Agile Supply Chains—Five Critical Factors

Do you operate in a business environment that frequently changes? Are you subject to fluctuations in customer demand and a high degree of forecasting uncertainty?

If this describes your world, supply chain agility is a must.

In 2015, CSCMP, a global association of supply chain professionals, published an article online written by David M. Gligor PhD titled, “The Five Dimensions of Supply Chain Agility.”

Gligor defines supply chain agility as, “a company’s ability to quickly adjust tactics and operations within its supply chain.” By looking at sports science and military science agility research, he identified 5 criteria that can be applied to supply chains.

• Alertness with the ability to quickly detect changes, opportunities or threats
• Accessibility where you can quickly access information and data
• Decisiveness which speaks to the ability to use information to make decisions
• Swiftness where a company can quickly implement a decision
• Flexibility described by Gligor as the ability to modify tactics and operations as needed to implement new strategies

Consider your organization’s supply chain. Where are you strong? What could use improvement? Whether you’re dealing with challenges or opportunities, it’s easier to respond when you’re agile and ready to act.

To read the complete article go to http://www.supplychainquarterly.com/topics/Strategy/20151022-the-five-dimensions-of-supply-chain-agility/