Change is not only good. It's a matter of survival. That's according to Nancy Connor who is a modification center manager for Eaton Cutler-Hammer.

Some time ago, she helped launch a postponement program at the company's DC in Duncan, S.C. The first hurdle was that the program came from corporate and was imposed on Duncan. Nancy not only got over that, but now describes how Duncan "won" over another site.

Then the changes got serious. Duncan had always been a pure distribution center. Bring it in, fill the order, ship it out. But now, manufacturing was going to take place (see story - Postpone to get ahead).

Even that didn't seem to faze Nancy. She does admit that the degree of change did not entirely sink in at first. But with her attitude, this pilot program went so well that it's now being expanded.

Nancy Connor is not the only one undergoing change these days. As the article, Duking it out, explains, there's quite a battle brewing in supply chain execution software. Best-of-breed warehouse management system (WMS) suppliers have had the order fulfillment arena all to themselves. But going forward, enterprise resource planning (ERP) suppliers are going to be in their face.

Not only will this change the marketplace, but it will cast a new light on the buying decision. Words like functionality, integration, and licensing fees will continue to be important. But now the field of comparison is being broadened considerably. As the range of possibilities and the complexity of options expands, the buying process will take on a new look and feel. That will surely be a change management project in itself.

I'd also like to call your attention to one other story. It's the one about outsourcing (To outsource or not to outsource?). Talk about a mega-watt of change. But as many companies have found out the hard way, outsourcing calls for changes you may not expect.

So we talked to outsourcing expert Clifford Lynch about what it takes to be successful. He offers 10 rules. Number ten is: Be a good partner. In other words, the decision to outsource is only the first step. You can't just agree to the change and then walk away from it.

And Nancy Connor couldn't agree more. As she talked about managing change at the end of our interview, she said this – "Never give up. You have to believe that it will happen. You have to make it happen." There's someone who not only understands the value of change, but knows what it takes to harness its full power.