By Nathan Simon
The great moderation that lasted from the mid-1980s through 2007 was characterized by low volatility and strong gains in business performance that combined in the fashion of a virtuous cycle.
The supply chain was a significant beneficiary and source of these gains, resulting from the lower levels of volatility that needed to be managed and the application of new techniques and tools such as lean methods, including the shift to a pull-based operating model and just-in-time inventory management, and substantial investments in technology-enabled planning systems.
