Page 9 - Logistics News - June/July 2021

OP I N I ON

Tuning your supply chain with IT

By Doug Hunter, doug.hunter@syspro.com

“I paid for the weights, so where are the muscles, mate?” Applying IT doesn’t guarantee results

without waves of effort. Let’s exercise more…

ou’ve done the basics – gym membership, cool Again, it’s the same for supply chains. Supply chain is a
outfit, matching wrist and headband, circuits team sport reliant on collaborative plans and execution in
Ytwice a week. That’s like stable implementation harmony, where targets and focus are needed to win.
of your ‘backend system’, typically the enterprise resource
planning (ERP) you feel comfortable with. Sharing data inside your company is fine – departments
talk to each other, but ‘customer-first’ companies help their
Everyone’s doing it, but some seem fitter – what are customer’s customers. The next company down the line
they doing? Probably more than gym visits. Maybe training (your customer), plus the end customer without whom
for a marathon target time. Or cycling with an Argus there would be no demand or supply chain either. L O GI S T I CS NEWS
podium in mind. Or both. They joined a club and run/cycle
with others – competition to realise their technique is no Customer first and service
longer sufficient. Time for some new tricks. Mature organisations know integration exists at both

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