As a former Nuclear Rocket Engineer (it’s a long story) I can certainly say with confidence that ‘Supply Chain Ain’t Rocket Science’.
In fact that’s the subject of a presentation I’m giving this week in Canberra. (28th Aug) I’m really looking forward to getting back down to Canberra and meeting some old friends and making some new ones.
If you haven’t booked, there might still be a couple of seats left. But I would ring the LAA directly to check! They are putting on the event.
Having worked with a broad range of Supply Chains, across most industries and 23 countries, I’ve come to the view that people make it too complicated! Way too complicated. And what happens is, they miss the fundamentals.
Just think about it for a moment. Regardless of what industry you are in, your Supply Chain is ‘shaped’ by two things. First, your customers. Where they are, the service they need and their ordering profile are the essentials to grasp. This dictates where you hold stock, how much you hold and by what transport mode you get that stock to your customers.
Click here to download the 7 ways to boost your supply chain
Then second, your suppliers or ‘points’ of Supply. It’s just the same thing in reverse. Depending where your points of supply are, the lead times involved, and the order quantities involved, this will ‘shape’ where you need to hold buffer stock.
It’s like having two pieces of elastic, with your stock location in the middle. One piece is connected to your suppliers and exerts a ‘pull’ in that direction. The other is connected to your customers, and pulls in their direction. The ‘trick’ is working out the precise pull exerted by both, and getting your stock in the right place to reduce costs and maintain service levels.
I explain this all in detail in my ‘5 Levers’ video and articles. You can check them out here: Supply Chain Improvement Essentials
For those who will be in at the dinner in Canberra on Wed night, I really look forward to catching up and having a good debate on this. See you there.
Thank you to all those who came along to the LAA Dinner last night. The company and debate was great and I really enjoyed the evening. I hope you did too.
And remember………Chatham House Rules !