by LORA CECERE, Altimeter Group, www.altimetergroup.com
In the movie Snow White, the Queen possesses a magical mirror that answers any question, to which she often asks: “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who in the land is fairest of all?” …to which the mirror always replies “You, my queen, are fairest of all.”
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Companies want to know “who has the best supply chain?” Unfortunately, there is no supply chain magic mirror; however, each June we can get summarized financial data. While not a perfect mirror, it is a partial reflection. It is definately more accurate than mistakenly believing that each supply chain is as good as it gets (e.g. the Queen’s magic mirror in Snow White).
The normal cycle of financial reporting makes June a perfect month to review the past year. So just as students gather around bulletin boards at the end of the school term and check their grades, in June, I scour websites to understand how supply chains stack up. Luckily, two articles –the CFO Magazine’s Working Capital Survey (http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/14499542) and the CSCMP Annual State of Logistics Report (http://cscmp.org/memberonly/state.asp)– are published in June to serve as year-over-year guideposts to answer the question, who does supply chain best?
2009. A Year in Review
2009 was a true litmus test. It was the height of the recession. Aggregate volume declined 23% and fundamental demand shifted. Despite investments in technology, in aggregate, the supply chain response was slower in this recession than in the prior 2001 recession. There is a growing gap between leaders—companies that really understand and practice the concepts of supply chain management—and laggards. Companies that excelled at supply chain management sensed demand changes 5X faster and realigned network decisions than their peer groups (http://www.supplychainshaman.com/category/supply-chain-economic-recovery/).
For many, 2009 was a working capital…
