Enablers to supply chain organisational change at Kimberly-Clark (K-C) Europe K-C Europe found that.

Enablers to supply chain organisational
change at Kimberly-Clark (K-C) Europe

K-C Europe found that implementing
segmented supply chain strategy was essentially an organisational change that
needed to be underpinned by all the good principles of project and change
management. They identified five specific enablers to the successful change: 1
Owned by the board: SC segmentation is an integral part of business strategy,
and ownership has to reside with the board. It must not be seen as a supply
chain initiative, but part of the broader business strategy. 2 One owner of
demand and supply

Enablers to supply chain organisational
change at Kimberly-Clark (K-C) Europe

K-C Europe found that implementing
segmented supply chain strategy was essentially an organisational change that
needed to be underpinned by all the good principles of project and change
management. They identified five specific enablers to the successful change: 1
Owned by the board: SC segmentation is an integral part of business strategy,
and ownership has to reside with the board. It must not be seen as a supply
chain initiative, but part of the broader business strategy. 2 One owner of
demand and supply planning: One of the biggest tensions that can exist within
an organisation is between the commercial and supply chain teams. The tension
predominantly is fuelled over issues with balancing demand and supply, given
that failure to do so is costly to the business either in lost sales or excess
and potentially obsolete inventory. One way to resolve this tension is to
create a single planning function that is responsible for all demand and supply
planning. 3 Clear benefits to the individuals: Employees on both the commercial
and supply chain side of businesses are notoriously overworked. The thought of
any additional work that a new initiative might bring is not very attractive.
The reality is that segmentation should reduce their workload. Make this
benefit clear to them. For instance, How would you feel if you had to forecast
only 15 per cent of the SKUs? A quantified statement of how much easier it
will make their job is a powerful selling tool. 4 Simple communication: Supply
chain professionals can be fixated on technical solutions and numbers. In terms
of effective communication across the business this is disastrous. The key to
effective communication is to keep it simple. Create a compelling story with
relatively few words and numbers that employees across all functions can relate
to. Avoid technical words that may be pre-laden with meaning. Most importantly,
ensure that the benefits both to the business and the individual are clear. A
good test is to test your communication pack with a teenager. It needs to be
simple enough for them to understand. 5 Inhouse data analytics capability:
Having some people (typically onethree) as part of the planning team who are
seriously good at maths and data analytics is a significant enabler to the
implementation and ongoing support of a segmented supply chain strategy. It
helps initially with the analysis to position the SKUs. It also provides a resource
to develop the tools that will enable SKUs to be tracked on an ongoing basis,
along with the decision support necessary to monitor SKUs and ensure changes in
their segment are recognised and action taken by all across the business.
(Source:_Dr_Janet_Godsell_and_Stuart_Bailey,_Brakes_Group,_formerly_of_K-C_Europe,_2011)

Question

1 Consider a supply chain change that you
are familiar with and determine how each of the five K-C enablers could be
addressed.