SOURCING EXCELLENCE
SUPPLY CHAIN BEST PRACTICES
Hidden Constraints
The constraints that shape a sourcing decision are not always the ones written in the model.
A plant may prefer an incumbent. Engineering may resist a specification change. Operations may need a transition period. Finance may care about working capital. A supplier may have capacity that looks available on paper but cannot be moved when the business needs it.
These constraints are real even when they are not visible in the data.
That matters because an optimization model can produce a mathematically strong answer to the wrong problem.
Good sourcing work makes the hidden constraints explicit. Then the organization can decide which are genuine requirements, which are preferences, and what each one costs.
The model is not the decision. It is a way to understand the consequences of the rules we put around it.