Supply Chain Control Towers Help Organizations Respond to New Pressures

This is an excerpt of the original article. It was written for the July-August 2014 edition of Supply Chain Management Review. The full article is available to current subscribers.

July-August 2014

LEGACY Supply Chain Services has made company culture the centerpiece of how it drives innovation, efficiency, and the creation of value for its customers. Is it a model that others should replicate?

Browse this issue archive.

Already a subscriber? Access full edition now.

Need Help?

Contact customer service

1-508-503-1313   More options

Not a subscriber? Start your magazine subscription.

Every once in a while, technology takes a great leap forward. We witnessed it with the steam engine, electricity, and the Internet; now we see it with technologies descended from the Internet, chiefly Cloud Computing, Big Data, and Mobility.

Taken together, these technologies have the potential to transform our concept of the supply chain in general and the Supply Chain Control Tower in particular. That is vitally important, because supply chains are under extraordinary pressure from many fronts.

Much of this pressure comes from the end consumer, who has been conditioned by the success of Internet-based companies such as Amazon to expect a wide range of product choices, an enjoyable, personalized shopping experience, and a high level of service. As a result, companies are scrambling to shorten the life cycle of products; compress manufacturing and delivery times; and get closer to the customer, not just in terms of product delivery (although that remains crucially important) but in terms of knowing the customer’s wants and needs, to and including anticipating what the customer may want in the future—even before the customer realizes what they want.

This complete article is available to subscribers only. Click on Log In Now at the top of this article for full access. Or, Start your PLUS+ subscription for instant access.

Not ready to subscribe, but need this article?
Buy the complete article now. Only $20.00. Instant PDF Download.
Access the complete issue of Supply Chain Management Review magazine featuring
this article including every word, chart and table exactly as it appeared in the magazine.

SC
MR