Supply Chain Strength Through Collaboration

The supply chain has always been under an intense level of pressure to contain costs while improving services, and service levels, and this pressure has required, or forced, the supply chain to develop a strong network of partners that can provide on-demand support of services.  The supply chain first of all is built on the partnership of the many service providers, contributors and the users of these services such as manufacturers and retailers that depend on the supply chain for their livelihood. This network of partners supports the ability of the supply chain to meet the demands and also new services that are changing the marketplace.  The supply chain depends on a strong network of collaborative partners and service providers to deliver benefits and services from one end of the supply chain to the other end.

The supply chain has been at the receiving end of almost overwhelming demands to improve services and reduce costs for retailers, manufacturers, carriers and intermodal partners and as s result, the supply chain has been forced to develop a collaborative network of partners that can quickly and efficiently react to changing demands.  Rather than breaking under the pressure of these demands, the supply chain developed into a collaborative network with a large number of specialized partners providing the services, as needed, to react to the wide array of pressures and demands. This puts the supply chain in a position of strength supporting the needs of the partners across the chain.  The various pressures from customers, weather events, changing marketplaces could have only been met by a resilient and flexible supply chain of collaborative partners.

This collaborative partnership should be viewed as a case study in the potential of a collaborative partnership that not only supports the market demands but also actually disrupts and reshapes the market.  There are so many examples of successful change initiatives over the years that can be used as examples and benefits of the collaborative partnership. The supply chain requires support of disrupting factors in weather, materials  and changes in the global economy, the supply chain is really the tip of the spear supporting the demands of the global economy and the engineered approach and focus on continuous improvement has truly allowed the supply chain to meet these demands.  It must be understood that the supply chain is not perfect, however the continuous improvement practice provides a strong foundation of methodology and process address issues and changes as they are identified. This continuous improvement process provides a strong means for the supply chain to sense and respond to changes and issues.

Other marketplaces and participants would gain significant benefits by implementing the collaborative partnership network framework that the supply chain has proved to be resilient and successful in meeting disruptive forces.  The combination of the global economy and the improved abilities delivered through technology have combined to force the market into a path towards collaborative partnerships. I really do not see any other options that can react to and address the market disruption with the same level of resilience and success as the collaborative partnership framework.