Supercharged Supply Chains

Prelude: The Awakening

A major manufacturer's expert supply chain planning coach,¹ a long‐time friend of the company President, was attending a meeting with his leadership team and plant managers through video conferencing. The purpose was to review the status of a project to improve company performance. As was the norm, the meeting degenerated into a detailed discussion of how to manage the master schedule to make it “valid” (accurate and achievable). The coach, there to observe and give guidance to the President, leaned over and whispered that they were “down in the weeds” again. The President immediately interjected and returned to the agenda. He said “clearly, the project will have more success when the education and workshops program has been delivered to Leadership, Middle Management, and Department Operating Teams; for now, the task at hand is to determine the required resources.”

The coach, in despair, realized he was 10 years older than anyone else in the room and 30 years older than most. The resistance to change exhibited by the younger executives was amazing and disheartening to him. They were all protecting their areas and not thinking about how to make the company better – not a new observation for the coach. Most people initially resisted change, because as a young man he and others had to fight for improvements against people of a similar age and especially those more senior. Those memories and the successes he experienced, despite the initial resistance, made ...