Fresh Take on Old Themes

Frank Quinn, Editor -- Supply Chain Management Review, 10/1/2005

Sometimes it seems as if we keep coming back to the same themes: How to collaborate more effectively both internally and with supply chain partners. How to eliminate waste and redundancy in our supply chain operations. How to effectively use the new technology available. How to improve aspects of the supply chain management job that may have been neglected in the past.

Why do these topics keep rising to the tops of the minds of supply chain professionals? Most likely, it's because we all are still trying to get a handle on them. We hope that the articles in this issue will shed light on some evergreen issues.

Collaboration is, perhaps, the most time-honored topic of them all. This issue of SCMR offers a real-world look at the problems that lack of supply chain collaboration can cause and, conversely, how a more cooperative approach can yield tremendous benefit. The perspective is provided by Tom Stallkamp, who as a top executive for DaimlerChrysler, introduced an innovative supplier relationship program in an industry notorious for its confrontational tactics with the supply base. In Stallkamp's view, moving from supply chain confrontation to collaboration is absolutely essential in today's world of interlocking, global relationships.

Like collaboration, lean is a familiar subject. But until recently, the talk has focused on the manufacturing arena, where the concept was codified in the Toyota Production System. Now, smart companies are seeking to apply those same principles of lean manufacturing to their supply chain operations. In their article, Kate Vitasek, Karl Manrodt, and Jeff Abbott elaborate on the core attributes of a lean supply chain. As important, they provide solid information on how companies can start cultivating those attributes — and in the process, begin realizing the benefits that flow from eliminating waste and streamlining operations.

Technology certainly can help in going lean. And one of the most exciting technologies in recent years is RFID (radio-frequency identification). But, for this technology to work in a global supply chain setting, trading partners need standards for exchanging the data captured by RFID. That's where EPCglobal US, the organization headed by Mike Meranda, comes in. In our featured interview, Meranda outlines the progress being made in developing those standards and speaks to the advantages of capitalizing on RFID's powerful capabilities.

As for those aspects of supply chain management that don't get the attention they deserve, we turn to the service supply chain. Studies have established the high profit potential of activities that take place after the sale, while lamenting the lack of effort expended at most companies to achieve that potential. That's not the case at Eastman Kodak Company. Two Kodak supply chain executives relate the transformation that took place in the company's service supply chain to support a digital shift in the overall business.

Recurring themes? Yes. But the fresh insights provided here should lead to some innovative solutions.

(781) 734-8652, fquinn@reedbusiness.com