Thursday, February 12, 2009

Doing It Better

People ask... What do you do? My response: "We help companies do things better." Specifically we help supply chain and manufacturing executives "do things better". It might be better planning, better scheduling, better processes, or several other areas of better. We receive calls and emails on a daily basis from executives, managers, analysts, and other consultants that want to share their business pain with us. Many want to improve their supply chain operations by reducing costs. Many executives have a fairly good idea of what keeps them up at night, and they want to share their challenges with us to see if we can offer any help. Almost all have an idea on how to make things better, but they are unclear on how to start the process or how to make the magic happen.

Sometimes we cannot help. Many times we can.

We listen. We ask questions. We ask for clarification. Then, we restate the "thing that they want to do better" in our vocabulary to get validation that we understand. They might be searching for software. They might be searching for services. Many times it's a combination of both, but in all cases, people are searching for solutions.

Deliverables can take the form of improved technology with the tools that a company already owns, or with new tools. A good consultant does not promise the big "solve everything button." A good consultant will understand the goal and match results with expectations.

Many times this takes the form of delivering services and software that is customized to individual clients needs. It could take the form of optimizing your supply chain. It's not reinventing the wheel. It's inflating the tire to the correct air pressure depending on the road conditions. When the economy get's rocky, you might need better tires. So, when your problems become challenging, maybe it's time to get a better approach.

So what do supply chain consultant's offer? They help supply chain and manufacturing executives do things better.

If you would like to learn more about our Optimization services, please contact us. And if you would like to receive future updates on the supply chain optimization industry, subscribe to our SCO Journal and our SCO Newsletter.

Contributed by Richard Guy, Profit Point's Director of Sales

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