Joint Combat Assessment Team Readiness

Comment:  This is a article published following orders to China Lake Naval Air Systems Command training during 2003 and 2004.  It highlights the need to assess failures, faults, and deliberate actions to determine how to best improve systems.  Field work like this is exciting and finding ways maximizing the impact to America's adversaries while minimizing impacts to ourselves is a critical part of war fighting. This kind of thinking also extends to marketplace competition. While not belligerent, companies do seek marketplace dominance through similar efforts in quality, durability, and sustainability.  Another post of interest may be What does Military Experience Bring to the Table?

Training to Assess the Threat:

NAVAIRSYSCOM Det. 0474 Personnel Support

Joint Combat Assessment Team Readiness

 By 

Air Systems Program Public Affairs 

LT Mike Randazzo, NAVAIR Air Systems Program PAO

Mission planners rely on real-time combat data to establish immediately the threat environment and improve planning of ongoing operations. As an integral part of a joint service combat assessment team, Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) Air Systems Program (ASP) personnel aggressively train to add value to this effort and contribute to current and future Naval aircraft combat readiness.

Sponsored by the Joint Technical Coordinating Group on Aircraft Survivability (JTCG/AS), the Joint Combat Assessment Team (JCAT) is comprised of Reservists from the Army, Navy, and Air Force. JCAT’s primary mission is to collect data on aircraft combat damage and losses.

JCAT Team with live-fire testing F-14: As an integral part of a joint service combat assessment team, Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) Air Systems Program (ASP) personnel from NAVAIRSYSCOM Det. 0474 aggressively train to contribute to current and future Naval aircraft combat readiness. (LCDR James Bogden is second from left on top, and LT Mike Neaves is third from left on top.)

During recent conflicts, the lack of a permanent combat damage reporting system resulted in the loss of valuable combat damage data. In 1999, JCAT was established as a Reserve unit ready to deploy rapidly and collect combat data anywhere in the world. LCDR James Bogden and LT Mike Neaves joined JCAT from NAVAIRSYSCOM Det. 0474, which supports NAVAIR’s Naval Aviation Depot at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, FL. Det. 0474 is aligned with NAVAIR’s Industrial Capabilities unit which delivers the people, skills, knowledge, facilities, and equipment required to perform depot-level maintenance and repair of aircraft, engines, components, and other aeronautical equipment, and performs manufacturing and prototyping operations.

The JCAT unit, also, provides threat training to aviators and battle damage repair personnel. “An important part of this mission is to ensure that we continually train for the mission to ensure that we are ready to be deployed whenever and whereever we are needed,” LCDR Bogden said. Bogden and Neaves recently participated in a two-phase training session geared toward raising awareness of threat assessment and combat data collection.

The first phase of the training was the 2003 Threat Warheads and Effects Seminar at Hurlburt and Eglin Air Force Bases, Ft. Walton Beach, FL. The annual threat seminar covers the entire spectrum of threat weapons, including grenades (RPGs), manned portable air defense systems, and the latest Russian surfaceto- air missile systems. Threat exploitation hardware displays and live-fire demonstrations of small arms, RPGs, and a Stinger missile serve to reinforce the classroom material.

The second phase of JCAT training consisted of hands-on combat data collection training hosted by the NAVAIR Weapons Survivability Laboratory at China Lake, CA.

“We received valuable training on the effects of hydrodynamic ram from armor piercing and high explosive AAA, conventional metal versus composite structural damage, and warhead fragment and pattern identification. The combat data collection training provided us with the techniques and abilities needed to collect damage information in the fluid combat environment while minimizing the impact on the maintenance personnel trying to get the aircraft back into action,”  Neaves said of his recent training experience.

Participants observed an F-14 live-fire demonstration and collected damage data on a variety of aircraft, including an F/A-18 Super Hornet, V-22 Osprey, Harrier, and C-130. Each complete training assessment consisted of data collection (measurements, photographs, interviews, etc.), preparing a presentation, briefing the findings, and an instructor critique of student performance. Emphasis was placed on proper damage documentation for future reference and briefing operational commands.

