To Share (Info in the Supply Chain) or not to Share

That is the question.

Is it nobler for a distributor to suffer with out-dated forecast models and limited integration options than to coordinate with its downstream partners for some visibility?

What of the upstream partners? The heartache, the shock of order batching, price fluctuations and shortage gaming? For who could bear the Bullwhip Effect and the hell of eternal misalignment?

Efficient inventory management along with a significant reduction of uncertainties can become routine when a trusted network of individuals agree to share information. The dread and pangs of variability can be avoided with the proper user-friendly interface.

If a business system can talk seamlessly to select partners and exchange select data, productivity and response times increase. Goodbye uncertainty; hello better tracing and tracking, faster time to market and early problem detection. Above all, the building and strengthening of relationships and important social bonds.

What about confidentiality? Anti-trust regulations? Could this sharing be madness?

The importance of a configurable interface that can share and disseminate chosen information to preferred partners is paramount to success.

Do not lose the name of action. Explore the options for the controlled, secure sharing of data within the supply chain. Failure to gain this competitive advantage could be a real tragedy.

A Healthy Dose of Doubt

Writer F. Scott Fitzgerald once said, “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.”

Anyone making tough business choices can surely appreciate this adage. How often do you find yourself trapped by indesicion simply from weighing the pros and cons of your future actions?

However, fortune favors the bold and great leaders build companies brick by brick, navigating difficult paths, while seeing and capitalizing on the patterns that dictate success. Step by sometimes meticulous step, intiatives are seized, creativity abounds and the fortress is strengthened. This is the timeless story of achievement and its simplicity is beautiful.

The connections behind the scenes should also be simple (and smart), allowing pure workflow that knows no limits and can capture the winning combinations needed to put another brick in the wall.

So second guess yourself all you want, the best do. Then go forward, simply, with confidence.