On June 28th, representatives of the 50 member organizations of IFMA’s Supply Chain Optimization (SCO) development board gathered for their third all-day session to further develop a best practice framework. As in previous sessions, the members of this board broke into small groups, this time to validate and refine all types of data and communication tools needed for an optimal SCO best practice toolkit.
The teams reviewed the communications map identified in the April 20th group session, confirming the relevance of the steps to each of the key stakeholders; to/from Distributor, to/from Operator, to/from Manufacturer. Individual groups refined the communications flow to eliminate redundancy and add elements to ensure a seamless communication between all partners in the process.
Next, teams discussed data standards to ensure all partners will use a consistent format for information sharing. This process uses GS1 as a baseline for data organization
The groups then refined the SCO Collaboration Process to drive optimal forecasting, collaboration and planning for improved business results. This assignment focused on identifying stakeholders and data stewards within each organization; gaining agreement on the type and confidentiality of the data to be shared; and determining the ideal frequency for sharing that data among all partners.
Finally, the teams reviewed an SCO Scorecard with an eye toward identifying missing elements and needed improvements to ensure that partner relationships will be evaluated effectively by all partners. These elements should include both tangible and intangible elements, the latter being often the cause of relationship failure.
More work will take place when the teams reconvene in Chicago on August 2.
IFMA’s Supply Chain Optimization is in partnership with Datassential, HAVI and Kinetic12.