Supply Chain Management in 140 Characters (or less)

A few weeks ago, I took part in a lively Twitter Q&A with our official Twitter feed, @ProgressSW. If you missed out on the real-time action, you can check out the discussion below. Looking forward to doing more of these and, as always, I welcome your thoughts on #scm topics, questions and issues to discuss in the future!

@progresssw @gcourtin

1. What is supply chain responsiveness? #SCM 1.1.The ability to re-sequence your supply chain in a timely fashion - where timeliness is defined by the customer demand. #SCM

2. What are the pillars of a responsive supply chain? #SCM 2.1.PDCA - Plan, Do, Check, Act. Or having a closed loop process, monitoring and taking appropriate corrective actionswhen necessary. #scm

3. How does being able to predict and react quickly to shifts in the biz environment improve org performance? #SCM 3.1.You can stay ahead of competitors and are more responsive to your clients - leading to greater market share. #SCM

4. What are the simplest and best practices we can put into place to improve supply chain responsiveness? 4.1. A couple of levels 4.2.Simplest: gain end-to-end visibility. #scm 4.3.Best: Get a clear understanding of the impacts and be able to act. #SCM 4.4.One thing that cannot be overlooked is the change management side, your people must be of the mind set of wanting to improve. #SCM

5. What advantages can businesses achieve by improving supply chain visibility? #SCM 5.1. If you cannot see it or measure it, you cannot correct it. Cliché yes, but it's the reality. #SCM 5.2. second - 5. As supply chains get more lean and extended, ability to improve visibility is paramount. #SCM

6. What risks are companies facing if they don’t focus on improving supply chain visibility? #SCM 6.1. First – Relying too heavily on historical data to drive forward means you are flying looking backwards. 6.2. W/o full visibility you're at greater risk for misplaced inventory, unmet client needs, inability to properly meet SLAs. #SCM

7. Can you give some examples of companies that have successfully improved their supply chain processes to great biz benefit? #SCM 7.1. Of course the one we all think about - #Dell and #Apple who are constantly working on gaining thru their SC #SCM 7.2. But also the likes of #BestBuy, #Panasonic and manufactures like #Jabil. #scm

8. How has the role of planning in supply chain changed over the past decade? #SCM 8.1.Planning remains a vital cog in SCM, but it’s fallen short lofty aspirations proclaimed in the late 1990s. #scm 8.2.You need a well crafted plan to provide goals and direction as well as asset need – but its only the 1st step #scm

9. How can we leverage cloud to become more responsive? #SCM 9.1. Cloud impacts all forms of biz, SC being in the middle of this - process, apps and a wide swath of data is accsble #scm

10. How can we leverage #mobility to achieve supply chain responsiveness? #SCM Mobility is a hot topic across the enterprise and SCM – it does bring a double edge sword #SCM 10.1. 1) a valuable source of real time information (structured and unstructured) #scm 10.2. second - a decision making tool pushed further into the enterprise, empowering a greater swath of the supply chain. #scm

11.What role do flexible applications play in our ability to achieve PDCA? 11.1. Flex and composite apps allow us to gain greater visibility and an ability to act, at a lower cost of ownership. #scm

12. What are the most important trends and shifts in the supply chain environment currently, forecasts for the future? #SCM 12.1. A couple of trends - better closed loop mngmt finally tying in planning and execution – true PDCA #SCM 12.2. Second – an ability to move towards a greater centralization of command and control #SCM 12.3. Finally the infusion of unstructured and structured data. #SCM

13. What are supply chain pros struggling most with today? #SCM 13.1. Lack of other pros! Technology remains a small part of the solution; people and change management is the most important. #SCM

14. What are the key steps we can take to overcomethese obstacles? #SCM 14.1. Education Education Education - Companies must recognize the importance and value of human assets. #scm

15. Why is real-time visibility in supply chains so difficult to achieve? #SCM 15.1. Biz must recognize the value of sharing information, first within their own depts then with partners and sources. #scm 15.2. Technology is only a tool to enable change management. #scm

16. What are the top 5 handles you follow for yoursupply chain news and analysis? #SCM 16.1. @bobferrari, @rwang0, @pjtec, @lcecere, @supplychainNtwk