Achieving Coordination in a Supply Chain in Practice

1. Quantify the bullwhip effect. Companies often have no idea that the bullwhip effect plays a significant role in their supply chain. Managers should start by comparing the variability in the orders they receive from their customers with the variability in orders they place with their suppliers. This helps a firm quantify its own contribution to the bullwhip effect. Once its contri­bution is visible, it becomes easier for a firm to accept the fact that all stages in the supply chain contribute to the bullwhip effect, leading to a significant loss in profits. In the absence of this concrete information, companies try to react better to the variability rather than eliminate the variability itself. This leads companies to invest significant amounts in inventory management and scheduling systems, only to see little improvement in performance or profits. Evidence of the size of the bullwhip effect is effective in getting different stages of the supply chain to focus on efforts to achieve coordination and eliminate the variability created within the supply chain.
2. Get top management commitment for coordination. More than any other aspect of supply chain management, coordination can succeed only with top management’s commitment. Coordination requires managers at all stages of the supply chain to subordinate their local interests to the greater interest of the firm, and even of the supply chain. Coordination often requires the resolution of trade-offs in a way that requires many functions in the supply chain to change their traditional practices. These changes often run counter to approaches that were put in place when each function focused only on its local objective. Such changes within a supply chain cannot be implemented without strong top management commitment. Top management commitment was a key factor in helping Walmart and P&G set up collaborative forecasting and replenishment teams.
3. Devote resources to coordination. Coordination cannot be achieved without all parties involved devoting significant managerial resources to this effort. Companies often do not devote resources to coordination because they either assume that lack of coordination is something they have to live with or they hope that coordination will occur on its own. The problem with this approach is that it leaves all managers involved with only the separate areas that they control, while no one is responsible for highlighting the impact one manager’s actions have on other parts of the supply chain. One of the best ways to solve coordination problems is through teams made up of members from different companies throughout the supply chain. These teams should be made responsible for coordination and given the power to implement the changes required. Setting up a coordination team is fruitless unless the team has the power to act, because the team will run into conflict with functional managers who are currently maximizing local objectives. Coordination teams can be effective only once a sufficient level of trust builds between members from different firms. If they are used properly, coordination teams can provide significant benefit, as has happened with the collaborative forecasting and replenishment teams set up by Walmart and P&G.
4. Focus on communication with other stages. Good communication with other stages of a supply chain often creates situations that highlight the value of coordination for both sides. Companies often do not communicate with other stages of the supply chain and are unwilling to share information. However, often all companies in the supply chain are frustrated by the lack of coordination and would be happy to share information if it helped the supply chain operate in a more effective manner. Regular communication among the parties involved facilitates change in such a setting. For instance, a major PC company had been ordering its microprocessors in batches of several weeks of production. It was trying to move to a build-to-order environment in which it would place microprocessor orders on a daily basis. The PC company assumed that the microprocessor supplier would be reluctant to go along with this approach. However, once com­munication was opened up with the supplier, the opposite turned out to be true. The supplier also wanted to reduce lot sizes and increase the frequency of orders. It had just assumed that the PC manufacturer wanted large lots and thus never requested a change. Regular communication helps different stages of the supply chain share their goals and identify common goals and mutually beneficial actions that improve coordination.

5. Try to achieve coordination in the entire supply chain network. The full benefit of coordination is achieved only when the entire supply chain network is coordinated. It is not enough for two stages in a supply chain to coordinate. The most powerful party in a supply chain should make an effort to achieve coordination in the entire network. Toyota has been very effec­tive in achieving knowledge sharing and coordination in its entire network.
6. Use technology to improve connectivity in the supply chain. The Internet and a vari­ety of software systems can be used to increase the visibility of information throughout the sup­ply chain. Until now, most IT implementations have achieved visibility of information only within a firm. Visibility across the supply chain still requires additional effort in most cases. From the discussion in this chapter, it should be clear that the major benefits of IT systems can be realized only if the systems help increase visibility across the supply chain and facilitate coor­dination. If firms are to realize the full benefit of the huge investments they make in current IT systems, particularly ERP systems, it is crucial that they make the extra effort required to use these systems to facilitate collaborative forecasting and planning across the supply chain. The Internet should be used to share information and increase connectivity in the supply chain.
7. Share the benefits of coordination equitably. The greatest hurdle to coordination in the supply chain is the belief on the part of any stage that the benefits of coordination are not being shared equitably. Managers from the stronger party in the supply chain relationship must be sensitive to this fact and ensure that all parties perceive that the way benefits are shared is fair.

Source: Chopra Sunil, Meindl Peter (2014), Supply Chain Management: Strategy, Planning, and Operation, Pearson; 6th edition.