his past December, the Supply Chain Council issued SCOR 11, the most recent update of its supply chain operations reference (SCOR) model framework. The SCOR framework has been used for decades as a standard approach to design and implementation of supply chain practices and business processes recognized by many leading companies and practitioners around the world. Given that a release generally comes every two to three years, an update for SCOR 11 is a big deal in operational circles.
The previous versions of SCOR included several process steps, defined as "Level 1" in the framework, including Plan, Source, Make, Deliver and Return or Service. Underneath these Level 1 process steps are several Level 2 and Level 3 process steps as well. Many company operating models use these process steps and sub-level steps to define their business practices and procedures. In addition, some guidance around cost models based on process activities can be gleaned from SCOR 10.
In SCOR 11, the council review team , which comprises supply chain practitioners who walk the walk and talk the talk, noticed that a common Level 2 process called Enable was worthy of moving up to Level 1 status. Previous to SCOR 11, the framework considered a more linear "waterfall" flow of activities associated with classical process mapping. With SCOR 11, the Enable Level 1 process provides guidance on how to support the original five process steps with best practices to support those steps. This change essentially creates a closed-loop model to SCOR 11, similar to the current ISO 9000 models built on the Deming "Plan-Do-Check-Act" feedback model.