Taking a critical look through- from climate change, rapidly depleting natural resources, supply chain vulnerability, global pandemics, growing populations and increasing poverty, technology advances to tempting nuclear weaponry threatening global peace, production, supply chain and operations managers need to be proactive, creative and innovative. The entire scenario is full of threats and opportunities.
Delivering maximum value for the least possible cost is vital to success in today’s global marketing environment.
Getting things done from strategic planning, sales and operations planning, integrated technology networks, purchasing/procurement of raw materials or sourcing for service providers, shipping, building suppliers’ and customer relationships, logistics/ transportation, manufacturing, warehousing and distribution both in B2B or B2C to ensure that products reach the final customers for maximum bottomline results can no longer be based on old or outdated knowledge.
Organisations need to constantly analyse value chains and re-engineer supply chain processes for improved production efficiency.
I have always insisted that Production and Operations Managers have unlimited possibilities and the power to use Supply Chain Management concepts and strategies to the advantage of thier organisations is one of these possibilities. Production Managers who limit their careers to the supply side of the business should remember that it’s their choice to make. In the Service Sector or Service Production there’s no separation between value creation and value delivery. Production does not end in the plant or on the site but extends the customer order fulfillment and excellent customer experience and back to nature post- consumption.
PRODUCTION SUPPLY CHAIN OF TOMORROW STARTS TODAY.
Today’s operations are rather linear but tomorrow’s operations must be completely circular if the planet earth is to be preserved for optimum benefit if the human race. Hence, every Production and Supply Chain Operation must speak to sustainability and circularity.
Today we are talking about managing supply chain risks, security and resilience but we also need to increasingly push for global production, supply chain and operational circularity.
Supply Chain Management as a dimension of Production and Operations Management focuses on how goods or services are sourced and put in the hands of the customer in the desired form, quantity and quality and at the right place, time and cost.
Supply Chains are interconnected operations involving people, organisations, systems and processes used to get goods and services from their primary sources through transformation or conversion phases to the customers or the final consumer or end-users at a profit or some desired benefits.
In Production organisations and business operations supply chains should be planned, organized, controlled, coordinated and directed to maximize efficiency and optimize cost through collaborations, alliances, and partnerships.
