It’s exciting when you see a company that "talks the talk" and "walks the walk" with complete conviction. Bill Nienburg, Vice President of Global Merchandising and Sales Planning, Under Armour, did just this in front of 300 supply chain practitioners at the recent Logility Connections 2014 conference in Atlanta, GA, calling the athletic apparel maker’s supply chain "a cornerstone for [Under Armour’s] overall growth agenda."

The company’s goal is to outperform the competition in quality, speed to market, reliable compliant supply, flexibility, and cost-competitive products. To do this, the entire organization must "embrace change as a way to drive continuous improvement."

Under Armour has a formula for it:  Successful Growth = (Speed + Control + Predictability) x Innovation.

As Supply Chain Digest’s Dan Gilmore put it in his recent column, Under Armour’s Athletic Supply Chain, Bill delivered "a fantastic presentation that in effect said: This is where our supply chain is headed, and how it is a core element in driving rapid growth. See if you can catch us.”

That "catch us if you can" attitude is just part of Under Armour’s confident, visionary, supply chain centric competitive business philosophy, based on "4D Collaboration," which places data directly at the center of a seamlessly integrated superstructure comprising people, tools, and processes.

This synergistic 4D Collaboration depends on several forward-thinking elements, including: