We just finished the fall soccer season in my home. I was thinking about watching my children play soccer when they were younger after a conversation with one of our consultants. He had just come back from visiting a prospective client where he was doing an assessment of their supply chain work processes and systems. Speaking frankly, this prospective client really did not have well defined work processes and certainly didn’t have systems implemented to enable good work processes. Mostly they seemed to run from one fire to the next and tried to do their best in tamping out the flames enough to be able to move onto the next crisis. Our consultant came back feeling dizzy from observing how they operated.
When my kids were younger and playing soccer, their style of play could be characterized as “kick and run”. They really either didn’t understand the concept of trying to possess the ball or couldn’t execute this strategy. If you have the ball, you have the opportunity to score. If your opponent does not have the ball, they can’t score. It’s a simple as that. After watching my kids play on Saturday mornings with this “kick and run” style, I would really enjoy going to see a local college team play. They have won numerous national championships and play at a very high level. They understand and are able to execute this “possess the ball” style of play. It was always helpful to see how the game should be played and get my perspective straightened out.
Perhaps the “possessing the ball” analog in the operation of a supply chain is “possessing the key information.” In soccer, you have to get the ball to your attackers at the right time and in the right place in order to score. Likewise, in the supply chain, you have to get the right information to the right people at the right time to beat the competition. If you are feeling dizzy from fighting fire after fire (playing “kick and run”) in your supply chain operations and don’t seem to be making any progress on making things better and more stable, it would be our privilege to help assess where you are at and work together to move your organization toward operating in championship form.
