APICS CTSC - Certified in Transformation for Supply Chain (CTSC)

An external motivator for executing a supply chain transformation is a factor that originates outside the organization and influences its decision to change its supply chain strategy, processes, or capabilities. Examples of external motivators include customer demands, market opportunities, competitive pressures, regulatory requirements, and environmental concerns1. In this case, the national customer’s request to sell to its international subsidiaries is an external motivator because it comes from a keystakeholder in the supply chain and requires the company to adapt to new markets, regulations, and logistics.

According to the CTSC Exam Content Manual1, best-in-class companies consistently and significantly do better than their competitors because they utilize benchmark supply chain metrics to gauge performance. Benchmarking is the process of comparing one’s own performance with that of other organizations or industry standards, and identifying the best practices and gaps for improvement. Benchmarking helps best-in-class companies to set realistic and achievable goals, monitor progress, and drive continuous improvement.

1: https://www.ascm.org/ctsc-ecm/

According to the CTSC Exam Content Manual1, Kanban is a lean manufacturing tool that uses visual signals to indicate the need for a component or material in a production process. Kanban is linked to consumer demand, as it triggers the replenishment of inventory only when there is actual consumption. Kanban helps to reduce waste and labor by minimizing overproduction, inventory, and waiting time. Option B, JIT purchasing, is a related concept that involves buying materials or components just before they are needed in the production process, but it does not necessarily use visual signals. Option C, Kaizen, is a lean manufacturing tool that involves continuous improvement of processes and activities, but it is not specific to reducing waste and labor in the manufacturing process. Option D, TOC, is a management philosophy that focuses on identifying and eliminating the constraints or bottlenecks that limit the performance of a system, but it does not use visual signals to indicate the need for a component.

According to the ASCM CTSC Exam Content Manual, the two approaches for applying selected supply chain processes across the organization, and determining the degree to which processes are consistent across the businesses, product lines, and geographic locations are standardization and harmonization1.Standardization is defined as "the process of ensuring that all processes are executed in the same way, using the same inputs and outputs, and producing the same results"1.Harmonization is defined as "the process of ensuring that all processes are aligned and integrated across the organization, and that they support the organization’s strategy, goals, and objectives"1.Bothapproaches aim to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and agility of the supply chain, and to reduce the complexity, variability, and duplication of processes1.

1: ASCM CTSC Exam Content Manual, page 8.

According to the ASCM, the balanced scorecard in the supply chain measures the performance of the supply chain against eight attributes: reliability, responsiveness, agility, cost, profit, assets, environmental, and social.These attributes reflect the efficiency, effectiveness, and sustainability of the supply chain, as well as its alignment with the customer and stakeholder expectations1.

a digital twin is a virtual representation of a real-world object or system. These virtual models are used to digitally represent performance, identify inefficiencies, and design solutions to improve their physical counterparts. A digital twin is a digital model designed to accurately reflect a physical object. The object being studied—for example, a wind turbine—is outfitted with various sensors related to vital areas of functionality. These sensors produce data about different aspects of the physical object’s performance, such as energy output, temperature, weather conditions and more. This data is then relayed to a processing system and applied to the digital copy. Once informed with such data, the virtual model can be used to run simulations, study performance issues and generate possible improvements, all with the goal of generating valuable insights—which can then be applied back to the original physical object. A digital twin is a digital representation of a real-world entity or system. The implementation of a digital twin is an encapsulated software object or model that mirrors a unique physical object, process, organization, person or other abstraction.

According to the ASCM CTSC Exam Content Manual, change control is defined as “the process of determining, approving, or rejecting alterations to a plan baseline” (p. 18). Change control ensures that changes are properly evaluated, documented, and implemented in a controlled manner. Change control is part of the broader change management process, which also includes change identification, change evaluation, change approval, change implementation, and change verification.

According to the ASCM CTSC Exam Content Manual, one of the benefits of a mature S&OP process is to enable the alignment of supply and demand plans with the strategic objectives of the organization1.This can help to optimize the use of resources, reduce costs, improve customer service, and increase profitability. Therefore, evaluating the current S&OP process can help an organization to identify the gaps and opportunities for improvement in a supply chain transformation initiative.

1: ASCM CTSC Exam Content Manual, page 14.

According to the CTSC Exam Content Manual, a good supply chain strategy should be tailored to the right level of complexity, which means balancing the trade-offs between efficiency and responsiveness, standardization and customization, centralization and decentralization, and integration and differentiation1.A good supply chain strategy should also align with the business strategy, customer expectations, and market conditions1. The other options are not necessarily wrong, but they are not the main criteria for a good supply chain strategy.

According to the ASCM CTSC Exam Content Manual, one of the first steps in initiating a digital supply chain transformation is to “identify the business drivers and opportunities for transformation, and prioritize them based on their potential impact and feasibility” (p. 15). This helps the company’s leadership to align the transformation objectives with the strategic goals of the organization, and to allocate resources accordingly. The other activities mentioned in the options are also important, but they should be done after the initial identification and prioritization of the areas of the business that can benefit the most from the transformation.