Terry Weiner, CMTC Supply Chain Expert

Written by: Terry Weiner

The following post is #10 of a series and discusses How to Assess Supply Chain Maturity. This series of posts provides an overview of the Supply Chain Optimization process and previews some of the concepts and tools that are part of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Supply Chain Optimization Initiative. Click here to read earlier posts.

 

 

How do i assess supply chain maturity supply chain part 10How Do I Assess Suppy Chain Maturity?

  

The supply chain strategy tells us what we need from our
supply chain present, nearhow do i assess supply chain maturity term and long term in order to realize the objectives of our overall corporate strategy.  Having performed a supply chain critical path analysis, we can determine at each of these levels where the real and potential constraints will be.  The next step is to collaborate with the suppliers in that chain to communicate the strategy and how they can be a part of it.  It is then necessary to evaluate each supplier’s ability to meet the current and future demands by performing a supplier capability assessment of their operation. This assessment should be performed by an independent third party to avoid bias.

This is an on-site assessment of the suppliers operation to determine their ability to support the top tier’s current and future demand as well as their ability to deal with variation in that demand. 

Some of the key areas that need to be considered are:

  • Lead Time from Initiation of an Order to Delivery
  • Production Planning
  • Purchasing
  • On-Time Delivery
  • Risk Management
  • Quality
  • Capacity
  • Collaboration
  • Response to Demand Variability
  • Supply Chain Visibility
  • Supply Chain Partnering Both Up and Down the Supply Chain

Each of these areas is addressed in a separate section of the assessment.  For each area, the assessment provides illustrative diagnostic questions giving examples and suggesting potential metrics to help with the assessment process.

 

What's Next?

In the last post in this series, we will look at the last link of the Supply Chain Optimization Initiative:

(Missed Links 1-9?  Read them here.)

 

link 11 The Final Link - Creating Supply Chain Visibility

        

 

 

Terry Weiner is a Senior Consultant with California Manufacturing Technology Consulting® (CMTC). He has over 20 years experience in process improvements, quality management implementation and supply chain optimization.

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