Be Flexible and be at the Top

Better, faster, cheaper continues to be the mantra of a demanding marketplace and even the shortest product lifecycles continue to shrink. Couple these challenges with dramatic seasonal cycles of expansion and contraction (hockey stick) and you have just a few realities of the Technology sector. What is new on the horizon only appears to add risk to an already complex supply chain challenge. Things like protecting your IP (intellectual property) from being compromised in global regions that take a lax view of patent protection and dealing with the new reality that the spiraling cost of oil means that freight costs can no longer be buried into a purchase price. And do not forget all the new compliancy laws for manufacturing and legal disposition of electronic equipment (i.e. RoHS and WEEE.)
Unique challenges:

• Short product lifecycles
• Dramatic forecast fluctuations
• Variable demand (expansion and contraction)
• Seasonality/hockey stick
• Compliance laws

All of this increased risk requires flexibility from technology companies to remain competitive. To achieve this one needs a standardized and documented world-class supply chain processes, technology and functional methodologies with good experience of providing cutting-edge supply chain services. Contact a supply chain solutions or a supply chain consulting companies.

Advantages of Glocal Postponement

In a global economy distant sources can provide low cost high quality components coupled with a staggering cost of ownership for those same components if not managed effectively. Companies often find themselves warehousing depreciating finished goods that are not generating revenue while at the same time housing sub-assemblies that could be. All solutions to resolve this dilemma cut directly into the bottom line. This is where the theory of Glocal Postponement can help. Glocal postponement is an important aspect of supply chain consulting.
Outsourcing your components to more economical global manufacturing sources while at the same time moving final assembly, configuration, test and packaging down the supply chain and closer to the consumers helps to minimize the increasing occurrences of demand volatility.
Glocal Postponement increases profitability of your supply chainsolutions by:

• Reducing inventory overhead
• Not reworking products with low demand into those with high demand
• Substantially reducing excess and obsolete inventory.
• Increased inventory turns
• IP (intellectual property) protection
• Reduced inventory Total Cost (warehousing, rework, freight, obsolescence, cost of capital, etc.)

Ask the supply chain solutions or supply chain consulting companies about this.