What’s in a name? Why “Naviga” Supply Chain was the best fit

Matt Weller
Founder, Naviga Supply Chain

Why “Naviga”? 
Recently, we announced that we have rebranded to Naviga Supply Chain. While most people can immediately understand our focus, we do get the question “why Naviga”? 

Simply put, Naviga means “to navigate”. And so, our focus, is to help firms navigate their supply chains in order to be able to see and anticipate the impact of strategic and tactical decisions.  

Not just any firms – Naviga is specifically focused on Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Manufacturers.   

Why SME Manufacturers?  
Because they have the most complex, most variable, and most volatile supply chains anywhere. Low volume high value manufacturing environments are not static, they are fluid, highly dynamic, and come with challenges that are not fully addressed by conventional “best practices” developed in large scale manufacturing firms. Some of these challenges include: 

• Highly variable /unpredictable demand 
• Limited resources (labour, capital, capacity, technology)  
• Limited or no visibility over the extended supply chain, and associated risks 
• Long supply lead times, unreliable/unstable supply 

• Difficult access to supply in low quantities 
• Low negotiating power due to low volumes/irregular consumption 

The majority of Canada’s manufacturing fits into the SME category. This is why Naviga’s primary focus is the development of a supply chain resilience framework, built to recognize and accommodate the specific challenges of these manufacturers.  

Why a resilience framework? 
Because SME Manufacturers have highly variable supply chain challenges, with equally variable risks and threats to their operations. There is no “one size fits all” approach to identifying the best solutions. But a framework can bring forward an organized approach that considers all major elements of any supply chain as an integrated system. This allows any firm who uses the framework the autonomy to focus on those elements most relevant to their specific challenges, as well as solutions that fit in their specific business realities. And, they can leverage a greater understanding of the integration of those elements to arrive at solutions that benefit their supply chains overall.  

By far, the most requested support from our clients has been around improving resilience in their supply chains. Globally, manufacturing firms of all sizes are recognizing supply chain resilience as a top priority.  

Our work empowers SMEs them to see both risks and opportunities inherent in their existing supply chains  in a quantitative fashion, and provides them with a means to prioritize and measure the cost/benefit relationship of solutions. Of course, all of this is done through a System Thinking approach, in that the outcomes must benefit the firm as a whole, not some small piece of it in isolation.  

The benefits of this approach are many: 

• Faster response to changes in supply and/or demand 
• Less time spent on reactionary measures (fire-fighting) 
• Improved productivity 
• Improved inventory strategy effectiveness 
• Improved business planning and forecasting 
• Increased flexibility within the supply chain 

Putting System Thinking to Work to Build Resilient Supply Chains for SMEs 
The Naviga team has been taking a System Thinking approach since we were founded in 2016.  In addition, we have a specialized focus and understanding of low volume, high value/mix manufacturing. Applying this approach to supply chain resilience through a comprehensive framework is the logical next step for Naviga to support the manufacturing community. 
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If you would like to find out more about how this could be applied to your company, feel free to reach out directly to Matt Weller.