• Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Supplier Directory
  • SCB YouTube
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Logout
  • My Profile
  • LOGISTICS
    • Air Cargo
    • All Logistics
    • Express/Small Shipments
    • Facility Location Planning
    • Freight Forwarding/Customs Brokerage
    • Global Gateways
    • Global Logistics
    • Last Mile Delivery
    • Logistics Outsourcing
    • LTL/Truckload Services
    • Ocean Transportation
    • Rail & Intermodal
    • Reverse Logistics
    • Service Parts Management
    • Transportation & Distribution
  • TECHNOLOGY
    • All Technology
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cloud & On-Demand Systems
    • Data Management (Big Data/IoT/Blockchain)
    • ERP & Enterprise Systems
    • Forecasting & Demand Planning
    • Global Trade Management
    • Inventory Planning/ Optimization
    • Product Lifecycle Management
    • Sales & Operations Planning
    • SC Finance & Revenue Management
    • SC Planning & Optimization
    • Sourcing/Procurement/SRM
    • Supply Chain Visibility
    • Transportation Management
  • GENERAL SCM
    • Business Strategy Alignment
    • Education & Professional Development
    • Global Supply Chain Management
    • Global Trade & Economics
    • HR & Labor Management
    • Quality & Metrics
    • Regulation & Compliance
    • SC Security & Risk Mgmt
    • Supply Chains in Crisis
    • Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility
  • WAREHOUSING
    • All Warehouse Services
    • Conveyors & Sortation
    • Lift Trucks & AGVs
    • Order Fulfillment
    • Packaging
    • RFID, Barcode, Mobility & Voice
    • Robotics
    • Warehouse Management Systems
  • INDUSTRIES
    • Aerospace & Defense
    • Apparel
    • Automotive
    • Chemicals & Energy
    • Consumer Packaged Goods
    • E-Commerce/Omni-Channel
    • Food & Beverage
    • Healthcare
    • High-Tech/Electronics
    • Industrial Manufacturing
    • Pharmaceutical/Biotech
    • Retail
  • THINK TANK
  • WEBINARS
    • On-Demand Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • Webinar Library
  • PODCASTS
  • VIDEOS
  • WHITEPAPERS
Home » Taking Collaboration to a Whole New Level, CVN Is Hardly the Same-old, Same-Old

Taking Collaboration to a Whole New Level, CVN Is Hardly the Same-old, Same-Old

October 13, 2011
Russell W. Goodman, SupplyChainBrain

Sometimes it helps to get outside for a bit because when you see different things, you see things differently. Not only is that good advice for people, it seems to be a pretty good thing for manufacturers as well.

Preoccupation with internal matters often can blind us to opportunities beyond our four walls. Among the benefits that manufacturers can expect from their new perspective on things are tighter cooperation with partners, better ideas for products and more creative designs for them, and expanded or even new markets to exploit.

At least that is the thinking, in large measure, behind what ARC Advisory Group calls Collaborative Value Networks. What may seem like analyst-speak is in fact a "big idea" designed to encourage manufacturers to envision opportunities that they either have overlooked or have not seen for their full potential.

That's because they have focused mostly on internal operations rather than on outside developments and the innovations they have generated, according to the ARC thesis.

Admittedly, anything that has the word "collaborative" in it is going to sound more old-hat than like a new idea. The entire supply chain world has talked about collaboration so much and for so many years, surely they've sucked the life from it?

Not really, says Greg Gorbach, ARC vice president. The emphasis has generally been inwardly focused, he maintains. Yes, of course, words like "seamless" and "integrated" are equally common and argue that collaboration has indeed been focused externally. But collaboration, more discussed than actually done, has still been largely an inside job, focused on silo destruction. External collaboration, even when done right, generally has centered on one plant or one supply chain.

But we're working in a multiple-plant world now, where enterprises have many supply chains. More importantly, innovations coming from four sources are providing huge opportunities - or threats, depending on your view - and manufacturers are advised to make sure they and their value networks are attuned.

