Defining the perfect end-state is easy. Getting there while you have a business to run is not. To achieve dramatic and sustainable results, it is necessary to put in place a process for improvement rather than a one-time project for improvement. One DuPont business accomplished this between 1991 and 1995 by tackling one real-world problem at a time. Combining substantive business process changes – accomplished through cross-functional and interregional teamwork – with the provision of key information through decision support systems, we remedied visible deficiencies such as the need for:
- Agreed-upon forecast beyond annual profit objective
- Clear responsibility and accountability for forecasts and inventories
- Consistent, high-quality information flows among regions
- Ability to foresee potential service problems before customers are affected