Agile Supply

In todays globalised, free-market environment, the ability to satisfy customer expectations is core to profitability. If you are not agile, you can't do it, because customer expectations are never static (Peter Weill, Director of the Centre for Information Systems Research, MIT)

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Information about Agile Supply

The most prominent academic work in the field of agile supply chain was undertaken in the 2000s by Professor Martin Christopher, the Emeritus Professor of Marketing and Logistics at Cranfield School of Management. Agility has its origins in manufacturing flexibility (Aitken, Christopher & Towill, 2002). The agile model of supply chain management emerged as a response to volatile and unpredictable markets and shortening product life cycles (Christopher, 2000). The model implies the ability of the supply chain to react quickly to changes in market demand (Towill & Christopher, 2002).

Agility allows companies to reduce costs and rationalise inventory by anticipating demand as effectively as possible. Building an agile and resilient supply chain is not always the lowest-cost option for a company. However, it delivers a predictable supply chain with the optimum balance between speed, quality and value (Ernst & Young, 2011).

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