Thank you for this article. With the continued shifting of global economic forces it is apparent the old way of doing business has reached its tipping point. Where once companies competed on product differentiation and standardized processes it is now essential that companies compete on process differentiation and standardized products.

This doesn’t mean that product innovations will cease as there are always better mousetraps to be designed. However, process innovations will deliver larger gains with less risk.

Certain elements of the world will never change. Foreign countries will always be the same distance away from your home country. Consumers in each country will only be able to consume commensurate with their ability to earn.

Combining the new process innovation strategy with a domestic based manufacturing strategy opens doors to sustainable global leadership. Instead of manufacturing products in foreign countries for import into domestic, consumer markets; companies can move their manufacturing to their domestic markets even if outsourcing is still a preferred financial strategy. In so doing the geographical boundaries are collapsed, total landed costs can be reduced, market responsiveness can be regained and an employed consumer will be better able to acquire the very products being made and sold at home.

Process innovation can now flourish as companies improve their collaboration. Instead of black holes of information keeping the company in the dark about their inventory they can now establish collaboration between their employees, vendors and customers. Instead of supply chains that stretch half way around the world from manufacturing to consumer they will be just a few days away from production line to the kitchen table. Today those processes are held hostage not only to the international outsourcing herd mentality but also by the legacy business systems in place.

ERP, Best of Breed and Homegrown systems were built for the time of product differentiation and process standardization. These systems were not designed to be innovative, agile or even particularly easy to use. Fortunately, the next generation of enterprise systems were built for this new world. Without a need to replace, modify or integrate to those legacy applications businesses can now deploy innovative strategies and process differentiation that makes their supply chain the global leader for the foreseeable future.