Two reviews of Chris Caplice's article in the Summer 2013 issue of Supply Chain Frontiers.
Supply Chain Standard
Is logistics in its ‘Model T’ phase?
The Model T Ford was the most popular car of its era - but have you ever tried to drive one? It comes as a shock when you stamp on the brake and find that it is actually reverse.
The brake is where the accelerator pedal is supposed to be. And then there is a strange lever on the steering column which apparently is a “spark advance” – whatever that is.
In their early days, cars had all sorts of different arrangements of control levers and pedals – it took a surprisingly long time to come to the layout that we know today.
Why am I talking about this? Well, the way we do logistics may be going through a similar process, according to Dr Chris Caplice, executive director of MIT Centre for Transportation and Logistics.
Supply Chain Digest
Supply Chain News: Will New Approaches to Manufacturing and Distribution Change the Current Dominant Global Logistics Model?
Are emerging trends in manufacturing and distribution going to upset the current physical distribution model in the US?
Likely Yes says Dr. Chris Caplice, executive director of MIT's Center for Transportation and Logistics, in a recent blog post.
There is a common pattern in many domains relative to lifecycle evolution, from new product development to supply chain and logistics, Caplice says.
In new product markets, typically you see wildly different variants that are released and tested in the market, but eventually they converge on a common core set of features. That is, a dominant design emerges from the pack to become the de facto standard.
Once that de facto standard is embraced, the industry turns from a focus on innovation to the relentless pursuit of greater operational efficiencies within that standard.