Supply Chain Insights

JULY 23, 2021

Abstract. Supply chain is easier to say than define. The Supply Chains To Admire report analyzed improvement, performance, and value for the years 2011-2020. Twenty companies outperform their peer group. Powered By EmbedPress.

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Supply Chain Insights

MAY 3, 2021

Powered By EmbedPress. Objective. Quantitative research on lessons learned by supply chain leaders during the pandemic. Summary. We designed the research to answer four questions. Did innovative companies perform better during the pandemic? Yes, mid-way through the pandemic in September-October 2020, a more innovative manufacturing company rated themselves significantly better on agility and responsiveness at an 80% confidence level.

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Supply Chain Insights

APRIL 2, 2021

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APRIL 2, 2021

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APRIL 2, 2021

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Supply Chain Insights

APRIL 2, 2021

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Supply Chain Insights

APRIL 2, 2021

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Supply Chain Insights

APRIL 2, 2021

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Supply Chain Insights

APRIL 2, 2021

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Supply Chain Insights

APRIL 2, 2021

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APRIL 2, 2021

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Supply Chain Insights

APRIL 3, 2021

Big Data and Analytics: The New Underpinning for Supply Chain Success? – 17 FEB 2015 from Lora Cecere. ###. SUMMARY CHARTS: Big data 2014 15-Summary Charts From Quantitative Study from Lora Cecere. … Infographic. Survey Details: The research for this report was conducted from May 19, 2014 – January 16, 2015. It is based on online surveys conducted among Manufacturers, Retailers, Wholesalers / Distributors / Co-operatives and Third Party Logistics Providers who have a basic familiarit

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Supply Chain Insights

JANUARY 30, 2018

This week, we celebrate the sixth anniversary for Supply Chain Insights. I never wanted to start the company, but when Gartner bought AMR Research, I thought the market needed an alternative. We provide focused and independent research for the business leader. While other research companies write for Information Technology (IT) organizations, our focus is the business leader.

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Supply Chain Insights

JANUARY 18, 2018

I hate prediction articles. However, this morning over coffee, my fingers hunger to write this post. I am not sure why. It may be that I am growing tired of hubris and market hype. I writhe in my seat at most conferences and count the number of times the word “digital” is used in presentations. I am often uncomfortable. Consultants and technology leaders are rebranding under a “digital umbrella” without clear definition.

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Prescriptive Analytics Software Supply Chain Planning Software Supply Chain Design Software Predictive Analytics Software 197

Supply Chain Insights

AUGUST 29, 2017

You’re hearing it every single day now… Digital Transformation. If “going digital” implies changing the way things work, then how must digital transformation change the way trade promotion works today? While that may require several volumes, let’s focus on five areas we know must change. #1: Failed Promotions. Oh heck, why not just tackle the big one right away?

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Supply Chain Insights

AUGUST 11, 2017

Digital transformation is evident in the vendor landscape for trade promotion management today. The evidence is in; and it appears that consumer products manufacturers now have a wide range of choices for both cloud and on-premise solutions to managing the second largest line item in the company P&L. After nearly two months of detailed briefings with the world’s top trade promotion management vendors, it is evident that the embrace of new technologies has already moved into advanced phases.

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Supply Chain Insights

AUGUST 3, 2017

The level of sophistication in the consumer chain has advanced a thousand-fold in the past decade alone. What was formerly a rather simple process of planning promotions has now become a complex blend of technology and skill at predicting consumer behavior. It hasn’t been too long ago that a typical consumer products manufacturer rep would replicate last year’s plan, make any adjustments for an account’s expanded stores, new markets, or new product launches, and dub it the new current year fore

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Supply Chain Insights

JULY 27, 2017

Recently I had the opportunity to go to Llamasoft headquarters in Ann Arbor, Michigan to play the game they have programmed for Supply Chain Insights around supply chain strategies and inside-out versus outside-in processes, SCI IMPACT! The game is a simple simulation of a supply chain where each month decisions are made by players and results are calculated in the game.

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Supply Chain Insights

JULY 23, 2017

Summer is ending. 2018 is right around the corner. Is it time to start to plan the new year? Forge a strategy? Engage employees? At this time of year, we find many companies planning workshops to stimulate thinking on building a digital supply chain and igniting next-generation supply chain thinking. If this is you, we would like to offer to help. We have four opportunities for engagement.

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Supply Chain Insights

JULY 17, 2017

“Don’t block up the hall. For he that gets hurt. Will be he who has stalled. There’s a battle outside ragin’. It’ll soon shake your windows. And rattle your walls. For the times they are a changin’”. Bob Dylan wrote these lyrics as part of his classic 1960’s ballad, “The Times They Are a Changin’” to warn of the changes coming and how everyone needed to pay heed and be ready.

