How Supply Chain Best Practice Metrics Can Predict the NFL Super Bowl

For those that follow the National Football League (NFL), these next few weekends are going to be engaging. We are down to the final four teams: Seattle Seahawks, New England Patriots, Indianapolis Colts and the Green Bay Packers. With full disclosure, I have to say that I do not have a rooting interest. I grew up in Pittsburgh, and it is Steelers all day. But, that didn’t stop me from wondering who the Super Bowl champion would be. So, I decided to use supply chain best practice metrics to predict the Super Bowl participants, and the ultimate winner. I remember when my parents questioned my plan to go after a dual degree in college – Industrial Engineering and Statistics. Only four more courses would get me the Statistics degree – that cost a lot of money. And, now, after 25 years, it’s about to pay off! The winner of Super Bowl XLIX (or 49) will be… Okay, not just yet… Let’s consider that best in class supply chains use ‘ Value’ to measure success: Value = [(Service * Quality) / (Cost * Speed)] + Innovation This is a simple equation, but yet very effective when used as an end-to-end metric. Much like supply chain, a focus on a single, functional area will improve one facet, but not the complete network. This ‘Value’ equation accounts for the end-to-end success. Now, I’d like to challenge the Analyst community! If this model accurately predicts the Super Bowl, then let’s consider using this to rank the Top Supply Chains. So, without further ado, in terms of the NFL, ‘Value’ would be: Service For this metric, I searched for the best indicator of “does this team provide its customers with a high level of service” and “are the customers willing to “go above and […]