This is the third of our postings coming from the Kinaxis Kinexions conference being held these next two days in Phoenix.  My previous Internet connectivity issues seem resolved now that I have had the opportunity to move away from the keynote ballroom.

As noted in Dispatch Two, this morning’s presentations focused on the common challenges that are occurring in many supply chain environments, especially the high tech industry.  One common theme that resonated from the Cisco, RIM and Qualcomm presentations was the significant shift in business models that now rely more on direct B2C consumer factors in planning and synchronizing overall supply chain activities.  Just a few years past, many of these same companies were primarily being driven from B2B fulfillment needs, and today’s models are more hybrid in nature.  The supply chain implications were consistently identified as:

• More dynamic rate of change in products and product planning cycles
• Mixed product/service fulfillment models requiring increased planning complexity
• More demanding channel partners all being influenced by the latest consumer buying patterns
• Increased part levels needing to be planned
• Increased emphasis on supply chain segmentation with an emphasis where supply chain needs to be more flexible/agile vs. more efficient.

The other common trait that I noted was a more dramatic shift toward supply chain frameworks that combine elements of push-pull for products involving customer fulfillment patterns that require quicker response beyond longer lead times.  There were other mentions of supporting combinations of configure-to-order, assemble-to-order, or other combinations of planning.

In high tech, a Kinaxis core vertical, and other industries as well, supply chain planning has become a lot more dynamic.  Speed, timely decision-making and deeper analytics are the ‘new normal’ to responsive planning processes.

Bob Ferrari

Kinexions kicked off this morning with presentations focused on the common challenges that are occurring in many supply chain environments, especially the high tech industry.  There was also a rather interesting announcement of what was described as an “pre-marital engagement” among Kinaxis and E2Open concerning the ability to perform global available-to-commit (ATP) checks utilizing a globally connected network. As with many Kinaxis related conference and customer related endeavors, it linked themes of  good-natured humor with a pride of customer accomplishments.

Doug Colbeth, President/CEO of Kinaxis kicked-off the morning with an emphasis of what Kinaxis is hearing about customer challenges.  Supply chain performance is becoming more critical to business results, volatility is increasing in both supply and demand, and S&OP is experiencing a re-birth, but in a newer context of organizational alignment.  Follow-on presentations from speakers from Altimeter Group, Cisco Systems, Research-In-Motion and Qualcomm all seemed to hit upon various aspects to these common themes.  The speed and pace of business change is extraordinary, and supply chain processes and capabilities are in the middle of such changes.

Some takeaways from my perspective was the constant reinforcement that it is the contributions of people and teams that are at the forefront of supply chain change.  The high tech industry is moving at an incredibly rapid rate of change in terms of demand and supply requirements, and many of this morning’s presenters noted how the combination of process, practices, measurements and supporting systems have all been coordinated in managing such rapid change.

This afternoon I’m hoping to have some additional discussions with some of the presenters.  I have also been experiencing some Internet connectivity issues limiting my ability to publish postings, and I’m hoping to resolve that problem as well.  Moving out of the keynote presentation ballroom will help. In any case, I’ll be posting more content when I get a more stable connection.

Bob Ferrari