Collaboration empowers people and organizations to engage and innovate
George W. Prest, Chief Executive Officer, MHI
The best companies in the world use collaboration to achieve high performing customeroriented supply chains.
They are finding new ways to compete by leveraging innovation that is driven by technology and the digitally-connected consumer. This collaboration not only provides visibility into their customers’ experience, but drives innovation by producing a more complete view of their products and their supply chain.
The Q4 issue of MHI Solutions showcases the collaborative efforts that have driven recent innovations in energy, the cold chain, global trade and secure cloud-based technology.
One collaborative tool many companies are using is “crowdsourcing.” Wikipedia states that, “crowdsourcing is obtaining needed services, ideas, or content by soliciting contributions from a large group of people, and especially from an online community.” Unilever is an example of a company that adopted a crowdsourcing approach to their collaborative efforts. They invited stakeholders to take part in an effort to find new ways to meet its business growth and sustainability goals. Last year, they unveiled an Open Innovation website platform to gather and assess ideas from external resources.
Their goal was to tap into a new community of individuals to create a better future for Unilever’s consumers and the environment. As a result, the number of research projects which involve external collaboration has increased from 25 percent to around 60 percent.
MHI has been championing collaborative efforts through our MODEX expo. We knew through our research that both exhibitors and attendees wanted one event that covered solutions spanning the entire supply chain. This expo would include not only exhibits but also an industry-leading conference and opportunities to network with peers.
Our first MODEX expo was held in Atlanta in 2012 and was a huge success. At that first show, we had over 600 exhibitors and 20 educational conference partners that touched on topics ranging from “The Fundamentals for Supply Chain Management” hosted by the Council of Supply Chain Management Professional (CSCMP) to a “Manual Materials Handling Workshop” run by the Ergonomic Assist Systems and Equipment (EASE) group and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
In 2014, MHI will build on that success by collaborating with groups like Supply Chain & Transportation USA and the Georgia Logistics Summit to deliver one event that showcases manufacturing, distribution, fulfillment, logistics and the overall supply chain from every aspect, from product sourcing to education and thought leadership.
Successful collaboration is neither quick nor simple, but it is essential for best-inclass operations.
I hope the Q4 issue of MHI Solutions will inspire your collaboration efforts.