The four drivers, all at work for some time now, behind CVN are the global shift in economic power, which is bringing opportunities for new players; changing workplace demographics; resource and environmental pressures; and innovations in IT, not least of which is social media.

Obviously, no one of these is a new phenomenon, and their individual effects are hardly unknown. It's the potential locked within them as a whole, stemming from the innovations they are birthing, that's important.

Says Gorbach: "Importantly, these forces act on the whole of the business ecosystem, not just the industrial players themselves. This means that innovations throughout the ecosystem will force business process changes for industrial companies."

First, the global economic shift has brought not only new consumers but new expectations. In addition, new sources of capital have been generated that are driving innovation in products, business processes, marketing, sales and delivery - to benefit these new consumers.

Another large and very powerful force is the so-called Millennials, the generation that is quickly replacing Baby Boomers. They are more than just a large pool of potential purchasers of product. More comfortable with technological change, they are driving much of the innovation in that space, and the decisions on technology use and investment in the workplace and elsewhere.

The planet now houses seven billion people or more, and the changes caused by ever growing environmental pressures are enormous, Gorbach says. But they are driving their own set of innovations and opportunities, and manufacturers are remiss if they are not in step.

Lastly, there is the impact of IT development.

How does a manufacturer compete in such an environment? To do so, Gorbach says, "Companies will need to rely more on their value network partners, and the entire value network will need to act in a more flexible and dynamic manner."

Technology illustrates the need for flexibility quite well. Levels of applications that are "integrated to some degree" are no longer sufficient to lend the clout that world-class competitors need today. Innovation in IT has brought us - and by extension, the manufacturers who cater to us - mobile technology, social media, cloud computing, even the so-called Internet of Things.

Gorbach and others have written extensively about the influence of social media, for example on production, but he amplifies on that theme here:

"Social media and the connections that result from that are taking collaboration to a much higher level. The older notion was that collaboration was about sharing information more efficiently and that that would bring more accuracy. All true. But now we're seeing a whole host of trends coming together here.

"One of them is cloud computing. We're seeing it in manufacturing all the way down to the plant floor. It's a natural way to provide access and to collaborate across the entire value network."

Manufacturers operate in ecosystems, whether they realize it or not, Gorbach says. And because their customers use social media and their design partners do as well, they will have to follow suit. Already, mobile devices and applications are used to access analytics on the plant floor and to drive more efficiency there, he says.

But more importantly, these new technologies make working together so much easier. Andy Chatha, president and CEO of ARC, touts cloud computing because of the relative ease with which partners can share information.

"In the past, companies had networks, but who could access them, what you could see or not see - that was difficult to manage. Now, with the cloud, it's much easier to manage a very elaborate network as compared to few years ago."

Companies already have product Facebook pages, but Gorbach says the potential is there for such pages to tie together not only manufacturers but customers, engineers and design partners. "It's already starting to happen, these partners working together from the beginning all the way through."

It's one thing to talk about the role of analytics based on point-of -sale data and other sources: what widgets did customers buy and in what quantities; it's another thing entirely to actually involve customers in the creation of a new product. That innovation is now possible, Gorbach says, and value networks stand to gain from it if they are linked in to the process.

"In my view," says Chatha, "what CVN does is make the customer integral to developing new products. The supply chain manager can go to the customer and say, 'I want you to tell me what you want, I want you to work with my engineers to design exactly what you want, I want to know what your needs are."

Could the next step be akin to the concept that Groupon is built on - a discounted deal offered to people if a sufficient number of folks agree to participate in its purchase? For instance, if you could get enough consumers together to agree to buy a product, would it be possible for them to collaborate with the design and production of the thing?

As Gorbach notes, it's always a bit difficult to know what the landscape will look like when significant shifts like these take place. But why not a Groupon model? It's amazing how getting out can change your perspective on things.

