Supply Chain Fundamental Rethinking

While no Supply Chain professional likes Supply Chain variations, in reality Supply Chain variations is the only certain event of a Supply Chain. Supply Chain variations should be viewed positively to make the most of them. I personally believe that a system which is stable for a long time develops fragility. Over a period of time the basic immune system to handle variations gets completely eliminated hence when the variations occur, the Supply Chain system is not equipped to handle the variations. So some level of variations in Supply Chain is actually good. They keep the system well greased and oiled. Predictability kills and probably does it faster. As a Supply Chain professional if variations have occurred, I think, it gives a great chance for the professional to go back to the drawing board & redesign. e.g. If, in your Supply Chain, you never had shortages of material, it indicates a great Supply Chain for a practitioner. But for me, it represents a Supply Chain where un...

Supply Chain inherently have variations. Nothing that is of surprise or unknown to a Supply Chain practitioner. Huge amount of Supply Chain resources are committed to identify root causes of the variations with a primary objective to "dampen" the variations. I see a lot of Supply Chains professionals who dislike variations. They would like the make a detailed analysis to discover the root cause of the variation(s) leading to efforts of reducing the frequency as well as the amplitude of the variation(s). A Purchase person dislikes variations in Sales forecasts which lead to change in Procurement plans. Similarly a Production person dislikes variations in Supply Schedules. Above all the Sales person dislikes variations in Production or Logistics leading to consequences of customer relationship. Each of these links of the Supply Chain invest heavily to find ways of dampening the variations. Question really is - In an attempt to dampen variations, what has the Supply Ch...