Elsy Ocejo, is vice president of supply chain at Illes Foods. In this discussion with Helen Atkinson at Supply Chain Brain she speaks about how the difference between a value chain and a supply chain is that the first includes more of a feedback loop from the end consumer.
“That way, you start adding value to the product, not adding cost,” - Elsy Ocejo
It’s the supply chain that enhances the value proposition of the company’s products, and that’s why the supply chain role needs to encompass everything from sourcing to project management to customer experience. As we've previously written about here. It also highlights the need to value partnerships – not only external ones, but also the internal partnerships that allow for the sort of cross-functional collaboration that leads to real innovation. Another way of helping to achieve this would be to partner with a 4PL Supply Chain as a Service provider. Like Nucleus.
Efficiency is one thing, Ocejo says, but it has to be balanced with creativity. With the right mix, that means operational excellence is enhanced by inventive thinking to arrive at a better value proposition overall. Often, that means combining the efforts of departments in ways that weren’t done before – such as figuring out how the strategies of research and development and supply chain management can work in conjunction.
She says that in the case of food production, this can get complicated. Whenever Illes starts developing a new product, it needs to tap into a wide variety of existing and new sources – whether commodities, flavours or packaging – and that these need to be tested in order to come up with a product that will resonate with customers. That’s where the supply chain, married to R&D, becomes a value chain.
Source: Supplychainbrain
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