Making Supply Chain a Priority

September 13th, 2007 at 08:26am David Bush - Iasta

The Wall Street Journal recently brought attention to supply chain management and even quoted an occasional visitor/commenter of E-Sourcing Forum, Adam Fein of Pembroke Consulting. Although not quite as prestigious as exposure from ESF, Adam gets a great plug on another highly respected outlet.

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Make supply-chain management a top priority. Mattel’s recent recall of millions of lead-tainted toys from China — which followed fears about hazardous materials in toothpaste and pet food, and a recall of thousands of tires made in that country — has executives at every global company quaking.

What management lessons do you try to abide by? Were these lessons handed down to you, or did you learn them the hard way? Share your best management advice. Don’t wait for a crisis. Scrutinize manufacturing suppliers and improve quality-control systems at your company. You can start by making sure you recruit and reward talented supply-chain managers. Otherwise, you risk moves that damage your company’s brand and can trigger lawsuits.

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The Mattel woes that were discussed early on, here on ESF, have made their way into WSJ commentaries, and not surprisingly. This story has continued to get worse (almost weekly) with more recalls, bad press and executive suicide. Fortunately, there have been no reports of consumer health problems. It does not feel like this story, or other China import nightmares, are over and they will likely be catalysts for some major changes with respect to LCCS.

Entry Filed under: General, Global Supply Issues/Risk