“Projecting ASP technology and operations support at the depot level, even in a joint operating environment such as JCAT, is key to the ASP strategic planning process: to create a more ready and responsive Naval Air Systems Reserve Force,” said Rear Admiral Mark Hazara, Director, Naval Reserve Air Systems Program.

“Harvesting combat data to improve survivability and provide a database of lessons learned for future aircraft designers supports our effort to provide NAVAIR with readily deployable assets to provide optimum current and future material readiness,” Hazara added.

The Air Systems Program (ASP) provides qualified and diverse civilian and military experience in operational support of Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) research and development, engineering, program management, logistics, and industrial capability activities. The 600 Naval Reserve officers and enlisted men and women of the ASP train constantly to respond to evolving NAVAIR missions enabling the organization to harvest tangible cost savings for fleet recapitalization. The ASP is comprised of 32 commands that are headquartered in 14 states.

References:

Randazzo, M. (2004). Naval reserve association news: training to assess the threat.  (Vol 51. No 2.).  VA. 

Community Leadership

The United States is undergoing a variety of transformations leaving many American citizens feeling helpless as a veil of uncertainty shrouds the future. The United States has been different than the other 200  or so countries around the world. The concept of American Exceptionalism is the belief that the United States does not conform to the rest of the world because the United States is of a fundamentally different character. Exceptionalism is built principally upon the freedom to exercise democratic processes. In practicing Exceptionalism there is a venue for the citizens to participate in planning their future other than reliance on ineffective or disinterested leadership that are classically of tyranny and aristocracies. This venue any citizen can take up and affect change is community leadership.

Community Leadership

One of the challenges with mainstream media, churches, and even  the United States government is an overwhelming volume of demagoguery and ineffective efforts. Everyone seems to be pointing out one side or the other of an argument. While often there are calls to action, no one is taking action or solving the problem.  The most probable reason is because many people lack the will, training, or skills necessary for mobilizing the cause into action. Community leadership enables the average citizen to take action, address grievances, effect outcomes, and impact the community and lives.  Any one or group can undertake any cause by getting organized the right way. 

A community leader is a person who works with others to develop and sustain the health of the community resting on several key points:

• Leadership is not the end in itself, but the mechanism to something else.
• Community leadership occurs whenever anyone works to develop and sustain a healthy community.
• Community leaders are identified by their works not their position or traits.
• Community members are a sufficient resource pool of leaders.

A healthy community is a place where the citizens economic, social, physical, cultural, and spiritual needs work for the common good and creation of a cooperative future.

In this posting two books will lend support to the notion of community leadership.  A framework is laid out in the Community Leadership Handbook for establishing and leading action. Managing Policy Reform offers the Democratic Reform Process, DRP, model that is reflected in the Leadership Process post. Together these two resources are the basis for a lay person, a citizen, to pull together an action committee, small group, advisory counsel, or community planning team. The purpose is for citizens take action in their community.  It does take work and it does work. 

Who can take action? Anyone can perform this action and have. However, if the effort is governmental, citizens or registered voters should have greater credibility rather than non-voting citizens, illegal aliens, green card holders, felons, and others in the system. Although, some political stakeholders in government accept all folks regardless of their affiliation.

The Core Competencies

In order to lead a cause, there are several competencies required; the ability to frame ideas, build social capital, and mobilize resources.   These undergo a process that result in a deliverable. 

