The true path to a balanced supply chain is to use exception messages for the highlighting of bad processes, faulty master data and bad behaviors. Sounds easy enough, but in reality, it can be quite challenging to balance supply and demand by identifying the way people behave and the way processes are implemented.
Tending to exception messages as they arise and monitoring by exception ultimately drives ongoing transformation, resulting in a more agile organization. All of us want to achieve that goal by integrating every function and every department and by communicating through one source of truth. But what if we were also able to react quickly and optimize our resources by understanding how to read and solve exceptions so we aren’t forced to chase our tail across the supply chain? Unless we commit to this challenging task of ensuring that every person – and every part of the supply chain – is held accountable, we cannot truly integrate all departments. If we don’t, then we are at risk of slipping back into managing by siloes, resulting in unhappy customers, a disconcerted shop floor and bosses who demand immediate answers.
