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However, certain global macro economic factors have emerged in recent years that are forcing many corporations with well-defined and extended supply chains to rethink the construct of the core supply chain building blocks and operating model. These structural and economic changes include:

• Rapid globalization and convergence of the end customer/consumer channel with the supply base.
• Higher than normal escalation in commodity prices with shifting global supply.
• The advent of multiple capable and operationally excellent geographies with well defined inbound and outbound logistics routes.
• Global availability of supply chain skills coupled with renewed focus on process standardization.
• Emphasis on the need to focus on one or two aspects of supply chain excellence to ensure global competitive advantage.

Core supply chain processes have often been described under the mega process umbrella of Plan, Source, Make, Deliver, and Return. This is part of the Supply Chain Operations Reference model (SCOR), developed by the Supply Chain Council. These mega processes will always constitute the building blocks of taking a product or service and delivering it to the end consumer. However, the method by which a corporation defines the operating model and core process end state is what constitutes supply chain excellence.

I call the suggested method for defining the end state for the New Norm the “Five-S” Model. The five S's are Structure (physical and operating model); Scope (depth and breadth); Span (extent of the supply chain); Scale (degree of verticalization vs. virtualization) and Skills (availability and impact).

Companies need to rethink the core processes across five dimensions to create a road map that will allow them to continue the journey of supply chain excellence. The article presents a structured way for companies to rethink and align their supply chains to the shifting dynamics in the global marketplace. Many companies are proceeding in the journey. But from our perspective no one has achieved steady state or is even close to the final design. It's not that supply chain executives have been resting on their laurels and have chosen to ignore the warning signs. Rather, it's more the speed and magnitude of the changes taking place.

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