When Ferrari appointed Benedetto Vigna as CEO, eyebrows were raised across the automotive industry. There was a technology executive with no automotive experience taking the reins of one of the world’s most prestigious car manufacturers. Yet under Vigna’s leadership, Ferrari has achieved one of its most profitable seasons since its foundation in 1939.
The secret? Perhaps it’s precisely because Vigna isn’t from the automotive industry.
“When you feel too confident about the future, then you fail,” Vigna said in an article with Wheels Australia. “You know what the biggest risk is to Ferrari? That since we were successful, we believe that we will always be successful.”
This insight resonates with me and rings true in the world of supply chain. It reminds me of a conversation I had decades ago with Leonardo Kim, APAC Supply Chain Director for LG Electronics.
“If you do what your competitors do,” Kim told me, “the best you can be is a poor copy of them.”
The high-tech mindset
Vigna brings a crucial perspective from his technology background: the concept of “faster frequency.” As he explains, “When you come from another industry, the pacing frequencies are much higher, and your antennas become much more sensitive.” In the tech sector, change happens at lightning speed, and this mentality is exactly what traditional industries need today.
In the supply chain, we’re experiencing an unprecedented pace of change, driven largely by technological advancement. From warehouse control systems to automation, from location strategy to facility design – everything is evolving rapidly. Yet culturally, many supply chain organisations are still trying to operate at their traditional pace.
The consequences? Those who can keep up will profit. Those who can’t find themselves struggling within five years, their operational capabilities and service performance falling behind competitors who embraced the faster frequency of change.
The cultural challenge
While the supply chain has finally earned its place in the boardroom, we’re still grappling with gaps in organisation structures. Our senior supply chain professionals, who often intuitively understand what needs to happen, frequently struggle to translate that knowledge into compelling business cases that can influence board-level decisions with the required speed.
This challenge exists because traditionally, our senior supply chain leaders have risen through operational roles. Unlike their counterparts in finance, IT, or marketing, they sometimes haven’t developed the business processes needed to drive quick decisions and organisational transitions at today’s required pace.
The two-three-year rule
Vigna emphasises a critical principle: every two to three years, you need to understand why you are doing the things you are doing. In today’s rapidly evolving business environment, what works today may not be optimal tomorrow.
For supply chain leaders, the best way to implement this principle is through regular maturity assessments. Establish a baseline across your cash-to-cash cycle, understand where you stand relative to best practices, and develop work programs to close identified gaps. Repeat this process at least every three to five years, if not two to three as prescribed by Vigna, and your supply chain capabilities will remain above the competition.
Regular self-assessment is particularly relevant in today’s supply chain landscape, where organisations are attempting to emulate Amazon’s success with large-scale automation implementations.
But copying Amazon merely makes you a poor replica of Amazon. The key is to understand your organisation’s unique DNA and develop solutions that leverage your distinctive strengths. Being inspired by others is valuable; blindly copying them is not.
The symphony of success
Vigna describes a Ferrari as more than just its engine sound – it’s the gear change, the braking, the linear acceleration, the lateral acceleration, all blended in the right way. Supply chain excellence follows the same principle.
It’s not just about delivery. It’s about the optimal blend of location strategy, facility design, system architecture, automation levels, and freight execution. Each business needs to find its unique combination of these elements that align with its market position and customer needs.
Lead, don’t follow
The supply chain remains the area in most businesses where the most significant opportunities exist – for cost reduction, efficiency gains, service improvements, and market share growth. But seizing these opportunities requires the courage to lead rather than follow.
The alternative? You risk becoming the next Blackberry, Motorola, or Kodak – companies that owned their markets until change blindsided them. As Vigna notes, “When you are fat, you do not feel the need to work anymore with the same kind of hungriness you did when you were thin.”
The lesson is clear: success can indeed become the enemy if it breeds complacency. One of the keys to sustained success lies in maintaining curiosity, questioning established practices, and having the courage to chart your own course rather than following the crowd.
The question for supply chain leaders isn’t whether to transform, but how to maintain that hunger for improvement even when things are going well. After all, what is true today will not be true tomorrow.
Peter is Managing Director and Founder of Prological Australia, Prological NZ and Cological. In January 2018, he also founded Prological Consulting UK.
While Prological has been successfully operating for close to 10 years, Peter has been an innovative supply chain consultant for over two decades. Before establishing Prological, he was also a founding partner of Logiworx consulting practice from 2002 to 2010.
