Practical Learnings from Project Zebra Pilots

The Takeaways:

1. Project Zebra is an open source initiative aimed at changing the linear transactional mindset of current supply chain planning processes to a cross-functional sensing, learning, and action approach involving industry leaders, academia, and technology providers.

2. Lessons learned from Project Zebra pilots include defining the right metrics for the intended outcome, understanding the dynamic nature of data, educating teams on key concepts, addressing the bullwhip effect and misalignment, and involving all stakeholders in a collaborative planning process.

3. The outside-in model used in Project Zebra incorporates external data, is end-to-end, and is outcome-focused, allowing for a more effective evaluation of trade-offs in decision-making.

4. External data is essential for driving supply chain planning, with 80% or more of the data being outside a company’s four walls.

5. Imperfect data should not deter companies from embarking on transformational journeys, as data analysis can still lead to improvements in performance, and the storyline should only be created after analyzing the data in an unbiased way.