By Jill Jusko (http://industryweek.com/articles/building_a_better_supply_chain_19610.aspx).
Here are my thoughts… These pillars are quite broad and it’s hard to disagree with them. Not that I would want to disagree with any of it but one could argue that these five pillars are critical to almost any core function of a business. However, when speaking specifically of supply chain resilience and robustness, these five pillars of excellence are fundamental.
Based on my experience, I would add to Dittman’s reason for making “Change Management” one of these five pillars. While it is true that your supply chain needs to deal with complex change nimbly and quickly (I assume this is what he means when he says “Are they getting the job done? Strategy is one thing; execution is another.”), I believe that resilient supply chains need to not only “deal” with change but indeed “anticipate and drive” the change itself. In my previous blog (ERP and the Business of Change) I argue that for ERP efforts to be successful a company not only needs to upgrade the supply chain processes and technology but the company culture itself.
So I would rename the fifth pillar “Change Resilience” because it really takes a whole organization (including support functions) to be truly nimble and responsive to changes all along the supply chain.
See additional commentary (http://blog.kinaxis.com/2009/07/the-five-pillars-of-supply-chain-excellence/)
