Performance metrics are only valuable if they lead to better decisions. In this Supply Chain Byte, Lisa Anderson shares practical insights on how manufacturers should think about performance metrics to make critical operational and strategic decisions that drive supply chain success.
Tracking progress and performance vs key goals remains a top priority of successful clients. For example, we had several situations arise recently that demonstrated the importance of metrics:
- Sales pipeline & conversion: an industrial manufacturer that supported data centers put metrics in place to track their sales pipeline, what converted into sales orders, and very importantly, which product attribute information was available to plan capacity and long lead time materials.
- OTIF (on-time-in-full): a building products manufacturer put OTIF and supporting metrics in place to know where to focus to bring service levels up for their customers.
- SIOP: an equipment manufacturer put SIOP (Sales Inventory Operations Planning) related metrics in place to increase the predictability of their revenue plan and to ensure resources were in place (capacity plans, long lead time materials, storage) to successfully fulfill their plans.
Our most successful clients pay attention to key metrics. They do not have a plethora of metrics that overwhelm executives; instead, they have a select few metrics that provide meaningful information and trends for decision-making.
If you are interested in reading more on this topic:
Early Warning Indicators in Supply Chain