Framing ideas determines what, why, and how action is taken. The process of framing involves analysis, values, motivations, vision, strategy,  and focus.  When developing a compelling vision and setting priorities that frame the action and ideas several practices are involved:

• Identifying community assets
• Analyzing community problems
• Accessing community data
• Doing appreciative inquiry
• Visioning
• Translating vision into actions

Building social capital is a leadership skill of developing and maintaining relationships marked by trust, reciprocity, and durability.  Much of the human capital operates in social networks in which bonding and bridging occur.  The leader can only draw on the social and human capital if a deposit was made. Wise leaders do not take their investments lightly. The tools often employed are:

• Effective communication
• Managing interpersonal conflicts
• Building social capital across cultural boundaries
• Mapping social capital; link analysis

Mobilizing resources is creating critical mass in order to take action and achieve an outcome. This requires strategic thinking and workable plans. This involves moving others to speak and support on behalf of the effort, engaging gatekeepers to networks, drawing large numbers of community support, and sage employment of the change adopters. Some of the practices include:

• Maintaining stakeholder registers
• Building Coalitions
• Building effective community teams
• Recruiting and sustaining volunteers. 

The Leadership Process 

The Leadership Process model is the general structure for community leaders. The leaders begin by identifying the problem, setting goals, and then managing the reform or change.  Perhaps the most critical aspect of the leadership process is framing the ideas and building support. Without these two skills the rest of the process is useless.  One tool of value is the workshop. 

The Workshop

This tool goes by many names such as neighborhood and district advisory counsels (NACs and DACs), town hall meetings, community planning group, think tanks, work teams, etc... The function remains the same. Workshops are an effective means to illicit participation from the constituency or supporters. 

Leaders must prepare the workshop prior to meeting. This requires a set of activities that loosely structure the sessions and permit dialogue. Each meeting should possess the following traits: 

1. Have objectives or goals set. 
2. Know what seeds to plant that build stakeholders’ ownership. 
3. Identify and invite strategic participants; people with access to funding, social networks, and influence. 
4. Realistic meeting durations or time limits. People have other lives and the leader must respect their time. 
5. Set the location. Have a stable and reliable place to meet. Ensure that others can lead if you are not able to attend. 
6. Design the agenda for simplicity, flexibility, and make it actionable.

During the meeting, leaders must keep the tempo and focus. They achieve through a specific framework for the conduct of the workshop. 

1. The agenda is a roadmap and a destination too. Allow for the discussion to naturally flow and keep it on the roadmap. 
2. Emphasize participation. Treat all participants as adults. 
3. Foster combinatory play with operational relevance in order to learn.
4. Use facilitators who are generally stakeholders and supporters who have a unique focus and can manage the areas of expertise. 

Work shops can involve large numbers of people and multiple or tiered workshops can address numerous special interest. In the leadership paradigm there are three tiers of leaders that map acutely to tiered workshops.

• Leaders with followers. This maps to tactical operations and effecting outcomes.
• Leaders of leaders. This maps to operational level activities expanding influence beyond one community. 
• Leaders of leaders of leaders. This maps to strategic level activities expanding the influence regionally, nationally, or even internationally. 

The workshop is an essential tool for a community leader who can expand the influence of the vision across communities and even internationally. 

Getting Started

If you are fed up with the way things are and you know what needs to be done then it makes sense for you to get the ball rolling. Make sure your idea is framed well and you've identified potential sponsors and stakeholders. Begin by writing letters to them as emails get filtered and unknown people and unsolicited emails tend to get deleted. Letters tend to get read or at least scanned. Follow up the letters with a call and seek to schedule a meeting during which you frame your idea in their terms gaining their  support.

Once you have built a base of sponsors and stakeholders. Organize workshops and begin to plan then mobilize resources keeping the sponsors and stakeholders informed.  Refer to the process model and step through each stage. Track progress and make adjustments as necessary until you have achieved the objectives. 

Community leadership is a means for the common citizen to get involved beyond the vote and making real impacts to lives and their communities.  It does not have to be a 1960's student demonstration or an act of civil disobedience. In fact, the need to be on TV or gain attention in those ways is actually rare as most actions can be achieved by meeting with the right people and gaining support. Incremental change adds up over time making a whole new way of living. As a strategy the leader should assess the various changes necessary for a vision then devise a skillful plan to achieve them.  

