Supply Chain: Piercing the Invisibility of Distance

The root cause is the invisibility of distance. Suppliers can't see what you see. Anyone watching as the device powers up would see that it's broken. But the supplier can't see that. They have your description and their (understandably paranoid) imagination. This scene plays out thousands of times each day. In our global, 800-number, FedEx, e-commerce world, you can't "open the box in the store". You can't ask the salesperson to plug it in to see if it works. You can only ship it back and wait ... and maybe wait some more.

Problem Statement

You receive an urgently needed electronic device. You unpack it, plug it in and turn it on. The control panel is gibberish. You reread the manual and do exactly what it says. Same result. You call the vendor, but it's clear they don't believe you. They tell you to ship it back and they will fix it "if necessary". But you need it now. Will they cross-ship a replacement? No!

The Invisibility of Distance

The root cause is the fact that the supplier can't see what you see. Anyone watching the device power up would see that it's broken. They only have your description and their (slightly paranoid) imagination. This scene plays out thousands of times each day. In our global, 800-number, FedEx, e-commerce world, you can't "open the box in the store". You can't ask the salesperson to plug it in to see if it works. You can only ship it back and wait ... and maybe wait some more.

Why not use video?

The answer may already be close at hand. It's called "video sharing" (aka YouTube). For millions of people, it only takes a few minutes to record a short video and post it to the Web. Moments later, viewers around the world can see it.

There are at least two stumbling blocks. First, public video sharing websites are designed to be open and uncontrolled. Companies want tight control over who can see what they buy, who they buy from, their problems, or their suppliers' problems. Second, most logistics managers aren't web video experts. They need a tool that is less hip, simpler to use and well integrated into their business workflow.

Enterprise Video Sharing for Supply Chain Managers

iPOV has a solution to both problems. iPOV's CoSolvent Community Server offers a simple solution to the supply chain visibility problem. You can record an 'industrial grade' video with a $100 camera and upload it to our dedicated video sharing site. It takes a few minutes more to email a link to the video to an external supplier. If you follow up with a phone call, the problem may be resolved a few minutes after that. You can view this entire scenario in action at our demo supply chain site and in the two video clips that follow:

A Sample Video to 'Educate' a Supplier

The Effort to Make and Use the Sample Video

The first video clip is a short (1.5min) example of an informal, industrial-grade video explanation that you might send to a distant supplier. The video quality is pretty rough, but the message is clear. It is unlikely that the speaker's point will be missed or misunderstood. The second video clip shows an entire sequence of actions that created this example - and put it to use. Sure, the situation is contrived, but is there any confusion or uncertainty? Fast, easy, inexpensive and accurate. How long would it take you to craft a memo to achieve similar results? iPOV's iVSB website for supply chain has two parts: our hosted software and our menu of supporting services:

• CoSolvent Community Server - iPOV will set up and host a video sharing website for your organization and we will customize it to reflect your company's operational workflow requirements. iPOV is committed to continuous software improvement. We already offer a long list of features that exceeds those of public video sharing sites and we are continuing to innovate features that will benefit  all of our hosted clients.

• iPOV Basic Services - iPOV will host and maintain the site, keep it tidy, and promptly fix any problems that arise.

• iPOV Optional Services - iPOV can maintain the list of outside vendor participants and assist them to participate effectively. iPOV can develop customized interfaces and tools to integrate the video sharing site more effectively into your normal business workflow. That may involve the create of special web interfaces and functions and helping to design and implement easy-to-use video capture stations for your employees. Finally, iPOV can apply its video transformation services to material in the video sharing site. One scenario is that you can make a video clip like the one above and iPOV will transcribe your comments, translate them to Chinese, and add them back as English and Chinese subtitles with your movie.

Cost

iPOV offers CoSolvent Community Server as an integrated service so we can help you concentrate on doing your business. We can help you coach your staff and key suppliers, help you maintain participant accounts and passwords, help police the contents, help to re-use content in more professional communications, and help you link the system to other data and corporate systems. Our knowledge is deep and our service and support fees are very reasonable.

Bottom Line

If you are a supply chain manager, you can have a private, controlled video-sharing capability that will revolutionize your day-to-day communications with your suppliers. The more distant the suppliers, the more impact this capability is likely to have. The applications are limited mainly by your imagination.