With 2010 fully under way and the two years of world-wide recession hopefully in the rear-view mirror, ideas on how to approach the improving supply chain landscape abound. Here are a couple of lunch links with some food for thought:
Honest Communication
In an interview with Supply Chain Digest, Ann Drake, the CEO of DSC Logistics, a leading third-party logistics and supply chain management company, thinks a three-pronged strategy of honest communication is the key:
What we’ve found is that open, honest communication is even more important in tough times than it is in good times. We advise people throughout our organization to do three things: “Be receptive to change, accept feedback openly, and look for win-win solutions.”
Our pros also have a few suggestions for customers.
- “Leverage our intellectual capital. Give us the chance to collaborate on solutions before all the decisions have been made.”
- “Work closely with us, so we’ll have as much time as possible to re-evaluate and re-design.”
- “Have an open mind and consider ideas that originate outside your immediate organization. When demand patterns change, the supply chain partner is sometimes the first to feel the impact.”
- “Focus on the long term. Plan for the recession and at the same time, position for coming out of the recession.”
Why Aren’t Companies Lining Up For Services Procurement?
ProcurementSteve Hall writes on the procurementleaders.com blog that now is the time to be honest about services procurement.
Hall quotes a procurement services provider as saying: “70% – 75% of companies in North America,” he claimed, “don’t have services procurement solutions or strategies in place and are missing out on potentially huge savings.”
So, why hasn’t more notice been taken?
“Education is a real barrier. Because it is hard to track, there’s a huge disconnect between how effective procurement outsourcing can be and companies’ response to it. ”
Hall adds: If business isn’t prepared to consider that there are ways of managing its services spend and continues to hide behind the resistance to spend in order to save, it seems it has plenty to lose.
Tags: procurement services