Resource Link:
ARC Advisory Group

    RELATED CONTENT

    RELATED VIDEOS

    Technology Business Strategy Alignment Global Supply Chain Management Quality & Metrics Supply Chain Security & Risk Mgmt Pharmaceutical/Biotech
    KEYWORDS Business Strategy Alignment Global Supply Chain Management Pharmaceutical/Biotech Quality & Metrics SC Security & Risk Mgmt Supply Chain Analysis & Consulting Technology
    Russell W. Goodman, SupplyChainBrain

    Watch: Building the Supply Chain From the Ground Up

    More from this author

    Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter!

    Timely, incisive articles delivered directly to your inbox.

    Popular Stories

    • A WOMAN STANDS WITH A TABLET COMPUTER IN A WAREHOUSE, SURROUNDED BY SYMBOLS FOR SHIPPING METHODS

      Five Tactics for Enabling Smart and Sustainable Supply Chains

      Data Management (Big Data/IoT/Blockchain)
    • A MEXICAN FLAG FLIES IN A RISING SUN

      Mexico’s Future as U.S. Go-To Trade Partner Depends on Investment, Infrastructure

      Logistics
    • A WOMAN IN HER LIVING ROOM GESTURES IN DISMAY ON THE PHONE OVER AN OPEN SHIPPING BOX

      Using Artificial Intelligence for Returns Management

      Reverse Logistics
    • A close-up of solar panels can be seen in front of a sunset. Photo: iStock.com/JONGHO SHIN

      Is the Biden Administration Undercutting Its Own Policies on Chinese Solar Imports?

      Sourcing/Procurement/SRM
    • On-Demand-Webinar-Deloitte-Ep1of6-Sep-26.jpg

      Navigating to Net-Zero: Procurement's Role in Supplier Emissions

      Webinars

    Digital Edition

    Scb august 2023 lg

    2023 100 Great Supply Chain Partners

    VIEW THE LATEST ISSUE

    Case Studies

    • JLL Finds Perfect Warehouse Location, Leading to $15M Grant for Startup

    • Robots Speed Fulfillment to Help Apparel Company Scale for Growth

    • New Revenue for Cloud-Based TMS that Embeds Orderful’s Modern EDI Platform

    • Convenience Store Client Maximizes Profit and Improves Customer Service

    • A Digitally Native Footwear Brand Finds Rapid Fulfillment

    Visit Our Sponsors

    Antuit Zebra Anvyl AutoStore
    BEUMER Group Blue Ridge Global Brother
    CHEP Cleo Coenterprise
    Data Capture E2open Enveyo
    Eva Air ForwardX Robotics Frayt
    GAINSystems Generix Geodis
    GEP Global Supply Chain Marketing Summit GreyOrange
    Here Holman Logistics Infor
    Inmar Kinaxis Lexis Nexis
    Locus Robotics Logility LogistiVIEW
    Lucas Systems MCA Connect MPO
    Old Dominion OneRail Overhaul
    PartnerLinQ (Visionet) Port of Virginia Ryder E-commerce by Whiplash
    Saddle Creek Logistics SAP Shyft
    Sourcemap SPS Commerce Tecsys
    TGW Systems Thomson Reuters Veho
    Verusen Walmart Workshop
    • More From SCB
      • Featured Content
      • Video Library
      • Think Tank Blog
      • SupplyChainBrain Podcast
      • Whitepapers
      • On-Demand Webinars
      • Upcoming Webinars
    • Digital Offerings
      • Digital Issue
      • Subscribe
      • Manage Your Subscription
      • Newsletters
    • Resources
      • Events Calendar
      • SCB's Great Supply Chain Partners
      • Supplier Directory
      • Case Study Showcase
      • Supply Chain Innovation Awards
      • 100 Great Partners Form
    • SCB Corporate
      • Advertise on SCB.COM
      • About Us
      • Privacy Policy
      • Contact Us
      • Data Sharing Opt-Out

    All content copyright ©2023 Keller International Publishing Corp All rights reserved. No reproduction, transmission or display is permitted without the written permissions of Keller International Publishing Corp

    Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing