This is part of my blog series on using the principles of Demand Drive MRP and its five primary components. I would recommend reading the blog posts in order for better understanding:
- Is Orlicky’s MRP relevant today? Think DDMRP
- What Sales and Marketing can learn from Demand Driven Manufacturing
- Positioning your organization to learn from your customers
- Profiling the customer by knowledge gaps
- Dynamic Buffer: Think Self-organized Teams
- Systemizing the transfer of knowledge at the execution level
This particular blog focuses around Highly Visible and Collaborative Execution.
Simply launching purchase order (POs), manufacturing orders (MOs), and transfer orders (TOs) from any planning system does not end the materials and order management challenge. These POs. MOs. and TOs have to be managed effectively to synchronize with the changes that often occur within the execution horizon. The execution horizon is the time from which a PO, MO, or TO is opened until the time it is closed in the system of record. Demand -driven MRP is an integrated system of execution for all part categories in order to speed the communication of relevant information and priorities throughout an organization and supply chain
The above is from the Orlicky’s Material Requirements Planning 3/E. written by my recent podcast (Is Orlicky’s MRP relevant today? Think DDMRP) guest Carol Ptak and Chad Smith of the Demand Driven Institute.
Highly Visible and Collaborative Execution starts in one place in a sales and marketing environment and that is in the customers’ playground. If you want to be visible, if you want the opportunity for collaboration, you literally need to play with the customer. Even more precisely, it should be synonymous to your prime target market. This allows you to see the market swings at the same time your customer does. For example, if your customer has a downturn in business you will sense that immediately versus seeing months later. Your market upswings will also be maximized for basically the same purpose. Theoretically it sounds great but is it that easy? Again, the customer-vendor relationship and the degree of trust in one another are imperative. It is not simply something that just happens it must be orchestrated.
Not everyone wants to be your partner. As a result, other segments may produce wider swings in variability and may require different lead times or even more frequent contact (touches) than even your prime customers. It based on what your customer needs are and the resources you are willing to dedicate to the segment. This is not an arbitrary thing; it is a well conceived execution of the plan developed.
When we talk about visibility and collaborative execution, it is not just an external requirement. It is an internal one as well. You must have transparency, open collaboration and no hidden agenda that will compromise your organizational efforts and especially your sales team.
In the sales and marketing arena the ability to execute is dependent on two major themes; clarity and autonomy. On both macro and micro level clarity has to be well established to enable a team to work autonomously. When considering a particular customer segment at the macro-level a well-defined value proposition with revenue goals must be established. At that level, I use the Business Model Generation
Within that customer segment, the micro-level will be dealing with the individual cycle that is facilitated the increase of knowledge for the customer decision making process. This individual cycle is where the sales team needs to have total autonomy to make execution happen. They are on the street with the customer and should contain the expertise and authority to complete the mission. Many would compare them to a Swat Team or even a Navy Seal Team. That being said the teams may require extensive training in these specialized areas to assist in the customer decision making process. In these Customer decision making cycles I use the Sales PDCA outlined in Marketing with PDCA
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