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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Building Supply Chain Excellence in a Climate of Disruption
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Milliken’s industry leadership and experience has created a robust and agile company with deep expertise in supply chain management.
- The Milliken Performance System is the basis for its success in weathering supply chain disruptions.
- Major forces and concerns are contributing to current supply change disruptions.
- In this disruptive environment, efficiency matters.
A substantial increase in supply chain challenges has occurred across numerous industries since the beginning of the pandemic.
Many organizations are now so focused on addressing and repairing their short-term supply chain issues that they lack the resources to implement investments in high-performance improvements for the long term. Performance Solutions by Milliken has worked with organizations around the world to help optimize their supply chains and avoid or smooth the disruptions the industry is facing today.
Building Supply Chain Excellence in a Climate of Disruption
The definition of Supply Chain Excellence is changing rapidly and so the model of adaptability and change management will also have to evolve in this new environment. Learn how to overcome the major forces that are challenging industries and the 4 key elements to building high-performance supply chains in a climate of disruption.
Download Summary PDFOpens in a new window.SPEAKERS
Context
Phil McIntyre shared the history of Milliken. Sebastian Giraldo discussed lessons from Milliken’s experience weathering disruption and four capabilities that support high-performing supply chains.
Milliken’s industry leadership and experience have created a robust and agile company
with deep expertise in supply chain management.
with deep expertise in supply chain management.
Milliken is a 157-year-old, privately held manufacturing company based in South Carolina. A values-based organization, Milliken is recognized for innovation, safety leadership, and manufacturing excellence, with strong supply chain processes stemming from a culture of continuous improvement. Although Milliken offers some branded direct-to-consumer goods, the majority of the products manufactured by the company are used by other world renowned companies in multiple industries. It’s estimated that a person touches a Milliken product 50 times a day, from carpet to chairs to chemicals to workwear.
Milliken’s five divisions include textiles, chemical, floorcovering, health care, and consulting. As the company was originally heavily textile-focused, the industry landscape has changed significantly since Milliken was founded. Due to various governmental regulations, competitors moving their footprint overseas, and changes in buying patterns, U.S. domestic production of textiles declined, while overseas mill production increased. However, Milliken lived up to its award-winning reputation, expanded its areas of focus, and improved operational excellence through learning from other organizations.
The Milliken Performance System is the basis for its success in weathering supply chain disruptions.
Built on a foundation of safety and strategic clarity, the Milliken Performance System applies prescriptive steps for each role in the supply chain to ensure that Milliken’s many manufacturing sites are aligned to achieve improvement as needed. Using a Lean enterprise strategy, the company can look at an end-to-end supply chain and optimize it to withstand and adapt to disruptions.
Figure 1: Evolution of the Milliken Performance System
Over time, the Milliken Performance System has become more enterprise-centric, with improvements for agility and to bring greater financial impact.
Major forces and concerns are contributing to current supply change disruptions.
Some of the major forces influencing supply chain operations include:
Demographic
decline
decline
Population exodus from larger cities has caused permanent labor shortages, impacting supply chain costs.
Climate
transition
transition
Extreme weather is interfering with transportation of goods and increasing energy costs.
Deglobalization
Trade wars and geopolitical turmoil prompt companies to consider relocating operations, whether onshoring or nearshoring.
Technological acceleration
Industry 4.0 promises to solve many supply chain problems, but technology is sometimes poorly executed and often doesn’t fulfill all expectations.
Meanwhile, most companies are seeing an increase in demand and are dealing with backorders. Unemployment is high and organizations are not realizing all of the benefits from the technology they have recently installed.
Figure 2: Current Environment
- Workforce growth is constrained but demand is strong
- Technology and Process adoption must be high to compensate for labor concerns
- Efficiencies gained in these difficult times can be breakthrough
The supply chain is moving from a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous) environment to a BANI (brittle, anxious, non-linear, incomprehensible) environment. The next generation of businesses will need to be aware of and adapt for this change.
In this disruptive environment, efficiency matters.
In the past 15 years, Performance Solutions by Milliken has provided services to more than 1,000 clients in over 40 different countries. PSbyM’s experienced practitioners in manufacturing, supply chains, safety, operations, and more work side by side with client teams to implement systems for continuous improvement. Building high-performance supply chains in this environment requires four main capabilities that are transferable to almost every industry segment and also to organizations that may perceive themselves to be non-industry.
Solutions
Consumer Centricity
Loss elimination means that every activity that gets in the way of what adds value to customers must be eliminated, reduced, or simplified. Instilling a zero-loss mindset in clients by working with them to map end-to-end processes, calculate the value, and prioritize losses in every supply chain function clarifies what customers are truly willing to pay for.
Systems Building
Product complexity, material flows, data management, inefficiencies in logistics, and strategic alignment are just a few of the supply chain issues that organizations might struggle with today. Implementing systems—cross-functional solutions with clear metrics in a way that connects and aligns with the goals of the organization—rather than siloed functions supports success in a non-linear environment.
High-Performance Work Teams
To enable high performance in the workforce, three main elements are required: (1) a clear purpose about where the company or team is going; (2) empowering autonomous, agile teams with information to make their own decisions in real time; and (3) agile frameworks that allow teams to rapidly try different solutions in a non-linear environment.
Rapid Improvement
Rapid cycles of improvement are a priority in fast-changing markets. At Milliken, the concept of opportunistic operations means that businesses should involve and enable employees with methodologies for rapid improvement to immediately and quickly take advantage of any situation or opportunity.
The Four Capabilities of High-Performance Supply Chains
Understand What Your Consumer Values
Build the Systems to Close the Gaps
Involve and Enable Your People
Do It Fast
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Webinar:
Building Supply Chain Excellence in a Climate of Disruption
Building Supply Chain Excellence in a Climate of Disruption
Learn how to overcome the major forces that are challenging industries and the 4 key elements to building high-performance supply chains in a climate of disruption.
View WebinarOpens in a new window.Executive Summary:
Building Supply Chain Excellence in a Climate of Disruption
Building Supply Chain Excellence in a Climate of Disruption
Performance Solutions by Milliken has worked with organizations around the world to help optimize their supply chains and avoid the disruptions that the industry is facing today.
View Executive SummaryOpens in a new window.Blog:
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