Associates in excellence

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Supply Chain Excellence

Major companies or primary companies, the organisations that deliver finished product to the ultimate customer are tightening up the supply chain. Research conducted by the Computer Science Corporation (CSC) suggests that as supply chains mature many companies have experienced improvements in business processes and have perhaps added a percentage point or two to the bottom line. But, according to CSC some firms have added between five and eight points to net profit by working assets beyond internal resource right across the extended enterprise.

Today, the extended enterprise is not always the same group of suppliers, new supply chains are emerging as flexible consortia drawn together to bid for parcels of work in many different sectors throughout the UK and overseas. Members of these new consortia are learning to operate as teams and will have strengths single companies simply cannot compete against.

Companies intending to operate in these flexible consortiums must adopt new strengths, skills and resources to compete. The environment in collaborative bidding is and will remain aggressive and increasingly it will become a global community.

Companies must adopt robust business practices and have a permanently inquisitive continuous improvement policy. Probably one of the best business tools available to maintain healthy continuous improvement is the Business Excellence Model™ which uses unique self assessment techniques to ensure businesses nurture and develop the skills to stay out in front.

Table 1 and Table 2 below demonstrate the essential qualities, capacity and capability of intending suppliers in two completely diverse industries in the United Kingdom. For comparative purposes Table 3 lists the five enablers and four results activities within the Business Excellence model. The alignment of the two industry standards is not by accident.

Industry Standard
  1. Leadership
  2. Strategic Planning
  3. Processes and Process planning
  4. Project and Risk Management
  5. Lean Processes
  6. Strategic Procurement
  7. Skills Assessment and Development
  8. E-business skills
  9. Innovation Management
Table 1 		Industry Standard
  1. Leadership
  2. Strategy
  3. Processes
  4. Commercial Relationship Management
  5. Financial Management
  6. Resources
  7. People
  8. Corporate Social Responsibility
  9. Results
Table 2
Business Excellence Model™
  1. Leadership
  2. Policy and Strategy
  3. People
  4. Partnership and Resource
  5. Processes
  6. Customer Results
  7. People Results
  8. Society Results
  9. Key Performance Results
Table 3

Both of the standards are based on the Business Excellence Model; increasingly best practice in supply chains is using this model to develop the intrinsic skills and nuance that can distinguish between powerful or just ordinary improvement in business processes.

If the Business Excellence Model has not come your way yet, its arrival is almost certain. Perhaps the maxim, 'aim high and early' within your organisation may be winning advice; to become an adopter of the model and an advocate in good time; - a move that will, more than any other generate competitive advantage.