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Supply chain excellence gives an organization a competitive advantage in a market that is complex and full of competition. In order to achieve supply chain excellence, organizations need pay attention to details of infrastructure and all the functions that are concerned with supply chain operations. If these details are considered in a more collective approach they can lead to a more effective and efficient supply chain management process that would provide a more aggressive supply chain performance towards the goals in internal integration, distribution, general operations, purchasing and all other supply chain functions. Supply chain excellence aims at providing an optimum coordination of supply chain for all functions performed within its operation. This is done while a constant framework condition change is initiated to ensure the supply chain is able to bear all its required load. In supply chain excellence, a major challenge is ensuring that it functions correctly and it maintains a constantly high level of performance regardless of the shift in circumstances in the supply chain. There are six major key drivers that ensure that there is supply chain excellence in an organization at all levels. The following are the key drivers that ensure Supply Chain Excellence (Dubey, Gunasekaran, & Ali, 2015).

Connectivity: Information technology is the driver of connectivity in the supply chain. Functions of a supply chain are connected to each other and linked electronically by means of the internet, extranet, and other electronic means. Supply Chain Excellence is contributed by a connectivity between suppliers, customers, internal and external stakeholders of the supply chain. Through Information technology all operations in the supply chain can easily be initiated and tracked to ensure everything functions as required. Information technology gives a connectivity that forms as a basis for supply chain communication which acts as a key driver of the Supply Chain Excellence.

Visibility: The ability to monitor the functions of the supply chain acts as a key driver to the success of the supply chain. Technology has enabled this driver to be realized. Technologies to monitor supply chain at all levels have been developed. These are technologies to monitor good in transit, goods in storage and also good in distribution channels. With technology it’s easy to see and monitor everything that happens within a supply chain (Lambert, & Enz, 2017).

Collaboration: Supply chain functions cannot work alone. The supply chain is an organizational function that requires the organization to collaborate with other functions both in and out of the organization. Through connectivity and visibility, a real-time data sharing between different functions of the supply chain are initiated. This helps the stakeholders in the supply chain collaborate for the great good of supply chain efficiency. In supply, chain procurement needs to collaborate with finance, distribution and storage functions. Without the collaboration no function of the supply chain can work independently (Bolstorff, & Rosenbaum, 2007).

Optimization: A supply chain in the organization should maximize its performance and activities. This is achieved by the organization applying different techniques that ensure functions are optimized. This basically includes usage of different software such as MRP to ensure all the functions are optimized for the supply chain delivery of services.

Execution: To achieve key operational excellence in supply chain efficient integration and execution of key activities is necessary. Supply chain technology is beneficial in ensuring that this key driver is applied accordingly. All the functions of the supply chain can only work and be successful if only they have been executed.

Speed: Supply chain operations need to be performed in the shortest time possible. The flow of information and material in the supply chain should be consistent. There should be cases of delays. When there are delays in material other functions such production and distribution are going to be affected. In a case of responding to customers issues if there are delays there is a high likelihood that the reputation of the supply chain or the entire organization would be affected. Therefore, a right speed should be maintained always when dealing with the flow of material and information in the supply chain (Monczka el al., 2015).

All the six key drivers of the supply chain largely depend on technology. Therefore, information technology is a relevant tool in ensuring that the operations of the supply chain perform as expected. Among the six drivers, there is no driver that is more important than any other driver. No driver should be used in place of the other. To ensure the Supply Chain Excellence all the drivers should be used and combined to work together for better results (Piya et al., 2017).

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