Supply chain professionals no doubt feel battered by a series of events that are unprecedented in modern history. From the unbelievable swing in the price of oil to the collapse of the economy, never have supply chain professionals been expected to deliver so much so fast. When they get together, they have a lot to talk about, and these discussions are indeed intense in such venues as the University of Tennessee's Supply Chain Forum.

The University of Tennessee Supply Chain Forum

The Tennessee Supply Chain Forum at the University of Tennessee started in 1995 under the direction of Dr. Thomas Mentzer. Today, membership has grown to 40 companies, with up to 100 business executives attending the meetings. The meetings offer the opportunity to explore a rich diversity of ideas. Attendees range across the breath of industry, from retailers to manufacturers to service providers to the U.S. military. The products manufactured by these firms literally range from lipstick to jet planes! The company sizes vary from $100 million in annual sales to over $300 billion. But across all of this diversity, there is a surprising and fascinating phenomenon. When this group assembles, they find that they all face many of the same supply chain problems!

What Common Topics Do Firms Want to Talk About in These Forums Today?

Of course, the major subject front and center today focuses on what companies can do right now to take out cost. What are the quick hits -- the "low hanging fruit?" There obviously are no easy answers. We often hear, "If it were easy, we would already have done it." Of course the first reaction is to stop anything new and cut everything. Budget reductions may be necessary, but they certainly shouldn't be spread evenly. Now is the time for careful surgical cuts that don't cripple a firm for the future. It's time for tough decisions on what really is important for the future.

Now is the time to make sure that the best employees feel valued. Even in the face of layoffs, the time will never be better to retain and hire talent for the future. As everyone else retrenches, there is an incredible opportunity to find the star performers for the next 20 years.

Now is the time to address those tough cross-functional issues that are nearly impossible to deal with in good times. It's time to finally cut SKUs and get rid of that obsolete inventory. It's time to really bring the supply chain folks into the planning of new products. And it's time to forget organizational politics and get rid of waste, such as an underperforming, but politically connected DC. Now is the time to rise above the sacred cows and make the organizational changes that need to be made. This is really an opportunity to get things right across the entire business. The Great Recession of 2008-09 is incredibly painful for most firms. It would be a shame to miss the window of opportunity that comes with it.

One of our Supply Chain Forum member firms told how in the early 1980s they were on the verge of bankruptcy. In desperation, they decided to really push decision making down and eliminate the red tape. They gave their people a budget and goals, and that was about it. The corporate bureaucracy got out of the way and let people perform, and the results were spectacular. Unfortunately once they recovered, the controls went back into effect. Hopefully the breakthrough improvements made in today's crisis won't be undone when prosperity returns.

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