Fellow Supply Chain leaders, I have a task for you.
Today is January 6, 2018. I want you to write about who you are as a supply chain leader, what you have experienced, and what you have endured in the past year. Write down what your company values; what standards you hold for yourself and for others in your organization. Write about your dreams for the future, and your hopes for your team. Document the struggles and successes of 2017. Write about how you overcame the obstacles of the past, and how these struggles have provided a foundation for what you will do in 2018. Determine what you will do to provide extraordinary leadership going forward.
Write down your memories. Do it now because if you do not do it now, you may forget. Also, write a list of things you would never do, because it is possible that in the next year, you will do them.
2018 will provide significant challenges and opportunities to all supply chain leaders. Escalating logistic costs, a tightening of available skilled and non-skilled personnel in the marketplace, increasing probability of inflation across all purchased and indirect categories, and the continuation of ruthless competition will force all companies to do things differently. As a supply chain practitioner there are some key actions that you can take now to ensure you have a successful 2018.
First and foremost, review your team members. Make sure you have the right people on your team. Force-rank your players. If you do not have A-team performers at all positions, now is the time to remake your team. No one likes to work on a team where non-performing members are dragging down the effort of the group. Next, review your supply chain risk assessment. Whether the future brings a natural disaster, or a man- made situation, make sure that you have counter-measures and action plans in place. Consider deploying a Cognitive Computing systems application to enhance your ability to analyze risks. Cognitive systems can analyze extremely large volumes of structured and unstructured data, including logistic and value stream maps, research reports, product information, industry and government regulations, and customer data. This technology enables the discovery of key trends and findings as well as the identification of connections and constraints between customer requirements and available supply chain capacity. Supply chain leaders can use cognitive systems to support internal operations and employees involved in customer service as well as supplier -facing processes and applications. Risk assessment, compliance, and fraud prevention are key areas of opportunity for this emerging technology. Consider deploying a rigorous employee development program if you do not have one in place. A great starting point is to focus on Lean and problem solving skills. These fundamental skills will help drive continuous improvement throughout the organization. It is critical that the supply chain operations have a common language, a common standard process in place when solving problems. If you do not have a standard in place, you will have no base or starting point from which you can measure success or improvement. The best way to support your team is to ensure that they are properly trained. This will help them be successful. The data is clear. We have learned that if you give employees the support they need, both structurally in your training and policies, but also individually as colleagues, it makes a huge difference in performance and more importantly, retention.
Review your value stream maps. Meet with your logistics providers. Examine your Value Add/Non-Value Add ratios for your key functions, operations, and processes. Even if you were highly successful in 2017, you can still find significant opportunities to eliminate waste and reduce costs by focusing on how you create value that the customer sees and feels. Anything else is waste and should be targeted for elimination or reduction.
Finally, put the customer first in all that you do. Make a personal commitment to provide leadership and unwavering support to your team. Tell your team about your commitment and be specific about your intentions. Encourage them to hold you accountable. Execute your plan. Your personnel commitment to servant leadership will enable you to have a successful 2018. Happy New Year!
Please feel free to comment or connect with me on LinkedIn. I really appreciate your feedback. You can also email me at [email protected].