How to cross the two mountains of SCM

Integration and changeability - how to climb the two mountains of SCM

in my opinion, the implementation of SCM system is much more difficult than ERP system. Supply chain is a natural product of economic development, which represents a natural evolution from individual economy to group economy, and the management complexity of chain economy is much higher than that of individual economy

the chain economy first means socialization, which means that it is difficult for everyone to adjust and high changes, or further, the chain economy is full of uncertainty. Although SCM system is full of temptation for enterprises, people often wait and see

the fact is that there are many large commercial enterprises in China whose systems are still in the DOS era and do not upgrade to SCM systems

it's not that these enterprises don't want to go, it's that they don't dare to go. In fact, today's Chinese enterprises are different from the past. For them, there are few real new things. What troubles everyone is not that they don't know, but that they can't do it. SCM is no exception

the supply chain mainly includes five parts: planning, procurement, manufacturing, distribution and return. These five parts all have qualitative and quantitative theories and practices. No matter how complex Chinese enterprises are, they can't do without these one, two, three

however, the variables in these parts are enough to make our entrepreneurs "pale at the mention of the tiger". I don't know how many enterprises came here with full confidence and left with their heads down

in front of the implementation of SCM system, there are two mountains of "integration" and "variability". These two mountains are also the fundamental reason why the vast majority of Chinese enterprises are unable to decide whether to go to SCM system

integration

scm system may be the most fragmented software combination of all software. The above mentioned five parts of the supply chain, each of which is composed of many specific businesses, and many businesses have their own applicable software. Many large vendors have tried to put different software packages together, but no one has succeeded. To integrate different software parts together is a nightmare most of the time

perhaps the best way is to divide supply chain software into two categories: SCP (Supply Chain Planning) and SCE (supply chain execution). But in fact, these two parts cannot be separated separately

but to get these information and data, enterprises must learn how to effectively integrate decentralized software

the goal of SCE is higher. It wants to realize the automation of the cheap part of the mechanical instrument tensile testing machine in the supply chain. They can be very simple, just as you send electronic orders from the manufacturing plant to suppliers in order to obtain raw materials

but this is a system that uses instructions throughout the whole process, and no software can automatically run its own instructions through the whole supply chain system. Because the supply chain system is often not a single system, but a pile of heterogeneous complex systems

it can be seen that SCM system is composed of a large number of cross system information, data, instructions and complex operations. These systems include: e-commerce station, procurement system, production system, logistics system, etc. If we cannot establish a plan to integrate all relevant systems, SCM system cannot be built

changeable

the changes in the supply chain are amazing. The supply chain is generated by the demand of competition, and the essence of competition is to change 2016

take the price as an example, if the NEC price of large and medium-sized electrical appliances changes, green, low-carbon and environmental protection has become the development trend of the industry. Generally, it will not exceed 3 days, and Gome's price will immediately make corresponding price adjustment, and this price adjustment does not mean simply changing its quotation

it means that we must obtain higher discounts from NEC to resist the risk of declining profits, and the achievement of this goal may require the coordination of many departments, which may require action instructions to be communicated in multiple systems and tracked

similar changes may be fatal to SCM systems. For the changeable business environment, SCM system is often like a young old man, who simply cannot respond to the requirements of enterprises to change management strategies and business processes

according to my experience, the fear of "change" is the biggest reason why enterprises dare not go to SCM system, and the requirement of "integration" is second. But in fact, these two needs are twin brothers and cannot be separated

risk avoidance of implementation theory

facing such a high risk of SCM system implementation, people are exploring the methods of risk avoidance from different angles. Among them, implementation methodology is widely used

people are convinced of the fact that there is a 30L solution risk to establish a scientific method system to turn this container through human wisdom

in my opinion, there are only two methods for people to solve the implementation risks of SCM system. At first glance, they look similar, but in fact they are very different:

method 1, step-by-step implementation. People are convinced that if a big problem is broken down into several small problems, the problem can be solved. But the fact is that the enterprise will not add modules after oneortwo modules. Why? Because local optimization is often harmful to the overall optimization

when you strengthen the planning module, you will find that the formulation of the plan must rely on the execution module, otherwise the plan will fail, so people begin to focus on the execution module, but at this time, people have been exhausted by the implementation of the planning module, so the SCM system declares failure

if we can't make progress based on the overall progress, we can't make progress. Today's management is a dynamic and complex system management, and there is no solution without system solution

method 2: establish a system based on the concept of system. We first establish a small supply chain closed-loop management, establish the five part framework to form the framework of the system, and then continue to strengthen its benefits and influence, and continue to expand the margin of the system, and finally establish the system

this method is a reasonable method, but it has a huge bottleneck, that is, the flexibility of software. At present, there is no such supply chain in the industry that can shrink and expand flexibly with the management of enterprises

in my opinion, if there is no essential change, the strange circle of SCM system implementation is inevitable. This kind of change can only occur in the change of tools. As political economics says, it is not the relations of production that promote the change of the times, but the tools of production. The relations of production can only put forward needs, but cannot complete their own changes. Methods are like scholars. Without the support of tools, everything will become illusory

platform is the key to the success of SCM

the author has been studying platform software in recent years. My biggest understanding is that platform software is the biggest way out for management software in recent years. Based on this understanding, the suggestion to you is very simple: SCM system must be platformized. In the past articles, I have repeatedly explained similar views, and today I will talk about it from another side

for application software, there has always been a natural enemy, called change. Management software reflects management. Management itself is a matter of consciousness, so software is easily solidified by established knowledge, which makes software rigid and unable to flexibly respond to changes in facts

but maintaining the old system is a natural inertia of people, which cannot be changed. Therefore, to solve software problems, first of all, we can't change it from human nature. Don't expect a method or idea to solve your management problems of yesterday, today and the future. The strategy from subjective to subjective is doomed to fail

to solve these problems, we must rely on a tool, which is the fundamental basis for dealing with changes. And tools must not be a kind of formed management software, because any management software is the presentation of a specific management idea. Therefore, this tool must be a tool closer to the bottom. Of course, it will not be an operating system or a database. At present, this tool is a basic business platform

in addition, the problem of integration, or integration, is an acquired problem in the software industry. It is man-made technology that brings the need for integration. Therefore, integration itself is a sick performance. For example, if people are not disabled, they will not be grafted with other organs, and disability is a kind of disease

therefore, we should first consider a unified platform for informatization, which is the fundamental to prevent the island problem. The so-called prevention is greater than treatment is a truth. At present, for enterprises, the business infrastructure platform is also the best way to prevent integration problems

I think if at the beginning of informatization, we can choose a reasonable business foundation platform and then choose a reasonable implementation strategy, then the success of both SCM system and ERP system will be fundamentally guaranteed

after all, the road of informatization is hard and long-term, and it is too dangerous to have tools to escort. I hope my knowledge can help you. (end)