to avoid the roadblocks to
progress that typically exist in siloed organizations.
Lack of followup is another reason why so many consulting engagements fail to produce the expect results. Fowler
recommends that the consultant return at a later date to
ensure that its recommendations have been implemented
properly. It can also advise on additional steps that might be
taken to boost competitiveness and save money.
Baseball Shows How Supplier Management
Is More Critical Than Ever
Why are companies suddenly waking up to the importance
of good supply-base management—and what’s the real
value of it, anyway? M. Bixby Cooper, associate professor of
supply chain management at Michigan State University,
draws on the metaphor of major-league baseball to explain.
It’s only recently that a lot of companies have begun paying attention to their supplier bases, Cooper says. And
they’ve paid a price for that lack of attention. With the
lengthening of supply lines, the result of a greater reliance
on offshore production, manufacturers are finding it tougher
