Supply chain management advocates preach what they write

MANILA, Philippines - Speed kills.

At first blush, you’d think it is an ominous warning to speed freaks who have little or no regard for his/her own safety and that of other people.

In the context of this story however, Speed Kills is simply the title of a book authored by Jovy J. Jader and Ellery S. Lim now available at Fully Booked outlets in Metro Manila.

The soft-bound book has the subtitle “Driving Growth through Supply Chain Excellence.”

The book, the result of a five-year a compilation of 60 column articles written by Jader in a major Manila-based business newspapers, consists of  essays on best practices in supply chain management (SCM) intended to push the competition to the edge while, at the same time, raise one’s company’s performance level to unprecedented heights.

What the authors are saying is this: essentially, the company that delivers quality products on time and attains utmost customer satisfaction is, without doubt, doing great business.

American journalist Thomas Friedman who writes for the New York Times underscores the significant of SCM.  “Supply chains cannot tolerate even 24 hours of disruption. So if you lose your place in the supply chain because of wild behavior, you could lose a lot. It would be like pouring cement down one of your oil wells.”

Any corporate executive knows that supply chain is basically the work flow beginning from the customer order, planning, purchasing of raw materials, production, and delivery. Who doesn’t know that yet?

In actuality, the authors are saying it is not that simple a process. There are countless idiosyncrasies along the way separating the men from the boys, so to speak.

In SCM, according to the authors, these same functions are managed as one with the underlying goal of reducing the total cost of the delivered product (i.e., planning,  procurement of raw materials, production, and delivery) while maintaining excellent customer service.  Not to mention that managing the supply chain varies by industry.

They warn that managing just one function of the SCM separately from the others could be detrimental—definitely not good business practice.

Although the book provides significant and useful information about SCM, the authors recommend that companies eyeing stronger performance amidst stiff competition should create supply chain awareness to fully understand and appreciate what the SCM is all about.

Having a thorough understanding of the SCM solutions redounds to optimum efficiency that subsequently rings the cash register.

Jader and Lim preach what they write. The partners conduct trainings and consultations on SCM for companies who recognize have rooms for improvement, can gain the cutting edge, and can drive the competition into obsolescence and oblivion.

Jader is holder of a Masters degree in Business Administration from the University of the Philippines, while Lim graduated with honors in Industrial Engineering from the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Backed by their industry and consulting experience, both have helped domestic and foreign firms reduce cost, increase productivity, reduce inventory,  and increase customer service level.

The duo via their knowledge and expertise work together at High Impact (Consulting Division), www.highimpactasia.com  which now carries the banner for their mutual advocacies towards corporate excellence through SCM.