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Reprinted with permission from
Mid Range Enterprise Magazine
- originally published February 2001
Collaborative Product
Commerce
DAMA Conference Report
By
Dick Bourke, CPIM
DAMA - Design Anywhere, Manufacture
Anywhere - is a rapidly evolving strategy to gain a competitive
edge. At a conference last fall hosted by Management Roundtable,
experienced practitioners and knowledgeable consultants presented a
broad range of subjects within the scope of Collaborative Product
Commerce (CPC). Rather than present an exhaustive description of the
many presentations, I have gleaned and summarized a few of the most
pertinent points of interest.
DAMA - in an overall sense - is the
skillful blending of a specific combination of processes,
organizations and CPC software to gain competitive advantages such
as decreased time to market and lower costs. Because DAMA is a broad
concept, there is no one industry model for DAMA: There can by any
number of combinations of product design and manufacturing across
the supply network of customers and suppliers, and global in nature.
The moral here is that each manufacturing company must develop a
specific business model that meets its strategic vision.
Vision - does your company have a
compelling vision that articulates its competitive strategy? In most
cases, a DAMA strategy presupposes outsourcing - vertical
integration is becoming passes because time-to-market goals cannot
be achieved due to lack of required competencies, resources, and
capital. In this context, several speakers emphasized the need to
know the company's core competency, then outsource the rest. The
vision must recognize the paradigm shifts taking place, such as
cross-enterprise concurrency, real-time cross enterprise data
sharing, and development webs. Because CPC is still in the early
stages of development, it is still not to late to capitalize on the
enabling Information Technology before your company's competitors
do.
Technology - there is no doubt that
deep collaboration is enabled by Internet technology, and that the
flow of information is accelerated dramatically by effective use of
technology. At this time, a "best-of-breed" strategy is becoming
more feasible with the growth in standards and interoperability
software. While it can be argued that in the long term, single
source solutions would be preferable, particularly for small
companies, "best-of-breed" is nevertheless the most prevalent
approach. As many speakers stressed, technology is not the answer.
Hence, the need for identifying appropriate partners.
Partnering - have appropriate partners
been selected? A DAMA strategy highlights the urgent need to develop
solid win-win relationships with all partners in the supply network.
However, successful companies have recognized that collaboration is
difficult at best. Recognize the dangers up front; for instance,
misaligned expectations and incompatible processes and systems, to
cite just two of many. One of the secrets, therefore, is to treat
the partner - either design or manufacture - as an extension of your
organization. High levels of trust are mandatory. These partnering
relationships require constant managing; DAMA is as much a cultural
transformation as an IT consideration. However, virtual
collaboration with the Internet may not be sufficient. Occasionally,
physical collaboration is necessary to enhance team effectiveness.
Consider face-to-face communication at the most critical time - at
project beginning, and understand the many working relationships
that require constant nurturing.
Finally, a DAMA strategy has proven to
its value when all supply network partners win. In addition to
experiencing dramatic reduction in time-to-market, successful
companies also enjoy the benefits of lower product costs, increased
customer satisfaction and more productive use of scarce intellectual
capital.
About the Author
Richard W. Bourke, CPIM, conducts strategic and
operational consulting engagements with manufacturing companies and
software firms. View his white papers and articles at
www.bourkeconsulting.com
and
www.midrangeenterprise.com.
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