There is a lot of noise in the channel. If you ask for crystal ball predictions, depending on your source, you are presented with two extremes—the future is brighter than ever or the sky is falling.
Maybe, in a way, Chicken Little was right, because the sky really might be falling, but only on some.
I remember when just about every partner had a warehouse. The stock levels were variable, but owning a warehouse was an investment that each company HAD to make in order to compete. Trying to convince a channel partner that a distributor could do a better job of managing stock, cost and delivery was almost heresy.
But, history tells a different tale of channel distribution flourishing through the late 80’s and 90’s as more and more partners realized its value.
Of course advances in the channel’s “just- in-time” inventory promise, and the national and international network of relatively low cost transport were a key part in growth. And, the net result was that there was more money in the partner’s pocket when they stopped paying for and storing stock.
When it came to collaboration, it took a while for the supply chain to be viewed as a partner and collaborator instead of as a competitor. However, I don’t think anyone would argue that the end result is this new landscape where collaboration is essential to successful business.
For example, in the 90’s when I worked for a big broad-line distributor, the concept of staging and integration was introduced. Once more an element of the process that was considered by many partners to be core to their delivery model and necessary to compete in their market was being offered by distributors. With that came the same feeling of competition versus collaboration.
With things like collaboration and competition in mind- Where will your business be in 5 years? Where will it be in 10?
Additionally, as ideas like The Internet of Things and The Internet of Everything become more mainstream, how is your business stacked up to take part and “play” in this new sand box. What elements of your business do you HAVE TO hang onto to compete? And, what is your supply chain bringing to the table that you can take advantage of?
Is it cloud, managed services or new complimentary vendors?
My crystal ball says the IT expertise, the operating technology, the support and professional services, the cost of creation, and infrastructure management is too much for one to bear.
As a result, it’s the collaborators who are poised to take advantage of economies’ of scale and the expertise of a diverse network and supply chain. The ones who understand that they can’t do it all and that the value of partnership will outlast the cost of building it themselves are the ones who will continue to win and grow.
My Crystal ball is just like yours – a little murky at times- but history does tend to repeat itself. And, history values collaboration over competition any day.
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