Hans Jacobs, responsible for Global Alliances and Supply Chain Management (SCM) within the Global Discrete Industries Market Management organization of Sjef van den Buys, explains how Atos Origin can help ensure the future success of companies through multiple, ongoing SCM initiatives. 

To the untrained eye, it may seem that SCM, together with eBusiness, was one of the victims of the burst of the Internet bubble. For example, there is now little mention of large projects, companies seem to be backing off from SCM initiatives, and some software vendors appear to be in trouble. But personally, I don't think that this is true - Supply Chain Management is still advancing at an amazing pace. We see progress in the development of completely new and breakthrough technologies like RFID devices, and at the same time we also see the introduction of key SCM elements in enterprises in their continuous drive for improvements.

It is true that SCM projects have become smaller and that the goals for individual projects have become less ambitious than when it was popular to try and re-invent a company through spectacular SCM or eBusiness initiatives. However, despite the reduced spotlight on SCM, we must conclude from current industry trends, like unbundling and de-verticalization in the Discrete Industries, that the effects of SCM projects are undeniable and paying off. As an example, today's massive move of companies towards the outsourcing of manufacturing activities and also design activities can only be accomplished after major improvements in the SCM arena have been completed.

There is today, even more than one or two years ago, general support for the statement that in the near future the success of companies will be dependent on the strength of the total Supply Chain in which they operate, and much less exclusively on their individual strength. But Supply chains are only as strong as their weakest link.

Projects to increase Supply Chain visibility, to enhance the ability of companies to react to Supply Chain events, and to introduce Vendor Managed Inventory are all on the rise and are the focus area for many of the SCM initiatives currently underway in the world. For Atos Origin this is important as our business approach is to develop strong long-term relationships with our customers. As a "house" supplier of IT services, we are better placed and prepared to get involved in projects that are a natural extension of the existing eco system of solutions and applications, rather than become the lead provider of the high profile solution that is intended to "re-invent" a company.

In order to qualify for the role as the partner of choice for the natural extensions of the solution space of our customers, it is necessary that all of our Systems Integration (SI) consultants working in the field have an open eye for the adjacent territory to the application or business area that they are currently working in. With improvement projects becoming smaller in scope, our customers rely much more on our ability as a Systems Integrator to keep the smaller steps aligned with the larger goals. The ability to "Think big and Act small" will be valued more than ever by our clients.

An illustration of the widening SCM scope in terms of application or business area can be found in the introduction of collaboration along the supply chain. If we take supplier collaboration in the context of contract manufacturing, or even contract design as an example, we see that the supply chain project immediately touches upon Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) issues, not only in terms of communicating Bills of Material, but also in the area of collaboration within the CAD environment, traditionally an area outside the scope of many ERP and SCM consultants.

Being able to show to our clients that Atos Origin, next to having the right mixture of industry and customer knowledge, possesses the right skills in consulting and the ability to pro-actively coordinate across the execution of smaller projects and help them stay on the strategic path, will be critical for our success in the Supply Chain arena.