Breaking the Friction Barrier: Can Aerodynamics Streamline Your Supply Chain?

3 min read

minimalistic image on a clean white background that symbolizes the smooth flow of a supply chain inspired by aerodynamics.

Transform your supply chain by applying aerodynamics principles. Reduce process friction, enhance efficiency, and glide smoothly through disruptions

Did you know that 80% of businesses experienced supply chain disruptions in 2021, leading to significant financial losses?

Imagine piloting an airplane through turbulent skies. The aircraft doesn’t fight the turbulence head-on; instead, it uses aerodynamic design to glide smoothly, ensuring a safe journey. What if we could apply the same principles to navigate the turbulent challenges in supply chains?

The Flight Through Turbulence: A Story of Aerodynamic Mastery

In the early days of aviation, pilots faced the relentless challenge of turbulence. Aircraft were often buffeted by unpredictable air currents, making flights uncomfortable and sometimes dangerous. Engineers realized that to conquer the skies, they needed to understand and manage aerodynamics — how air interacts with moving objects.

They discovered the importance of the boundary layer, a thin layer of air that clings to the aircraft surface. This layer determines how smoothly air flows over the wings and body.

One breakthrough was the development of laminar flow wings. These wings maintain smooth airflow, minimizing turbulence and allowing airplanes to fly faster and more efficiently. Pilots could now navigate with confidence, turning once-chaotic journeys into predictable voyages.

Viscosity in the Supply Chain: The Hidden Friction

In fluid dynamics, viscosity measures a fluid’s resistance to flow. High viscosity means more internal friction, leading to slower movement. In supply chains, we could define process viscosity as the friction between processes, departments, and stakeholders — delays, miscommunications, and inefficiencies that hinder the smooth flow of goods and information.

I’ve witnessed firsthand how organizations struggle with this effect in their supply chains. Older processes, siloed departments, and ineffective communication cause operational sluggishness, not physical friction.

Multinational pharma organizations invest billions in innovative products but face chronic delays in delivering them to market. Despite high demand, they miss deadlines to reach the cabinet and see their return on investment decrease.

The Culprits:

  • Siloed Operations: departments operate in isolation from procurement to R&D to production to distribution. The lack of information sharing resulted in slow scaling up of manufacturing and wasted efforts.
  • Cumbersome Processes: Unnecessary steps slow approval workflows, adding days or weeks to project timelines.
  • Outdated Technology: Legacy systems and Excel spreadsheets support decision-makers who act on obsolete or inaccurate information.

Reducing Friction for Smooth Operations

To soar, these organizations must reduce the viscosity in their supply chain. Drawing inspiration from aerodynamics, they should focus on smoothing out the “surface” of their operations:

Process Mapping and Simplification

  • Identified Redundancies: Map out every step in their supply chain to spot bottlenecks and unnecessary procedures (visibility).
  • Streamlined Workflows: Eliminate redundant approvals and empower teams with principles to make decisions within their purview (empower the edge).

Breaking Down Silos

  • Cross-Functional Teams: Create teams comprising members from different departments to foster synergies and shared understanding (collaboration).
  • Shared Objectives: Aligned departmental goals with the company’s overall mission to ensure everyone was moving in the same direction.

Technology Integration

  • Unified Systems: implemented an integrated supply chain management platform that provided real-time visibility across all external and internal operations (transactional networks).
  • Data Analytics: leverage analytics to predict potential disruptions and adjust plans proactively (higher responsiveness).

Organizations that start this transformative journey can reduce their lead times by 40%, cut operational costs by 25%, and dramatically improve on-time delivery rates.

Future-Proofing: Designing Supply Chains for the Skies Ahead

The Aerodynamics of Layers: Governing Physical Phenomena

In aerodynamics, engineers study the layers within airflow to understand and control how objects move through air. The boundary layer can exhibit laminar (smooth) or turbulent (chaotic) flow.

By dissecting these layers, engineers apply specific physical laws — like Newton’s laws of motion and the Navier-Stokes equations — to predict and optimize an aircraft’s performance under various conditions. This layered approach enables precise control over complex phenomena.

Understanding layers in aerodynamics helps govern specific physical phenomena; similarly, dissecting the layers of business operations allows for targeted improvements.

  • Identify friction points: Just as viscosity in the boundary layer affects an aircraft’s performance, friction between departments or processes slows down operations. Pinpoint these areas for optimization.
  • Optimize Interfaces: Manage the “boundary layers” between teams and systems to ensure smooth transitions and information flow.
  • Leverage Appropriate Laws and Principles: Apply management theories and practices that best address the challenges at each operational layer.

Conclusion: Soaring Above the Challenges

Despite significant progress in complex fields through specialization, we’ve often lost the ability to recognize patterns and learn from analogies across disciplines.

These parallels help us identify friction points and optimize the flow of information and resources.

Embracing such interdisciplinary thinking allows us to tap into a wealth of knowledge that transcends traditional boundaries.

In this article, we investigated an analogy between pilots relying on aerodynamic engineering to navigate turbulence and businesses using the same models to design their supply chains to glide smoothly through disruptions. Managing the boundary layers — the interfaces where friction often occurs — is essential. By applying concepts from aerodynamics, like viscosity, to the business world, we gain powerful tools to investigate and improve interactions within our organizations.

With streamlined operations and a culture of continuous improvement, companies can transform turbulence from a threat into an opportunity for innovation and growth.

Key Takeaways

  • Process Viscosity Slows You Down: Internal friction in supply chains hampers efficiency and competitiveness. Identifying and eliminating these frictions is critical.
  • Aerodynamics provides a blueprint: Applying principles like boundary layer management can significantly enhance supply chain performance.
  • Future-Proofing Is Essential: Building flexibility, investing in technology, and fostering collaboration prepare businesses to successfully navigate future challenges.
Flavio Aliberti Flavio Aliberti brings with him a 25-year track record in consulting around business intelligence, change management, strategy, M&A transformation, IT and SOX auditing for high regulated domains, like Insurance, Airlines, Trade Associations, Automotive, and Pharma. He holds an MSc in Space Aeronautic Engineering from the University of Naples and an MSc in Advanced Information Technology and Business Management from the University of Wales.

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