The Extended Supply Chain conference programme is packed with strategic insight, innovative thinking and useful tools for enhancing visibility, responsiveness and flexibility across the supply chain. Here’s what to expect. By Nick Allen.
The Extended Supply Chain 2011 Conference has always been a two-day event, but now, in its 9th year, the organisers have done just what its name suggests and extended it. The core of the conference is still a two-day, high-level, thought-leadership centric programme, attended as usual by Europe’s most senior supply chain professionals, but now there is a pre-conference focus day on S&OP and a post-conference masterclass given by supply chain guru and author, Dr John Gattorna. New also, is a Gala Dinner on the 5th April.
As in previous years, the conference programme is packed with strategic insight, innovative thinking and useful tools for enhancing visibility, responsiveness and flexibility across the supply chain. However, this year, with the extended programme, it promises a great deal more.
Before the main event kicks off, there is the focus day on S&OP, opening with remarks from the chair, Andrew Purton, chairman of Oliver Wight International.
There is a full day’s programme for those interested in getting to grips with Sales & Operations Planning. Lora Cecere, partner at Altimeter group will be talking on the true value behind “S” & “O” “P” and what it really stands for. She believes that practitioners involved in all facets of the process should pay closer attention to its renewal, looking at the drivers and the holistic considerations of supply, demand and finance.
Dave Powell, S&OP director at Kimberly-Clark will use his session, entitled “Integrating S&OP segmentation strategies to optimise inventory and maximise customer service”, to shed some light on how to successfully drive new project implementation and how to get the commercial side of the business on board. Oliver Wight’s chairman, Andrew Purton, will later explain the process of “Transitioning from S&OP to Integrated Business Planning”, taking S&OP from its original production planning roots into the fully integrated, supply chain collaboration process that it has become today.
Other sessions on the focus day will cover some of the most testing issues associated with S&OP, such as engaging the traditional silos of supply chain, finance, marketing and R&D to ensure equal ownership across them all, as Martin Jarvis, CEO of D1 Oils, will describe. A panel discussion on S&OP will throw light on the Upside and Downside events, just before lunch. And streamed sessions on “Process driven S&OP” and “Technology driven S&OP” will take place early afternoon.
Lourens Schouwink delivers the keynote address on the first day of the conference and this will be followed by a keynote panel session involving, Lourens Schouwink; David Warrick, GM manufacturing and supply chain, EMEA and Asia Pacific, Microsoft; Jon Chorley, VP supply chain & sustainability product strategy, Oracle; and Coen Terlingen, SVP operations, Sara Lee International. The panel will be getting to grips with those leading questions: What differentiates the best in class companies who achieve true supply chain excellence? Who leads these initiatives and how? And, what is the burning platform for driving supply chain excellence?
Still before lunch, delegates will be able to listen to Bill Hutchinson and Gerard Macken of Dell recount how “One size does not fit all – A look at Dell’s segmented multi-channel supply chain”. They will outline the key strategies to achieving true network optimisation and supporting complex logistic flows. The following session given by David Warrick of Microsoft will tell the story of “The virtual supply network – Microsoft’s journey to an outsourced supply chain”. His presentation will show how information architecture is used to develop: strategy, people, networks, processes, tools and systems.
Networking
After a networking lunch, a series of thought leadership seminar streams will lead delegates through a number of subject choices from “Maximising the value of your supplier base by building integrated partnerships”, through to “Improved demand sensing to shape supply chain strategy”. There is a wide choice on the programme, so it is well worth looking at in advance.
The final session of Day One is given by Yves Kerstens of Bridgestone Europe, who explores “Transforming operational process – linking supply chain segmentation to network design”. He will be reviewing the best way to understand the profitability of products, customers and routes to market. Straight after Kerstens’ talk, delegates will move on to a Drinks Reception before enjoying the Gala Dinner.
Day Two starts with the keynote session from Dr John Gattorna. Delegates will then move on to interactive roundtable discussions coving the full gambit of supply chain topics, from “Delivering value now: Sound tactical strategies” and “The dynamics of global vs local sourcing”, to “Strategies for successful VMI integration” and “Balancing sustainability with profitability”. But don’t worry if there are two topics that you are torn between, delegates can select up to two roundtable sessions, each lasting 40 minutes.
A panel discussion follows the round tables. Four industry speakers – John Gattorna, Bill Hutchinson from Dell, Alastair Charatan of Travis Perkins and Rick Hamilton of Cisco Services – tackle the issue of “Accelerated supply chain transformation”, asking: What is driving today’s supply chain transformation? How are leaders managing the transformation change process? And what steps must be taken to start the journey?
Still before lunch, Jon Chorley, VP supply chain and sustainability product strategy and Ewan Burgess, director, supply chain development, at Oracle give the story of “Reinventing Sun: Achieving Oracle Sun’s supply chain transformation in one year”. Within a year Sun moved from make-to-stock to 100 per cent make-to-order, changing the supply chain model, improving business performance, and simultaneously, launching a whole new line of product.
After a networking lunch, the afternoon sessions start with “Operationalising Innovation: From supply chain strategy to execution”, a presentation given by An Claes, director supply chain innovation and performance management at Nike. The core of Nike’s supply chain strategy is to be responsive to market demand – filling the shelves with consumer-relevant product and then, keeping them filled. But how do you bring that strategy to life throughout the organisation? I’m sure he has the answer.
Henrik Hjalmarsson, supply chain transformation director, Findus Group, takes the programme forward with another session on S&OP, entitled “A solution to S&OP ownership dilemma that hampers successful S&OP roll outs: Business driven S&OP”. He reveals how to involve executives and get them to truly champion the S&OP process long term.
Completing Day Two is another panel session, this time on “Lessons learned from the conference”. Up to four industry panellists will lead the discussion, including Ian Edgar, global supply chain director, Beam Global International and Nathan Pieri, SVP marketing & product management, Management Dynamics.
Get the CFO perspective on supply chain
On the first day of the main conference, Lourens Schouwink, chief financial officer of Samsung Benelux, is expected to draw the crowds with his keynote address on “Aligning supply chain strategy with the overall business strategy – the CFO perspective”. The session should give a rare insight into the relationship between finance and supply chain, from the CFO’s viewpoint. One of the most interesting aspects of the talk will undoubtedly be gaining an understanding of the cultural differences of working for an Asian enterprise and how this can proactively affect the supply chain.
Schouwink will also give his views on emerging global trends and the consequences for the extended supply chain, so there should be plenty of pointers to take onboard.
Day Two’s keynote session is delivered by Dr John Gattorna, author and thought leader, who will concentrate on the human element in his presentation entitled: “Dynamic supply chains – Delivering value through people”. According to Gattorna, if only we had spent as much time studying and understanding human behaviour, rather than being besotted with “competitive analysis” over the past three decades, our supply chains would be performing much better today.
Value through people
Gattorna will be introducing his dynamic alignment framework which ties the enterprise to its demand and source markets, and helps to inform how we should be designing and operating contemporary supply chains. He says anything else is just guesswork, and so this new approach is an important new source of value to companies already struggling with low margins in volatile marketplaces.
On the day following the conference Dr Gattorna will run a workshop “Designing and implementing New Age supply chains”. The interactive one day workshop will examine key strategies and will focus on new business models that will help you design and implement New Age supply chains. And for something to take home, each attendee will receive a complimentary copy of “Dynamic supply chains: Delivering value through people” by John Gattorna.
