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B Y PAT R I C K B U R N S O N
U.S. Manufacturers
Should Seize the Moment
The global challenges facing supply chain professionals
in 2013 also represent a great opportunity to move their
companies forward.
By Patrick Burnson
S
Patrick Burnson is
executive editor
at Supply Chain
Management Review.
He can be reached
at pburnson@
peerlessmedia.com
J a n u a r y / Fe b r u a r y 2 0 1 3
and profitable proximity sourcing to meet the diverse product needs of customer and consumers who increasingly
look for personalization in their purchases.
Manufacturers poised for growthwith or without
government incentivesare advised to pay close attention to the following 10 predictions from IDC:
1. Resiliency becomes a priority for end users looking to master massive multidimensionality.
2. On the supply side, recognizing the inherent cost
of lead-times, manufacturers continue to look at global
networks through the lens of both regional and countrylevel sourcing.
3. On the demand side, recognizing the need for better service levels and mass customization, manufacturers look again to postponement techniques and data
analytics to drive more effective customer insights and
smarter fulfillment.
4. End-user IT organizations will have to support a
more productive supply chain ecosystem.
5. Service excellence becomes a strategic priority.
6. Supply chains will optimize omnichannel customer service and cost by enabling trustworthy, efficient
and effective supply chains.
7. End users will focus efforts to improve collaboration both upstream with suppliers and downstream with
customers to better compete in a faster world.
8. Supply chains will invest in technologies that
enable visibility, visualization and virtualization.
9. The supply chain gets smarter.
10. The big data era dawns for supply chain
organizations.
As with most transformational events, seizing
one moment, means parting with the past. Americas
manufacturers and the supply chain professionals in
their organizations should begin to consider a shift in
focus from the factory to the holistic supply chain. This
means embracing disciplines ranging from demand
management to distribution logistics. It also requires
manufacturers to build resilience into their master
schedules and capacity plans. At the same time, political agendasno matter how compellingshould not
favor restraint when aggressive growth is clearly needed
to restore and rebuild eroding international linkage with
this nations foreign markets.
J a n u a r y / Fe b r u a r y 2 0 1 3
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