You could change your business practices to cut waste and not have to wait for computer systems to catch up with you. Simply faxing production schedules back and forth between manufacturers and suppliers isn't enough. People in every part of the production system need to be able to peer into one another's production schedules to share information and to make decisions in real time. To find out more about how digitization has supercharged time-based competition, Fast Company interviewed George Stalk in his office in Toronto. Here are his six principles for digital companies that want to compete on speed.
Digital speed casts a stark shadow.
There's no doubt that, in the past, competing on time created performance differentials. When you move into the digital world, you attach a supercharger to speed as a competitive weapon. And once that disparity becomes apparent to some consumers, word spreads to others. And if that's your reaction, you know that a lot of other people have the same feeling. Digital speed appeals to a company's most profitable customers first.