Last year, I attended a thought-provoking supply chain conference hosted by an industry analyst organization. The agenda was packed with interesting supply chain topics - cost-to-serve strategies, supply network optimization, S&OP integration, demand shaping tactics, etc. However, the event gave almost no attention to the foundation upon which advanced supply chain planning and execution strategies rest: supply chain integration.
Virtually every sales person today uses some kind of system for customer relationship management - whether it's a sophisticated, company-wide, cloud-based CRM platform, a simple file system with personal notes, or even their Blackberry with all contacts at their fingertips.