Other posts of interest:

The Democratic Reform Process Model - General

The Democratic Reform Process Model - In Practice

References:

Brinkerhoff, D.; Crosby, B. (2001). Managing policy reforms: concepts and tools for decision-makers in developing and transitioning countries. Kumarian press: NY

Supply Chain: Impact of Globalization

This is a series on Supply Chain Basics looking at the discipline from the Society of Operations Management perspective. Supply chain is also essential to project management as PMs are typically trained in world class contracting. The Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act, DAWIA, certification highlights the combination of project management and supply chain. In this post, we will explore Supply Chain Globalization Impact adding some additional support as well.  I made an update to this post 12Oct13. 

Supply Chain:  The Globalization Impact

APICS defines globalization as the interdependence of economics globally that results from the growing volume and variety of international transactions in goods, services, and capital, and capital, and also from the spread of new technology.  Supply chains and globalization will continue to influence each other throughout the 21st century. A global strategy focuses on improving global performance through the sell and marketing of goods and services with minimal variation by country. This is not to be confused with multi-country strategy which has variation by country utilizing local capabilities.

The interdependence of economies around the globe creates a number of opportunities for supply chain managers:

• New markets for goods and services
• New Resources and suppliers
• New pools of labor

Trade between nations has been around for a long time but has increased in recent years due to enablers such as transportation and information technologies. Nations and companies alike are focusing on these core competencies in order to participate more profitably in the global trade.  A combination of the competencies makes globalization possible at a competitive price. 

Globalization creates challenges just as it has created opportunities. Cultural differences between nations come into sharper focus creating potentials for terrorist attacks, piracy, and illicit trafficking of goods and services. Other challenges are the introduction of disruptive technologies that create a competitive advantage for one supply chain become a must for the others which then moves towards commoditization. 

The 10 Keys to Global Logistics and Trade Management:

• Focus on total delivered cost management
• Further automate global logistic processes
• achieve end-to-end visibility
• Leverage supplier portals and achieve advanced ship notice compliance
• Commit to total identification and regulatory compliance
• Maintain transportation flexibility
• Embrace variability management
• Build integrated international and domestic workflows
• Adopt and integrate planning and execution platforms
• Focus on financial supply chain management

Companies and nations must become involved globally in order to remain competitive. Additionally, the advent of complex economies opens markets for local resources while introducing new products and service not locally available. Overall, global supply chains must be adaptable and responsive to the global system while cooperating on a local level. National markets must be chosen wisely in order to limit variation.

Regionalization vs Globalization

While business is globalizing the world is regionalizing.  Globalization of industry and business means that companies are becoming either multi-national or multi-cultural organizations. Multi-national companies retain a unique identity across nations and cultures. Whereas multi-cultural companies assume the culture and identity of their hosts. Management is dramatically different between the two types of companies.  However, another challenge is thrown into the mix - regionalization. Regionalization blurs cultural and national boundaries generally into larger regional economic centers of influence. I discuss this movement in the post Reflecting on the Character of Business and the Economy. 

Regionalization has the effect of reducing nationalistic opportunities for industry to a few regional opportunities for industry to leverage.  As part of regionalization, freedom of movement within the region is increased and trade barriers are decreased. Trade between regions has yet to be determined but  on the surface appears to become more standardized. Currently, there are only five major regionalization efforts with more developing. Some regionalization efforts will be very tumultuous and even belligerent as the case with the Middle East.  Other regionalization efforts will just happen overnight.

With the increased freedom of movement and reduced trade barriers, supply chains will dramatically change. In some cases, components in the chain will move to new regions and other component will move into areas previously not possible. Overall, the supply chain challenge will increase as the world order regionalizes.

References:

(2011). APICS Certified Supply Chain Professional Learning System. (2011 ed.). Version 2.2.

Supply Chain: Creating Value

This is a series on Supply Chain Basics looking at the discipline from the Society of Operations Management perspective. Supply chain is also essential to project management as PMs are typically trained in world class contracting. The Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act, DAWIA, certification highlights the combination of project management and supply chain. In this post, we will explore Supply Chain value adding some additional support as well.

Supply Chain: Creating Value

Supply chain management aims to create value that is the worth of an item, good, or service. A related concept is 'value added' to goods and services. This is the responsibility of all entities in the supply chain. The relevant definition of 'value added' is the actual increase in utility from the viewpoint of the customer. The idea is to remove all non-value added activities. However, customers may view value wider than simply utility when considering price, availability, and attractiveness.

APICS views the business as a capitalist notion of profit margin or the difference between revenue and the cost of goods sold. The greater the margin the greater the financial success. Net profit is the result of deducting all expenses not only the costs of goods sold from revenues. APICS ponders the questions is financial success, money, a sufficient measure; are other traits involved; and are there limitations to ways of creating money? APICS emphatically asserts, "YES".

Not all profits are justified. Revenue can be generated that may be unethical or socially forbidden.  Governments tend to have influence in these areas and in Global operations what is permissible in one region may not be permissible elsewhere.

Value is measured by one stakeholder group at a time. Global supply chains have many stakeholders and what is beneficial to one stakeholder may be harmful to another. Therefore, identifying all the stakeholders and determining the impact the activity will have on each other is important.  Downstream impacts are just as important. Ultimately, the end customer is a significant stakeholder. There is a balance between value and profits. Each partner in the supply chain must optimize value in the supply chain as a whole. many questions need to be answered;

• Should profits be passed through to customers as discounts?
• Should profits be distributed as investor dividends?
• Should profits be reinvested in equipment and plant upgrades?

External stakeholders are also a challenge and consideration. These include governments, communities, lenders, etc...

Balancing the stakeholders value in the supply chain is a challenge as increasing the value for one decreases the value for another. Everyone has to be satisfied in order to participate.

Sustainable Supply Chains

This is when environmental paradigms are infused into the supply chain utilizing the cradle-to-the-grave notion of product management.  Sustainability and green are often used interchangeably despite sustainability being a broader topic including social and economic concerns. Both terms tend to refer to the limitations of economic activity imposed by natural resources. Companies should seek renewable resources rather than those that are depleting with slow or no replenishment.  Protection of the environment is also a major consideration.  ISO14000 provides an international standard for supply chain operation. However, in many countries ISO14000 reporting requirements can create legal issues for companies given local or national laws regarding these standards. Therefore, many companies are reluctant to adopt these standards.  Sustainability overall is significant in supply chain management;

• Government and regulatory pressures
• Good environmental management and sustainability
• Public opinion and the power of consumer choice
• Potential for competitive advantage

Sustainability makes good sense because it drives growth, reduces costs, and increases profits. Green supply chain management is here to stay and adds stakeholder value.

Financial Value

Reducing costs in one way to creating financial value and must be performed carefully in one of three ways:

1. Tradeoffs may be self-defeating. Rebalancing the spending increasing money in one area while reducing spending in another area can have negative impacts or a net loss. For example, shifting inventory from one member in the chain to another who has less capability or leverage could cost the relationship and supply chain performance.
2. It takes money to make money. Reducing costs through layoffs may free capital for supply chain projects but inevitably results in lower performance and ultimately failure. Most supply chain improvements require capital up front to realize greater revenues, profits, or both in time. There has to be a net gain.  Typical measures have been ROI and ROA. 
3. Gains must be equitably distributed. An error often made is not redistributing gains based on the needs of the stakeholders. Teamwork across the chain must be justly rewarded.  

Customer Value

In a capital economy, making money means responding to the customer meaning market driven.  The goal of market driven supply chain is to deliver products and services to that customer who will make the purchase.  Supply chain may be managed with an eye to delivering one or more of the following:

• Product or Service Quality: The supply chain must coordinate the right design, right materials,  and right production in order to achieve the right level of quality.
• Affordability:  This is a misleading notion in most cases. Affordability is not discounts, bargains, and just items of modest value but instead the appropriate price level for a market. A supply chain invests in the appropriate level of processes, people, technology etc... in order to achieve the right price. Keeping goods and service at the right price means supply chain efficiencies. 
• Availability: Some products and services require timeliness.  This affects not only inventories but the mode of delivery. 
• Services:  There is an indistinct division between products and services.  Often services are value added to a product sale. A reverse supply chain has grown in importance in recent years often called the Service Chain to handle returns, repairs, and warranty issues. 
• Sustainability:  Consumers are often the driving force behind environmental and social supply chain innovation.  Customer opinion for or against a companies policies and practices can impact sales. 

The amount of emphasis on one value or another will depend upon the nucleus firm's market strategy. No one will deliver low quality on an unpredictable schedule at high prices. In the end, the creation of customer value is the primary factor in supply chain strategy.

Social Value

A supply chain's contribution to society comes from three factors.

• Creating a positive good through delivering socially desired and useful products or services
• Avoiding or reducing negative environmental side effects of activities such as extraction, processing, and construction
• Integrating sustainability into the supply chain using the SCOR model.
• Plan, source, make, deliver, and return

There is no one size fits all approach to building and sustaining a supply chain.  Different practices and the sequencing in which they are adopted will vary and be driven by organizational and supply chain objectives.

References:

(2011). APICS Certified Supply Chain Professional Learning System. (2011 ed.). Version 2.2.

Supply Chain: Evolution

This is a series on Supply Chain Basics looking at the discipline from the Society of Operations Management perspective. Supply chain is also essential to project management as PMs are typically trained in world class contracting. The Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act, DAWIA, certification highlights the combination of project management and supply chain. In this post, we will explore Supply Chain Evolution adding some additional support as well.

Supply Chain: Evolution

Traditionally, the supply chain has been either lateral or vertical integration. Vertical integration refers to the practice of bringing the supply chain into one organization. This approach has become antiquated as companies increased in size and became more global. The lateral supply chain model has replaced the vertical approach as preferred approach.

First, let's look more at the vertical supply chain which has been around longer than the supply chain concept. The idea is to internalize nearly all of the supply chain and control it. All of the planning, design, execution, monitoring, and control belongs to one organization. Vertically integrated supply chains grow out of expanding companies that layer departments and management or from mergers and acquisitions.  Supply Point Control or Value Chain profit is different as a dominant company has control the market supply managing demand and pricing versus controlling the supply to the producer then to then consumer with multiple competitive chains operating in the market.  While vertically integrated supply chains persist, usually when companies expand globally they divest themselves of the non-core functions moving towards a lateral supply chain.

The trend over the past several decades has been towards lateral supply chains having various outsourced activities and companies lose control of these activities. The reasons for a lateral supply chain are

1. To achieve economies of scale.
2. To Improve business focus and expertise.
3. Because its possible.

Despite the attraction of a lateral chain, synchronizing the activities of the network is an enormous challenge.  What a firm gains in scale, scope, and focus they may lose in the ability to see, understand, or even care about the larger supply chain processes.

There is an intermediate form of supply chains called "keiretsu".  Japanese companies form cooperative relationships remaining legally and economically independent even though working closely such as sole sourcing and financial backing. Members generally have shares in the other member companies anf forms around a bank or trading company.

Stages of Supply Chain Management Evolution

Advances made in supply chain over the past several decades have been reproduced in the models improving them over time. The evolutionary trend has been as follows:

Stage 1:  Multiple Dysfunction 

The potential nucleus organization lacks internal definition and goals. Other than a few transactional links there are no external connections.

These organizations tend to act impulsively rather than according to a plan. Management provides only the most general sense of a mission.  Forecasting is mostly guesswork and often over inflated by unwarranted market optimism. Product design may be myopic and of a few internal designers. Product and payments flow irregularly. Material Resource Planning (MRP) is at the most basic level having the Bill of Materials (BOM) and short term production planning.

Stage 2:  Semi-functional Enterprise

The nucleus organization begins to improve effectiveness, efficiency, and quality within functional areas. While some or all functions engage in initiatives designed to increase efficiencies within departments, there is little to no overlap in decision making from one department to another.

Partnerships with customers and supplier have not yet formed. However, the departments begin seeking efficiencies that reduce handling, reduce inventories, procurement and logistical processes improve, marketing forecast become reliable, and production planning systems begin to emerge. The efficiencies come at a cost though since they have not been achieved through cross communication.  For example reduced inventories could result in shortages and lower cost logistics may take longer or be unreliable.

Stage 3:  Integrated Enterprise

Silos or stovepipes are broken down pulling functional areas together.  Focus shifts from individual functions to a company wide process focus.

These organizations are fully integrated between departments using Enterprise Resource Planning, ERP. This is a prelude to end-to-end supply chain management. focusing on interdepartmental processes does not depend on technology. Although smartly leveraging technology can act as a force multiplier.  MRP was create in the 1950s then expanded to MRP II which wrapped together manufacturing and finance. ERP then expanded upon MRP II tying in the entire organization. Additional, advances pushed across the corporate boundaries and linked to supply chain partners.

Cross-collaboration among departmental lines has been experimental and tentative at first. However, cross functional approaches such as collaborative planning, forecasting, and replenishment have emerged. Departmental representatives, teams, now meet to develop demand forecasts, production planning, and other functions.

Inventory receives a strategic consideration as markets are astutely segmented improving customer service.  The nucleus firm begins to move towards integration of the external members of the supply chain.

Stage 4:  Extended Enterprise

The firm integrates its internal network with the internal networks of supply chain partners in order to improve efficiencies, product/service quality, or both.

The APICS program combines the discrete steps between integrated supply chain and fully networked supply chain into a continuous process.  The approach assumes a significant breakthrough at this juncture that extends at least one business process past the boundary of the corporation.  The process that leads to an extended enterprise typically begins with an exploratory collaboration between a channel master and one component supplier. This relationship will become a model for future partnerships and multi-firm collaboration.

The first collaboration can fail if the channel master becomes dominant and coerces the weaker partners for on-time deliveries at low prices for example. Manufacturers and retailers can dominate the channel exerting considerable leverage on the suppliers. This can create circumstances in which suppliers agree to difficult-to-keep promises in exchange for access to global markets. The dominant firm in the chain may require suppliers to hold the inventory. True partnerships requires a contract that benefits all stakeholders to the agreement.

Overall, this is a conceptual breakthrough and not a technology except for e-commerce but technology does enable the enterprise and is deeply embedded in stage 4.  ERP systems are synchronized between all partners. Competition among supply chains may be revolutionary. 

In conclusion, supply chains have caused companies to mature in ways that may be revolutionary. Companies can be gauged on their maturity through a 4 stage evolutionary process arriving at the digital profit model which has attenuated the business-to-customer relationship removing the middle men in many cases.  Supply chain evolution has created value which we will discuss in the next post. 

References:

(2011). APICS Certified Supply Chain Professional Learning System. (2011 ed.). Version 2.2.

Supply Chain: Key Management Processes

This is a series on Supply Chain Basics looking at the discipline from the Society of Operations Management perspective. Supply chain is also essential to project management as PMs are typically trained in world class contracting. The Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act, DAWIA, certification highlights the combination of project management and supply chain. In this post, we will explore Supply Chain Key Management Processes adding some additional support as well.

Supply Chain: Key Management Processes

The Basic Supply Chain Model alludes to linked companies making the supply chain discipline seem well defined and organized. More accurately, the supply chain model is viewed as linked processes.  These processes convert or transform materials into finished goods or services for distribution to customers. Functional areas within the company execute the processes and constitute the supply chain.  Considering the supply chain as a set of processes vide a succession of companies, the supply chain becomes difficult to identify and manage. 

APICS utilizes one of the more widely known process-oriented models is the Supply Chain Operations Reference Model (SCOR) developed and maintained by the Supply Chain Council (SCC). The model is also applied to service supply chains as well as manufacturing chains. 

