A new model for supply chain collaboration

Bringing a new supply chain innovation to market is a collaborative effort, and any discord between partners can doom the product months or years before it reaches the market. Our industry needs a map for how internal and external collaborations can work together to ensure harmony throughout development and increase their technology’s chance of success. This paper offers a potential collaborative innovation model supply chain professionals could follow to improve their approach to these partnerships. It looks specifically at the roles played by two groups: innovators — any party within a supply chain-focused or adjacent organisation responsible for uncovering new efficiencies for their own operations or those of their customers; and partners — any party looking for, or proposing a solution to, a pressing supply chain challenge. The paper provides a roadmap for these groups to achieve alignment before the project begins, remain focused during development, and apply the lessons learned throughout the process to future innovations. Finally, it offers an example of the proposed model in action. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.