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"MEET BUSINESS CHALLENGES WITH A DISTRIBUTIVE STRATEGY"
The objective was to subdue Gaul and the Brits, and the motivation for an effective management strategy--the survival of the republic--was strong. Given the failure of Roman centralized control in the past, this strategy used a different approach: local unit control mixed with central command objectives and goals, with a high degree of objective accountability. The distributed process was put into motion, the Republic stabilized, and Rome continued on as an empire for nearly 500 more years. The employment of the distributed process is also the employment of distributed thinking and distributed planning. Without all three, you are relying on a fragmented strategy that is ineffective and fundamentally flawed. In a very competitive environment, this can be costly and can result in lost territory, or in lost opportunities, because of the inability to react with a high degree of efficiency. Today, a contiguous flow of information from senior management to technical management to sales and operational personnel is required for any successful distributed strategy. The computer revolution lately seems to have lost some of its zip in part because the giants in the information industry are still trying to sell the Fortune organizations, the MIS departments of America, and the world a bigger version of the same old thing--centralized control. We who are directly responsible for data collection, who toil in the everyday workplace, are led down a path of fragmented strategies. What is sold at the top does not always work at the bottom because it doesn't achieve the performance required for it to be effective. The result is secondary fixes. A simple distributed solution to data collection and verification is available now. We have the tools and technology--micro and portable computers, radio frequency data communications, printers, scanners, network operating systems, scales and conveyors, and so forth--necessary to bring a revolution to the distributed workplace. When you start to design a distributed strategy to automate the entry-level work sequences--whenever data is entered, changed, or verified--in your company, the technology should improve the process and productivity for each job. Information must be collected, validated, recorded, and verified with 100 percent accuracy, all without delaying or disrupting the employee's work sequence. Communications with the employee can be visual or auditory depending on the task at hand. In a 100-percent EDI advanced ship notice environment, the tasks in a work sequence will require integration between the employee, automated material handling, and the computer network, from the inbound to the outbound sequences, in all cases, information gathered should always contain basic information such as who, what, where, when, and how much. These transaction records can within seconds lose immediate value, but with the integration of neural networks with local and wide area networks, the whole decision-making process will take on new dynamics. This will take warehouse and distribution organizations in particular to levels that no centralized system can compete with. Speed, accuracy, and flexibility are the keys to the marketplace as we move into the 21st century. In order to compete effectively, now and in the future, companies will have to use local area networks interconnected with distributed RF networks where microcomputers control PLCs (programmable logic controllers) on materials handling systems. These systems communicate data to the mainframe in waves or near-real-time from receiving to put-away to pick, pack, and ship, assuring the fast, 100-percent accuracy and flexibility that distributed systems offer. These networks (if properly implemented) will lead to automated wide area networks between multiple facilities around the country. With the use of neural networks, first on the local area network and then on a wide area network, the human work force employed by multi-facility companies can work as one unit. This will provide the most cost-effective, fast, and accurate distribution process available. This is part of the larger distributed strategy that must be employed from the top down. With the new technology, it becomes very apparent that you can now allow distributed processing with transactional verification and adherence to the organizational plan without being hindered by slow response from management or central processor control. Distributed processing improves accountability through improved information flow and information accessibility for real-time evaluation and decision-making. The debate of central versus distributed control will continue, but the differences between the two will diminish as distributed strategies integrate the two paradigms. As we move faster into the information revolution, it is becoming increasingly obvious that if information is not immediate, its integrity is compromised. Speed and accuracy in collecting and processing will be essential. Technology in the form of invention has driven the human race since the beginning of time and will continue to drive us with the responsibility to accept and apply innovations in any form. We must keep an open eye to changes, the past successes and failures will determine the path that will prove the fastest and latest advancements to system integration. This will guide systems to ever higher levels of productivity. We also can share in the success of innovation, or we can miss the signs of the past and present and be part of a decline.
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When
the early Roman republic started to grow beyond its ability to govern its
frontiers, it reached a point where it was losing control and could no longer
effectively annex additional territories. The leadership was challenged first by
those boundaries and then, as a consequence, by those within. The solution was
simple: distribute the leadership to improve accountability. Julius Caesar sent
his lieutenants out to control points within the frontiers. This was a change in
the way the Romans approached the problem, because this new deployment of power
marked the beginning of an era of distributed control.