Conflicts and Confusion

As with most industries, there are competitive views, defintions, and models. For example, some researchers and authors consider supply chain to be only the suppliers.  The remaining elements are viewed as distribution. APICS views the supply chain to include all three components; suppliers, producers, and customers in relationship. Wholesalers and distributors are also included in the APICS models.  

There is also confusion regarding 'value chains' versus 'supply chains'.  Supply Chains can be value chains if well managed just as they are distinctly different per others thinking.  APICS defines value chains as functions within a company that add value to the goods and services sold to customers in exchange for payments. Value chains integrate supply chain activities during the product or service lifecycle based on customer needs.  Value chains attempt to increase value of the product passing through the system achieving the highest level of customer satisfaction. In short, value exploits the supply chain competencies of all actors in the chain. However, not all value chain activities are in the supply chain. 

Closely related concepts are 'value stream' and 'value stream mapping'. Value streams are the activities that increase value of a product or service from concept to the end user. The value stream map aides in process improvement.  

Definitions, in the many discussions, result in unclear separation between processes and entities.  Stream implies flow while chain implies entities and both are crucial to management of the supply chain. Therefore, both should be included. 

APICS and Supply Chain Management

APICS states that supply chain management is the design, planning, execution, control, and monitoring of supply chain activities with the objective of creating net value, competitive infrastructures, leveraging  global logistics, synchronizing supply with demand, and measuring performance globally.  A few points to note immediately are that supply chains are about creating value, reducing costs, and leaning the chain. 

Supply chains tend to be managed by a dominant or strong firm in the chain. However, project managers may have to take control of the supply chain in order to facilitate innovation in complex  global mega-projects.  Managing supply chains requires a balancing act among competing interests. 

Supply Chain Operations Reference (SCOR) Model

This model is a cross industry standard diagnostic tool for supply chain management developed over years of field based practices that links together business process, metrics, best practices, and technology in a unified structure, Figure 1. 

Figure 1: SCOR Supply Chain Operations Reference Model

The SCC intends the models use for improving the supply chain performance and understanding and carefully defines the boundaries of the model as model does not apply to all business processes. The model only extends two tiers in both directions from the core producer or provider. SCOR's applicability is widespread and includes process descriptions, relationships and describes, measures, and improves supply chain performance. The model's current version about to be released is 11.0 as of May 2013 and has some limitations that follow:

SCOR applies to all these activities:

• Customer interactions from order entry to payment 
• Product transactions 
• Market transactions from aggregate demand to order fulfillment 

SCOR does not apply to these activities:

• Sales and marketing or demand generation 
• Research and technology development 
• Product development 
• Some elements of post delivery customer support (does include returns) 

SCOR does not address but assumes the following exists:

• Training 
• Quality 
• Information Technology 
• Administration 

The principle focus of the model is processes associated with plan, source, make, deliver, and return. These processes exist within the member firms in the chain and executed by the central triad; suppliers, producers, and customers. SCOR Version 10 added a 'People' standard for describing the skills for the tasks performed with the following competences. 

• Novice: untrained 
• Beginner: limited situational perception 
• Competent: understands the work and sets the priorities 
• Proficient: oversees all aspects of work 
• Expert: intuitive understanding applying experience patterns to new situations.

SCOR processes defined include matters such as product engineering, warehousing, product inventories, and returns.  The high level processes are:

• Plan: Demand/supply and management
• Source: Make-to-order, Engineered-to-order, and stocked product
• Make:  Make-to-stock, Make-to-order, and Engineered-to-order production execution
• Deliver: Order, Warehouse, transportation, and installation management for stocked, make to order, and engineered to order product
• Return: Return of raw materials and receipts of return of finished goods

The SCOR model is not static as it is versioned with regular updates improving the model. The most important take away is the focus on process. Once an organization begins to focus on the process vice functional silos then everything improves. Supplier aided design is a desirable practice as this cross functional or process driven communication strengthens the product.

References:

(2011). APICS Certified Supply Chain Professional Learning System. (2011 ed.). Version 2.2.