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Vol 31 - No 05 - July/August 2005 National events - EVENTS REPORT - Supply Chain Management – from 2005 to beyond 2010 Run in conjunction with the IEE, another seminar in the highly popular Supply Chain series was held on 26th May, the main theme this time being the challenges of managing variety in complex supply chain situations. The event was hosted by Oracle in Solihull and was attended by delegates from a variety of industrial and academic backgrounds. Few would argue that business life is becoming ever more complex and frenetic, making the challenge of managing a supply chain hugely difficult, yet fundamentally necessary for business health. A recent, well reported case in the retail sector has shown clearly that the cost of losing control of the supply chain not only can escalate costs, but lead to market share losses and a collapse in profits. The seminar was chaired by Professor Bart McCarthy, of Nottingham Business School, who introduced the theme of the event. Bart explained how technology and system developments are continually providing advances in supply chain control capabilities, yet most chains are becoming more complex and dynamic at an even greater rate of increase. Using examples from automotive, retail, print and milk industries, he showed the use of modeling techniques in looking for an optimum configuration. Anne Power, Thales Group Business Process Architect then described a journey of implementation of a group-wide ERP system, covering process mapping, system configuration, system build, roll-out and training across the different divisions of the Thales operations. Her lively presentation demonstrated the substantial benefits that can be obtained from adopting a single, harmonised business control system. It was clear from the presentation that the implementation task was huge and the need for systematic implementation, with controlled user involvement, was paramount. Paul Gorman, until recently Supply Chain Manager with British Gypsum-Isover, then changed the tone of the seminar, introducing his theory of Earth/Wind/Fire/Water personality descriptors. This showed how to match individuals’ characteristics to particular supply chain problem areas and no doubt left delegates wondering which of the element descriptors best fitted them. Alastair Ross and Dave Carter, of Supply Chain Analytics, through some role play set against a fictitious (yet somehow familiar) struggling manufacturing company with supply chain problems, argued the need for putting good practices in place first, then using appropriate IT to support. The presentation covered topics such as data warehousing, SCM Dashboarding (performance indicators), forecasting and planning. In the afternoon, Adrian Wakefield, from James Walker Group, presented the fascinating problems of controlling ever-increasing variety in the supply of gaskets and sealing rings to engineering buyers who usually have only a vague idea of what they require. By moving towards customer specific electronic catalogues, the problems of complexity were not only being managed, but also the customer service improvements that followed acted as a clear competitive advantage. The strategic issue of make-versus-buy formed the basis of Alan McElroy’s talk, against the highly dynamic backdrop of music CD generation. Alan, Head of Supply Chain, EMI, gave a first hand account, punctuated with some dry humour, of the important factors in deciding whether to outsource manufacturing and/or logistics. The final presentation was from Jim Hotchin (RHM Group) and Jeremy Hammant (LCP Consulting) and presented a horrifying view of the challenges facing a firm supplying branded, and particularly own label, goods to the grocery retail sector. Technology advances and supply chain initiatives all appear to be swallowed up by voracious retailers seeking ever lower prices from their suppliers. Running hard up a downescalator, as it speeds up, is the analogy that came to mind. In between these presentations, Günther Kruse, of Scope Management Ltd, gave three workshops covering supply chain strategy creation, process creation, and how to create an effective infrastructure. Taken together there was a wealth of tips and approaches to help stimulate delegates’ thinking, ending with the six building blocks for effective supply chain management. The Chairman closed the day by summarising the messages from the various talks. He also thanked Oracle for hosting a stimulating and enjoyable seminar and the presenters for providing some revealing insights into their particular supply chain complexities and solution approaches. Keith Porter, MIOM Related Topics:
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