Control towers, why not?

Dear readers,

In previous blogs I already discussed the benefits of control towers, like earning more money by realizing a higher service level towards the customer. But these control towers also know some negative points. In this blog I will discuss some of these negative points and why companies do not want to work with a control tower within their supply chain.

Now, I will sum up some of the aspects why companies within supply chains do not want to work with a control tower in this supply chain:

• Extra work; To realize a control tower within the supply chain of your company, you need to put effort in it. For small companies it could be impossible to give one or more employees time and money to invest in a control tower for that supply chain. So, the fact that realizing a control tower brings extra work, could be a reason for companies to put no effort in the realization of a control tower.
• Confidential information; The realization of a control tower within a supply chain means collaboration of different companies within that supply chain. This collaboration is essential to gain more visibility within the supply chain and thereby earn more money. But it is possible that a company in the supply chain does not want to share his business information with other parties of that supply chain. The company could, for example, get real big problems if their competitors get known of this important information via other parties within the supply chain. In this case, the company could decide to put no effort in the realization of a control tower within the supply chain where he belongs to.
• Concentration on the internal organization; Companies could give priority to the optimization of their own internal organization instead of working on the external organization of the supply chain. It could be that the optimization of the internal organization realizes a higher profit for that company.

  

  Control towers, why not?

In my opinion, companies could not be obliged to put effort in the realization of a control tower. If a company has good arguments to put no effort in the development of a control tower, this should be accepted by the other parties of that supply chain.