Landing the Frontside Flip

The Digital Supply Chain Institute is proud to release pioneering research that provides an execution framework for transforming supply chains to meet the needs and demands of New Customers.

In 2016, DSCI urged supply chain leaders to flip from focusing on the back end of the business to the front side—the customer side. We call this a “Frontside Flip (FSF),” a customer-centric model that integrates supply and demand by breaking down the silos between the supply chain, marketing, product development, and data/IT functions to accelerate the transformation to a digital supply chain. However, from our ongoing research and discussions with global supply chain leaders, we noticed something we did not anticipate–that the most important change is not new technology but the emergence of the “New Customer.” Today’s customers want their products and services to be delivered 50% faster than five years ago. The supply chains that we built for our legacy customers no longer meet the needs of the New Customers. Our research presents an accelerated approach to executing a Frontside Flip where the New Customer is front and center.

The Frontside Flip optimizes a digital supply chain by seamlessly connecting demand sensing to demand planning to supply chain operations to provide an experience that produces happy and loyal customers. There are a few imperatives for landing the Frontside Flip. These include:

• Collaboration across functions and throughout your Constellation of Value.
• Availability of enterprise-wide (and constellation-wide) consistent and trusted data.
• Customer segments, personas, on-time delivery, loyal customers need to be well defined and the backbone for performance management.
• A comprehensive Talent Strategy to attract and retain the necessary skills.
• A plan that prioritizes transformation starts at the top with enterprise-wide goals and subgoals that begin with the achievable and build on success.
• Building relationships and using technology to gain better visibility to reduce risk.
• Global KPIs that encourage customer (segment) focus throughout the supply chain and enable horizontal integration.

Digital transformation is not about digitizing your current business model; it is about redefining your business model to serve New Customers and achieve a competitive advantage. Land the Frontside Flip to redefine your business model and supply chain to create a “Constellation of Value.” Read the full Whitepaper to get in-depth details on where to start and a roadmap for execution!