In some recent discussions with a few of my colleagues, we’ve been debating the relative importance of people, processes, and technology that support operational excellence, as well as what ties them together.

Thinking about my recent blog post on “Bubba-proofing” a supply chain execution system helped me frame up my position on the topic.

Recall that you can’t realistically idiot-proof a supply chain execution system or any system, but you must design it so that it prevents Bubba from doing something that may have catastrophic effects downstream.

Stated in a more positive and holistic sense: You have to design business processes that best deliver operational excellence, configure and integrate the systems to support those processes, and then train Bubba on how to use the system and follow the processes correctly.

When all three of these legs - people, process, and technology - are in balance, you have provided the basis for a stable platform for your business.

When any one of these three legs is cut short, the other two must compensate for the imbalance.

When two of these legs are lagging sufficient length, it is even more difficult to balance your business platform.

Ideally, you have enough length on all three legs – or room to expand (think tripod) – so that you will be able to adjust to the following types of fluctuations and maintain your stability:

• Variability in end-user understanding and comprehension;
  
• A wide variety of exception conditions; and  
  
• Spikes in business volume, etc.

Your ability to expand and adjust these legs will also keep you from blowing your budget and help you maintain world-class customer service.

One could argue this analogy and insist that one leg carries more weight than others (i.e., all legs are not created equal), but I’ll leave that deliberation for another time.

I will also postpone the debate on whether the people-process-technology picture is best demonstrated with a pyramid, a Venn diagram, or a three-dimensional figure.

For now, I think is the key question is: “What ties these three elements together?” To answer this question, take a look at the image of the stool and ask yourself, “what are the rungs that connect the legs?”

As you see in the image, I’d like to propose the following:

·        The rungs that connect people and process are training and operational best practices;

·        The rungs that connect process and technology are operational best practices and configuration/integration; and

·        The rungs that connect technology and people are configuration/integration and training.

Perhaps you have other thoughts on the rungs that support your business platform.

How do you stabilize your stool so that it doesn’t wobble or falter under pressure? What are your philosophies for connecting your people, processes and supply chain technology?

--David Meyers

Tags: solutions, stability