How to Get Your Company in the Starting Blocks After COVID-19
如何让你的公司在新冠病毒之后起步
April 13, 2020April 14, 2020 by Guest Author Leave a Comment 翻译by虞老师
By Gregory Cable, C.P.M.
Business leaders all over the world are pulling back by making cuts across their companies as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Supply chain departments, still part of the manufacturing operations in many companies, are some of the first to be reduced. That’s because many unknowledgeable business leaders believe supply managers “only order parts.” The logic is that since the business doesn’t need as many parts, it doesn’t require as many supply management employees.
由于冠状病毒（COVID-19）大流行，世界各地的企业领导者都在通过削减企业规模来生存。供应链部门仍然是许多公司制造业务的一部分，但是是第一个被减少的部门。那是因为许多无知的商业领袖认为供应经理“只订购零件”。逻辑是，由于业务不需要那么多部件，因此不需要那么多的供应管理员工。
The result of pulling back on the supply chain is a recipe for disaster. A business may survive the crash, but it will be ugly. Nor will the company be in a good position to compete effectively after the crash.
撤回供应链的结果是灾难的根源。企业可能会在崩溃中幸存下来，但是会很难看。飞机坠毁后，该公司也不会处于有效竞争的良好位置。
Instead, smart companies should look for opportunities that will give them an advantage over competitors that continue to downsize supply management organizations. Last week, this space discussed the three immediate steps — assess risk, evaluate supplier deliveries and assist suppliers when necessary — supply management organizations should take.
相反，精明的公司应该寻找机会，使其比继续缩小供应管理组织规模的竞争对手更具优势。上周，在这里讨论了三个紧迫的步骤-评估风险，评估供应商的交付并在必要时协助供应商-供应管理组织应采取的措施。
After the first three steps are taken care of, it’s time to ease back and level off, preparing for future high performance. Several activities can help your business be ready for the eventual economic comeback. A company’s supply chain is about its suppliers and its supply management employees.
在完成前三个步骤后，该放松一下并平稳下来，为将来的高质量业绩做准备。多项活动可以帮助您的企业为最终的经济复苏做好准备。公司的供应链是关于其供应商及其供应管理员工的。
Focus on creating or updating sourcing strategies. Strategic supply management activities are some of the first casualties when sales quickly increase. After all, no one has time — all effort is spent on ordering and expediting parts.
专注于创建或更新采购策略。当销售迅速增长时，战略性供应管理活动首当其冲。毕竟，没有人有时间-所有精力都花在订购和加快零件上。
As a result, a business downturn is an ideal time to either create or update your commodity/category sourcing strategies. This requires a high amount of research, but much of the strategies formulation can be done from home. Part of that effort also involves potential supplier optimization — weeding out chronic poor performers and replacing them with higher-quality suppliers that meet business needs.
因此，业务低迷是创建或更新您的商品/类别采购策略的理想时机。这需要大量的研究，但是许多策略的制定可以在内部完成。这项工作的一部分还涉及潜在的供应商优化-淘汰长期表现不佳的公司，并用满足业务需求的更高质量的供应商代替他们。
Evaluate material requirements planning (MRP) parameters. This activity — which includes such parameters are lead times, minimum-order quantities, time fences, lot sizes and safety stock — also tends to take a back seat during good economic times. These parameters are often examined only when parts are initially set up, and it can be years before they are looked at again. These fixed parameters are frequently independent of fluctuating order volumes, making safety stock levels most often misaligned with business needs.
评估物料需求计划（MRP）参数。这项活动（包括交货时间，最小订单量，时间范围，批量和安全库存等参数）在经济良好时期也往往会退居二线。这些参数通常仅在最初安装零件时进行检查，并且可能需要数年才能再次进行检查。这些固定参数通常与波动的订单量无关，从而使安全库存水平最经常与业务需求不符。
Negotiate kanban processes. Kanban processes are not appropriate for every situation. Yet, if you want to decrease in-house inventory while establishing a more reliable supply of parts, kanban processes with key suppliers can achieve both goals. It’s much easier to achieve the changeover from MRP to kanban (or some type of hybrid system) when volumes are slow, versus when you’re trying to push product out the door. By establishing robust kanban processes with suppliers, you will be set up for success when sales begin to increase.
协商看板流程。看板过程并不适合每种情况。但是，如果您想减少内部库存，同时建立更可靠的零件供应，则与主要供应商的看板流程可以实现两个目标。当数量变慢时，与尝试将产品推出市场时，从MRP转换为看板（或某种类型的混合系统）要容易得多。通过与供应商建立健全的看板流程，当销售开始增长时，您将为成功做好准备。
Train and develop employees. Has YouTube ever charged your company for watching a video? Employee training and development need not be expensive, but it does take time, and time never seems to be on employees’ side when the economy booms.
培训和发展员工。 YouTube是否曾经向您的公司收取观看视频的费用？员工培训和发展不一定要花很多钱，但是这确实需要时间，而且在经济蓬勃发展时，时间似乎从来就不在员工一边。
Encourage employees to investigate such relevant media as videos and articles, especially if they are working from home.
鼓励员工收集视频和文章等相关媒体，尤其是在家中工作时。
Supply management practitioners can benefit from business-related videos that range from understanding how injection molding works to improving Microsoft Excel or PowerPoint skills to understanding negotiation strategies. Have employees track what they watch and ask them to help create a library of videos to share. In time, you will have a department of world-class supply management professionals learning from each other.
供应管理从业人员可以从与业务相关的视频中受益，这些视频包括从了解注塑成型的工作原理到提高Microsoft Excel或PowerPoint技能，再到了解谈判策略。让员工跟踪他们观看的内容，并要求他们帮助创建视频库以进行共享。随着时间的推移，您将拥有一个世界级的供应管理专业人员部门，彼此学习。
It is well known among leading organizations that competition is no longer between companies, but rather between supply chains. Is your supply chain prepared to compete? Is your company going to be one of those that crash and burn, or will it quickly recover? What are you doing today and over the next several months to improve your supply chain, so your company can fly past its competitors?
领先组织之间众所周知，竞争不再是公司之间的竞争，而是供应链之间的竞争。您的供应链准备竞争了吗？您的公司会成为崩溃和焚毁的公司之一，还是会迅速恢复？您今天和接下来的几个月将做什么，以改善您的供应链，以便您的公司能够超越竞争对手？
Gregory Cable, C.P.M., is a supply management senior consultant and principal with CGHM Consulting in Fairhope, Alabama.
Gregory Cable，C.P.M.是位于阿拉巴马州Fairhope的CGHM Consulting的供应管理高级顾问和负责人。
