Chain Reaction

Since first publishing the AMR Research Supply Chain Top 25 in 2004, we continue to hear feedback every year about how to refine the rankings. Our main mission has always been to highlight examples of supply chain leadership and, in so doing, to elevate the importance of the profession. In 2008 for the first time, we explicitly recognized four examples of leadership in supply chain that demonstrated specific areas of practice. Our methodology for selection was a traditional nomination and committee selection process whereby all AMR Research staff were invited to nominate companies and selections were made by our research leadership.

Here’s a look at some of these winners.

Technology Use in the Global Supply Chain

Colgate-Palmolive was nominated, along with about a dozen other companies, and cited specifically for outstanding achievement in managing supply chain processes on a single global ERP platform. The extraordinary performance that brought Colgate-Palmolive to the top of the nominee group was in part, demonstrated discipline in stating and sticking to an SAP strategy for most of the essential business processes underpinning the supply chain. The other part of the story was Colgate’s consistently strong operating and financial performance against the highest metrics of supply chain excellence.

Leadership in Corporate Social Responsibility in the Global Supply Chain

Unilever emerged as our chosen recipient for its longstanding tradition of approaching supply chain with concern for the unique market conditions in each country in which it operates. This tradition was described by leading management thinker CK Prahalad in his book The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits.

We also had the pleasure of interviewing Pankaj Gupta of Hindustan Unilever, whose “Vitality” initiative encompasses training and small business development support for thousands of people downstream in the supply chain.

Leadership in Environmental Sustainability in the Global Supply Chain

As a huge global player in the chemical industry, Dow Chemical was an early leader of the Responsible Care initiative that sought to limit health and safety problems arising from chemical handling. More recently, Dow has taken aggressive steps redesign its supply chain for better visibility and collaboration along the chemicals manufacturing and distribution network to minimize risks of hazardous material spills and to reduce energy consumption.

Excellence in Small(er) Packages

Finally, in response to frequent requests that we find a way to include smaller companies among those considered for the Top 25 we created a special category to recognize supply chain leadership among small to mid-sized companies. This year’s winner was ViaSat, a manufacturer of satellite systems that has enjoyed robust growth with the surge in wireless communications. ViaSat stood out for its innovative approach to demand-driven principles in an engineering intensive supply chain. Learning from companies in the Top 25, ViaSat has been able to support rapid growth and position the company for further geographic expansion.

Looking ahead we want to find as many examples of leadership across these dimensions as we can. The business press is always on the lookout for such stories and we know the supply chain professional community appreciates lessons learned from fellow practitioners. For 2009 we will accept nominations for these four awards from any and all sources. Our specific selection process will be defined over the next six months and we would appreciate suggestions.