Mark Millar is a very well-recognised advocate of supply chain management principles, practices and challenges in our region. He has a network of high-profile and capable connections second to none. He has now brought all of that to bear in his recently published book, Global Supply Chain Ecosystems: Strategies for Competitive Advantage in a Complex, Connected World (Kogan Page, 2015).
David Sharpe of the University of Warwick, one of our mutual, long-time colleagues and friends, recently gave the book a highly positive endorsement, saying it “provides an insightful perspective on the challenges of doing business in an increasingly interconnected global world”.
He continued: “It is a very readable management text that addresses the major issues facing businesses today and leverages Mark’s wide-ranging experience, particularly with regard to the importance of Asia. In addition, this book fills a valuable gap by providing a clear analysis and all-round overview for students of contemporary supply chain thinking. Highly recommended.”
We wholeheartedly agree this is a very approachable management book. It is not an academic text, nor is it the reference to go for if you wish to learn the basics — you are not going to learn about basic principles or find the formula for calculating safety stock levels.
By definition, the author assumes the reader’s interests are the higher-level, more complex issues across and inherent in the entire global ecosystem. Where we do not completely agree with David is when he says the book is valuable “particularly with regard to the importance of Asia”. What he says is not wrong but may detract from the fact that the book’s scope is truly global.
This is an important book for this stage in the evolution of supply chain management. In the 21st century, Mr Millar writes, the steps in supply lines form supply chain “ecosystems” — an intricate interweaving of information and product flows connecting “organisations, industries and economies”.
A developed supply chain ecosystem provides a tactical, multifaceted and worldwide competitive advantage. New rivals face great difficulty entering or competing with an already established system of customer-supplier relationships across continents.
Today, in every forward-thinking business the chief supply chain officer is likely to sit on the corporate board. This shows how vital supply chain functions have become in enabling a business to thrive, driving revenue and differentiating against the competition. In this cut-throat arena, companies must constantly strive to enhance their warehousing, transport and inventory management capabilities.
World Trade Organization figures indicate a 32-fold increase to US$37.6 trillion in gross global imports and exports from 1973-2013. Globalisation ensures multiple-country commerce will remain the norm. Parts, assembly, shippers and customers may all reside in different nations. To thrive in this international scrum, companies may outsource, move certain functions offshore and cooperate with businesses around the globe.
The complexity of today’s supply chain networks should make corporate leaders even more aware of their carbon footprint, their global sourcing options and burgeoning markets worldwide, notably in Asia and Africa.
In a global, connected supply chain, one needs to monitor your product location at every moment to know when to fulfil customer orders. Sufficiently detailed data are needed to model any necessary “What if?” scenario to support strategic decision-making. Happily, one can turn to advances in information technology (IT) to deal with these scenarios — good or bad.
Every well-functioning business enjoys transparent supply chain visibility, which means connecting your supply ecosystem’s IT data points. Traditionally, warehouse management systems or transport management systems performed that task. Companies now also deploy mobile computing, big data and “voice-directed warehousing” to increase and ensure end-to-end visibility in their supply chains.
When implementing tools for technology-supported visibility, we are well aware many IT projects either fail or end up costing much more than anticipated. The Aberdeen Group surveyed 150 organisations in 2010 about their “supply chain visibility and collaboration in the cloud”. Respondents said only 21% of such projects succeeded. At least 37% cost much more or took much longer than planned. Respondents never implemented 42% of their planned projects.
These findings underline the fact that one must ensure the IT platform chosen suits specific business needs and practices and that the technology landscape integrates smoothly with that of suppliers and customers.
We will continue in our next column with a more detailed synopsis of the key points that Mr Millar makes in this important book. Meanwhile, readers can find more at MarkMillar.com. We advise you not to miss (as we did for a long time) the fact that Global Supply Chain Ecosystems is also available in e-book form.
The Link is coordinated by Barry Elliott and Chris Catto-Smith as an interactive forum for industry professionals. We welcome all input, questions, feedback and news at: bjelliott@abf1consulting.com cattoc@freshport.asia