Supply Chain Optimisation Requirements Document
This is a practical guide to building a requirements document for a supply chain optimisation project — the documented needs the solution must meet, adapted to the realities of improving the efficiency and resilience of the supply chain.
What a Requirements Document is
A requirements document is the documented needs the solution must meet. For the full concept and how it works in general, see Requirements Document. On a supply chain optimisation project it plays the same role, tuned to this kind of work.
Why it matters for a Supply Chain Optimisation project
Supply Chain Optimisation projects live or die on improving the efficiency and resilience of the supply chain. A well-built requirements document gives the team a shared, explicit reference for exactly that — reducing ambiguity, aligning stakeholders, and making problems visible early enough to act. Skipping it, or doing it generically, is how supply chain optimisation projects drift into avoidable delay and cost.
What to include
- Business requirements
- Functional requirements
- Non-functional requirements
- Acceptance criteria
- Traceability
Supply Chain Optimisation-specific considerations
Tailor the requirements document to the risks that most often derail supply chain optimisation projects:
- Data visibility
- Supplier coordination
- Change to established processes
Example
On a real supply chain optimisation project, the requirements document would be shaped by improving the efficiency and resilience of the supply chain. In particular, it should explicitly account for the project’s biggest risks — data visibility, supplier coordination, change to established processes — rather than treating them as afterthoughts.