Resilience Imperatives Prompt New Enterprise Strategies for Optimizing Off-Shore, Near-Shore and Re-Shored Value Chains -- Eric Rutter, Mavsotech
By Lane F. Cooper, Editorial Director, BizTechReports
The global entertainment technology community is redefining how it develops, organizes and deploys value chains to ensure long-term viability in today's increasingly volatile and complex digital economy. As a result, executives are placing more importance on consistency and resiliency, de-emphasizing their singular reliance on lean-and-mean just-in-time strategies, according to Eric Rutter, founder and CEO of Mavsotech, a technology consulting company based in Philadelphia, PA, in a podcast interview for journalists.
"The result is a far more nuanced and sophisticated go-to-market strategy that is creating real opportunities for differentiation in an economic sector that includes video and broadband network service providers, automotive audio and visual media developers, advertising technology players and personal device manufacturers," he says.
Listen to the audio interview with Eric Rutter, Mavsotech CEO, by clicking here.
Making the Cultural Transition from JIT to CART
Pressure to revisit and revamp global value chains in this sector is mounting as the long-term ramifications of disruptions caused by the COVID-19 crisis become clear. That said, executing major operational shifts involving dozens of organizations across multiple geographies is easier said than done. Moreover, it is turning out to be especially difficult to abandon decades of reverence for JIT principles.
"For years, people relied on just-in-time manufacturing to reduce costs, optimize profits and accelerate time-to-market. However, in the wake of the pandemic, executives across the entertainment technology community have had to pivot off this familiar and comfortable paradigm to build robustness in their supply chain," says Rutter.
As global health, economic and geopolitical developments continue to introduce uncertainty into the marketplace, JIT is simply proving too brittle to support the sector's short-, mid-, and long-term interests.
"That is why a growing number of leaders are looking at strategies that can assure value-chain continuity, accountability, resilience, and transparency -- or CART. The notion of having zero inventory just doesn't fly anymore in markets constantly being disrupted," he explains.
The new calculus for maximizing value-chain performance requires organizations to strengthen their ability to ensure product availability, support and ongoing development while improving their ability to adjust to constantly changing circumstances.
With CART principles redefining relationships across ecosystems, the variables determining return on investment (ROI) are also changing dramatically. New efforts to harden supply chains are at once altering partner selection and the terms that govern their relationships.
"We are already seeing players across the segment rebalance resources and reevaluate who they need to work with. We are also seeing organizations reassess risks associated with off-shore exposure while contemplating the benefits of near-shoring and re-shoring value chains," says Rutter.
Executives, he adds, are pursuing this analysis because there is a new appreciation for how continuity and resilience enhance brand value, customer satisfaction and the overall value equation.
"One of the biggest lessons of the pandemic is that companies enjoying proximity-of-resource advantage won the day because they could provide continuity. They were able to resolve problems and recover from disruptions more quickly. While it is clear to me that off-shoring will not stop altogether, I think you will see it done more strategically," he says.
The Mavsotech Mission
Advising and supporting entertainment technology companies interested in rationalizing value chains as well as product and service life cycles is the mission of Mavsotech.
"We provide trusted solutions and services that help digital entertainment customers drive success in the marketplace. Mavsotech was launched to become the preeminent worldwide provider of specialized engineering solutions and services to fulfill the long-term strategic objectives of our customers -- including video and broadband service providers, automotive audio providers, add insertion technology participants and entertainment device manufacturers," says Rutter.
Mavsotech executives have led successful organizations in these entertainment technology vertical segments and understand the need for establishing comprehensive value-chain strategies.
"We have assembled a multidisciplinary team with the proven experience and expertise needed to build future-proof entertainment technology value chains. We know how to deliver customer satisfaction and protect brand value by ensuring resilience regardless of what today's turbulent global economic environment throws at our clients," concludes Rutter.
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EDITORIAL NOTE: Listen to the entire audio interview with Mavsotech’s Eric Rutter by clicking here.