DHL white paper makes the case for “plug and play” supply chains
A third of companies are operating more than 10 supply chains – leading to “high costs, waste and reduced agility – according to a new white paper from DHL Supply Chain. “The Plug-and-Play supply chain: Beyond efficiency to growth” is a white paper by Lisa Harrington, President of the lharrington group LLC, that was commissioned by DHL to identify a path forward for businesses that want to streamline supply chain operations and deliver growth.
The white paper argues that the solution lies in the “Plug and Play” approach that standardizes 70-80% of supply chain operations at the core of a business. The balance then consists of tailored solutions to meet a segments’ specific market needs.
“This white paper documents how years of neglect have created exceedingly complex and far-flung supply chains, which is costly for businesses and is standing in the way of greater profitability,” said Harrington.
“With a third of businesses operating more than 10 supply chains, it’s no wonder that nearly 70% of our survey respondents said they were now actively looking into standardization solutions to reduce cost, inject agility and streamline operations. However, only 16% of businesses believe their standardization efforts are well under way or complete. This suggests a lack of strategic direction as to what the end result should look like.”
The white paper also looks at the role played by third-party logistics providers in moving towards supply chain standardization.
Gary Keatings, Vice President Solutions Design, DHL Supply Chain, commented: “There is clearly a fundamental shift taking place with the majority of companies looking seriously at supply chain standardization as a way to achieve growth and drive profitability. As strategic partners to businesses that have embarked on this journey, we’ve developed a considerable knowledge-base on best practice in this area that is reducing the costs of future implementations and making them faster to achieve.”
