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14


Management Services Spring 2012


Supply chain


Managing the supply chain contribution at various points along the product life cycle


By Mike Keen, EMEAI Supply Chain Manager, Cooper Bussmann (UK) Limited.


ncreasing customer demands, competition and rising costs are constantly challenging organisations in terms of remaining competitive. Companies need to confi gure their supply chains in order to maintain fl exible operations designed to effectively address today’s challenges.


I


The competitive landscape has been evolving over the last decade, driving smart outcomes and change, and demanding that organisations become more innovative with their processes, people and performance outcomes (please see Supply chain landscape table below).


Suppliers, manufacturers and distributors need to work together more closely and effectively than ever as a single, seamless stream. Product life cycle management provides the framework for this. There are a range of strategies to adopt at the various points along the product life cycle. In an industrial context, product life cycle management is concerned with aligning the end-to-end set of processes required to take a product from idea generation, through design and manufacture, to its growth phase, maturity and fi nally End


of Life or disposal. The broad set of processes, known as PLCM, integrates people, information, processes and systems (please see table on p16).


The product life cycle can be divided into several stages, characterised by the revenue generated by the product or range of products, such as a brand. The life cycle can be: very short as pertains to a product that is for an event, such as a novelty product; very long, such as a watch; or medium in length, such as a car.


The product life cycle is split into the following phases, with typical supply chain focus areas for each of the phases.


Development/entry • Sourcing, supplier audit,


Driving forces


• More demanding customers • Greater competition • Globalisation • Tighter alliance relationships • Compressed product cycles • Shorter demand lead-times • Need for better information • New information technologies • Shifting competitive focus within many companies onto supply chain activities


supplier nomination, multi/ single/dual sourcing strategy;


• Obtaining early visibility of demand and ensuring a solid plan exists to meet that demand.


Growth • Agree stockholding policy, driving lead-time reduction;


• Continually revisiting and refi ning how the supply chain is confi gured in order to achieve cost downs;


• Demand management and forecasting improvements;


• Building in far-reaching supply chain ‘agility’ – or responsiveness/fl exibility.


Competitive turbulence • Build lead-time reduction programmes to enable the


Supply chain landscape Performance outcomes


• Innovative service offerings • Faster speed-to-market times • Cost/service competitiveness • Shorter order cycles • Flexible customer response • More agile delivery performance • Better asset management • Increased cash-to-cash velocity • Improved relationship management


supply chain to respond more rapidly to competition emerging;


• This is an opportunity to introduce competition into the supply base – refi ne the quality, cost and delivery aspects of the supply chain in order to be ahead of competitors.


Maturity • Ensure the supply chain is fully repeatable and reproducible;


• Ensure costs are reducing year on year – build in annual negotiations with vendors, track commodity pricing strategies.


Exit • Commit to a robust,


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