Collaborative Supply Chains
Introduction
In today's fast moving market, there are numerous emergent opportunities to capture more value from the market and within supply chains. Opportunities to secure extra value lie in:
- Continuous improvement in primary production practices and technology
- Continuous improvement in supply chain processes (identified through value chain analysis)
- New product opportunities, such as health, convenience, local provenance, carbon foot-printing
- New markets such as public procurement, direct sales, food service.
A wide range of organisations, including levy bodies and research institutions, have excellent resources of research and knowledge of value opportunities, whether technology, process or market related.
However, some value can only be captured in collaboration with others in the chain, and some value can best and fastest be captured through collaboration in the chain.
Businesses in traditional supply chains compete with each other, foregoing the value available from greater efficiencies and faster market responsiveness. Businesses in collaborative chains align their commercial objectives and coordinate information flows and actions to capture more value for all.
Collaborative supply chains are proven to be:
- Faster to respond to changing value opportunities and circumstances in the market and the chain
- More competitive and commercially sustainable for all participants
- Likely to create interdependence and uniqueness in the chain, founded on innovation and 'intellectual property'