Demand Driven approach to a Smart Supply Chain

As consumers we are all getting used to our suppliers becoming demand driven, for example when recently selecting a new car the number of options available to me on each individual model seemed unending. Clearly this ever expanding number of SKU’s (Stock Keeping Units or model variants in simple terms) is great for consumer choice (even if it does vex your decision making capability somewhat) but must give our manufacturing industry many added pressures. One of the key enabling factors in this increase in consumer choice and demand driven supply chain is the innovative use of automation.

The question I would like to raise today is whether this demand driven approach can be applied to our public services and infrastructure? And if so can the availability of automation technology be one of the catalysts in what could be an emerging revolution? 

Let me give an example; a bus timetable is supply driven, can we ever get to situation where the public transport system becomes 'smart' and reacts to demand; driven by prior knowledge of people’s journeys (via analysing social networks), and knowledge of people’s actual movement (via mobile phone volumes).

Our view supports this and that the increasing demands on resources (in particular energy) and reducing public sector funding will drive the need for 'smart'.  The question is will we have the foresight to learn from  the world of manufacturing and how we have moved from being supply to demand driven?

Phil Gillard, General Manager, SolutionsPT