Creating Demand Driven Operations

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The Demand-Driven Supply Chain is Multi-Enterprise

Managing a supply chain so it produces competitive advantage or differentiation is not an easy task. As AMR Research has observed, “Small differences in products, markets, and strategies can yield radically different supply chains, which need to change as the market matures.” In order to handle rapidly changing requirements, companies need to connect all their suppliers, contract manufacturers, trading partners, and customers into what AMR calls a “demand-driven supply network (DDSN).” A DDSN has three very specific characteristics. It must be agile, flexible, and collaborative in order to produce maximum value. Agility and flexibility allow a supply chain to rapidly respond to unexpected changes in demand in a highly predictable and flexible manner.

Collaboration means that multiple enterprises within the supply chain are networked together and work collectively to their mutual benefit—making the supply chain more efficient, responsive, and productive. This requires constant, global, real-time visibility into demand and supply for all the participants in the network. In order to leverage a supply chain for competitive advantage, a company must be able to respond quickly and transparently to unforeseen events. This includes a fast and flexible reaction to changes in supply or demand, events requiring exception management, or any other unpredictable supply chain event.