5 Strategies to Drive Customer Demand

While making quality products is extremely important, having a consumer-driven, adaptable supply chain is just as necessary to gain competitive advantage, says David Johnston, senior VP, supply chain and wholesale distribution, with JDA Software, a provider of supply chain management solutions. "Best-in-class companies have long understood that an efficient and flexible, demand-driven supply chain can be a powerful driver of profitable business performance," Johnston observes.

To develop that kind of high-functioning supply chain, Johnston recommends the following best practices:

1. Adopt a demand-driven, consumer-centric approach to planning and forecasting.
2. Enable your planners to focus less on statistical analysis and more on strategic demand management.
3. Collaborate closely in real-time with customers and trading partners.
4. Apply performance management technology to gain value from information.
5. Integrate vendor-managed inventory programs into your planning processes.

See Also

• The Latest Global Hotspot: The USA
• You Can't Slow Down The Supply Chain
• Portrait of Best-in-Class Transportation Management
• Bookshelf: New Methods of Competing in the Global Marketplace
• A Greener Set of Supply Chain KPIs