IMPROVEMENT STARTS IN A COMPLICATED ENVIRONMENT

Any discussion on the possibilities of achieving total enterprise optimization
begins with an understanding of just how complex an extended enterprise supply
chain has become. While the original supply chain efforts were directed toward
achieving optimum operating conditions across a linear set of tightly linked,
internal process steps, from beginning raw materials to final delivery of products
and services,Any analysis that is limited to internal processing
is doomed to operate with suboptimized conditions. There are simply too many
players in a typical business network, most of which are global in extent. The
end-to-end processing that has come under scrutiny for improvement now includes
a multitude of business partners. Concurrently, the necessary flow of
information and knowledge within a business network has become as important
as the physical flow of goods and the transfer of money across what is clearly
an extended enterprise. Supply chain optimization now requires the collaboration
of a host of business partners working in concert for the same end results.
It becomes imperative in such an environment that the firm seeking optimized
conditions make a passage from an internal-only perspective, in terms
of generating process improvement, to one where willing and trusted business
allies are made a part of the process improvement effort, with the end result
focused on customer satisfaction. To accomplish this objective, the leading
firms are merging their advanced supply chain management concepts with their
customer relationship management efforts, yielding a framework and roadmap
for progressing through a series of levels until the highest possible return on
the effort, in terms of value for the customer and benefits for the providing firm
and its allies, is attained. Along the way, a concurrent effort must be made to
balance supply chain progress with the firm�s customer relationship management
capabilities and synchronize the results of the two efforts. In the next
chapter, we will delve into these necessities, as we explain how firms partnering
in level 5 can take advantage of their intelligence sharing and outdistance
competitors in the creation of new revenues.