Speed is vital
The agility with which an operation can spot and interpret an issue, then flex and react in response is essential to its resilience. The three dimensions of operational speed are the following:
1) Speed of supply chains:
Given that most supply chains are designed for cost and efficiency they can have some long lead times which are incapable of responding quickly to change. These may still be the right solution in faster-moving future business environments, but it does mean that resilient organizations need to understand the continuity risks and factor-in some flexibility where possible.
2) Speed of decision making:
If we think about processes that have been designed over the last few decades, it’s not uncommon for demand planning solutions to refresh their demand history data monthly. During the pandemic most operations reduced this to weekly, or even several times per week. This means more and more frequent assessments of what customers are demanding, agreeing what can be made, deciding how to prioritize and synchronize the operation, assessing the implications for the business plan, revenues and cashflow, etc. It is clear that critical decisions have had to be made ever faster, without compromising their accuracy or authority. The solution is, of course, digital, especially with the advent of AI-driven routine decision-making which will enable senior decision makers to focus their effort on the exceptions that need human intervention. Digital transformation programs must, themselves, be faster than ever now too, because the pace of change could make them obsolete before they’re finished.
3) Speed of adaptation:
The third speed dimension relates to the speed with which the organization can retrain or reorientate staff to work with new technologies, recruiting and onboarding new talent where needed.
Relatively few organizations are able to advance their clock-speed or develop more agility in their supply chains without outside help. Deloitte’s multiple capabilities mean that, while we work with you identify the areas on which to focus, we can also be taking the strain with your digital transformation. Our goal is to prepare you to predict and be ready for events before they happen rather than after they have hit you.