Hi there!
Today’s blog is all about the activities performed by a control tower. These activities are already mentioned in the second part of the definition I have been giving you in the last couple of weeks:
A control tower is a central point in the supply chain which has the technology, people and processes enabling them to oversee and control the flow of products, information, and money to and from each shackle within the supply chain.
Now, the second part of the definition which I would like to talk about is the piece of the definition starting at the oversight and control of flows.
To start off with, my definition mentions that a control tower should be overseeing and controlling the flow of products. In many occasions, this is the easiest flow to examine as it is often also the most visible flow. After all, in many companies, there are real products moving across the floor and in and out of the warehouses. Unfortunately, monitoring these flows is often not very easy, as it is highly dependent on the quality, volume and dimensions of the goods being provided by your 
business partners. All of these factors may lead to the fact that certain goods should go through a different path compared to more “regular” products. Think for instance about fragile products. A control tower should know and mark these types of products and ensure that measures are taken accordingly to suit these products.
However, there is also the flow of information. This flow is often a very vital one, as it contains mostly specifics about processes or products which should be known before handling these goods. For instance, if we again take the example of fragile products. The supplier of these goods could inform the receiving party before actually delivering the products. This enables them to take the appropriate measures in their processes. If either of the parties refuses to do so, this might end up in products being damaged or no longer being usable. Obviously, this is a situation which everyone in the chain would like to prevent. Therefore, in my personal opinion, the information flow is almost the most important flow, but unfortunately, almost always forgotten about.
Lastly, there is the money flow, one that is very important to most companies, as they are trying to make a profit. A control tower should be able to control and oversee even this important flow. Visibility should be created in the transactions between companies, and sometimes, between different departments. However, as this is mostly confidential, it is of the utmost importance that the control tower is empowered to do so by the complete company. Something which is very hard to achieve.
Now, in the latter two blogs, I have walked you through something which is my own definition and interpretation of a control tower. In your own research, you might already have seen some other definitions, but I have tried to combine several definitions of the larger supply chain and research firms and translate this to a short and understandable definition. Something which I hope to have achieved by now. Hope to see you in my next blog!
See Y’all!
Control Towers 