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Supply Chain Insights

JULY 6, 2017

The hype around blockchain technology is growing because man continues to seek the next best thing. The question is whether this radical new way of transacting business is applicable to trade channel promotion. I’m sitting on my veranda in the hot Texas afternoon drinking my ice tea and mint leaves, turning the ribs every 8 minutes and reading my latest book.

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Supply Chain Insights

JULY 3, 2017

Can you name the top three tactics used by sales people in planning a promotion? …tic toc… buzzer! If you said temporary price reductions (TPR), displays and feature ads, you are right. I would love to state the actual number here; but our survey on revenue and trade promotion management has yet to be launched. However, we will have it out soon, and this and other exciting and NEW information will be available – stay tuned!

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Supply Chain Insights

JUNE 30, 2017

Point-of-Sale data has become one of, if not the most important factor determining the success of a trade channel promotion. But has it achieved its full usefulness? I think not. Shortly after the turn of the millennium in the aftermath of Y2K, Consumer products companies across all channels began concentrating on the expansion of knowledge and intelligence about the consumer, and, more importantly, the ability to predict outcomes.

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Supply Chain Insights

JUNE 26, 2017

Have you ever paddled a canoe down a fast-moving stream? I am not referring to taking on Class IV or V white water rapids; but at least a challenging and slightly dangerous course that will get you pretty wet if you don’t pay attention. You must think in real-time and, at the same time, be looking ahead of the i mmediate threat to those you are about to face – and those come at you faster than you can often imagine.

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Supply Chain Insights

JUNE 21, 2017

After doing a deep dive into the Household Products (Nondurable) industry segment to show why Proctor & Gamble did not make the Supply Chains to Admire TM winner list, I wanted to show an example calculation for a company that made the winner list. Cisco Systems has actually made the Supply Chains to Admire list for 4 years in a row ! That’s amazing!

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Supply Chain Insights

JUNE 19, 2017

If you’re like me, you might see a long report online and skip past the details to get to the good stuff – the results. When the Supply Chains to Admire TM report came out last week, I scrolled right to the winners. To try to wrap my head around the way the winners were determined, I dug in to the data. I wanted to take one particular company and calculate their results myself to understand the methodology fully.

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Supply Chain Insights

JUNE 16, 2017

Amazon’s announcement of its acquisition of Whole Foods Market will be a landmark business move that has far reaching effects to the Consumer Chain and the way CPG suppliers go to market. There are so many pleasures of life in Austin, Texas. Even though I’ve moved out of the unbelievable growth explosion of Austin proper, living this Texas Hill Country life and being close enough to run into town to see a band on Sixth Street, run the hike and bike trails or check out Circuit of the Americ

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Supply Chain Insights

JUNE 13, 2017

Not all analyst groups are created equal. Research is at the heart of what we do. We publish four types of reports and provide it as Open Content for the industry. Our goal is to help supply chain leaders globally. The report types are: Supply Chains to Admire: A deep study by industry of performance and improvement levels for the past seven years. The goal is to provide industry benchmarks.

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Supply Chain Insights

JUNE 12, 2017

Supply Chain Insights has just started a six month Putting Together the Pieces study on demand planning solutions. This report series provides guidance to supply chain leaders in their technology selections. As we were preparing the questions to ask demand planning solutions providers, I realized I wasn’t quite clear on the differences between software deployment options.

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Supply Chain Insights

JUNE 8, 2017

The old saying, “The best price is the right price” ranks in my book right up there with another old saying, “Thanks for sharing!” Or my daughter’s favorite response to an obvious answer…”Duh.” And that one drives me crazy enough; but don’t you hate it when someone tells you “It is what it is?”. What a profound statement. Who came up with that one…Forrest Gump?

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Supply Chain Insights

JUNE 1, 2017

This past month I attended our Supply Chain Insights Bootcamp training led by Lora Cecere in Philadelphia and facilitated the first course of a Cross-Company Academy training, End-to-End Supply Chain Orchestration. Throughout the great discussions within these courses, I couldn’t help but notice a general theme – people are forgetting to define (or ask) what supply chain excellence looks like for their companies!

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Supply Chain Insights

JUNE 1, 2017

“Danger, Will Robinson!” For those of my non-millennial colleagues who have seen reruns or even us Baby-Boomers who actually saw the show, the 1965-68 TV series Lost in Space produced some rather kooky, if not downright weird images. The now famous “B9” robot character would sound out this monotoned warning when it sensed a potential threat to his small companion, played by Billy Mumy.

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Supply Chain Insights

MAY 22, 2017

The late, great ex-Beatle, George Harrison, once write a song entitled, “If You Don’t Know Where You’re Goin’, Any Road Will Take You There.” Really, George? In the often-maddening world of trade promotion, the road to real ROI is not so easily marked; and when you do get there, you may not know where you are. It’s more like Buckaroo Bonzai’s profound uttering, “No matter where you go, there you are.

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Supply Chain Insights

MAY 17, 2017

Over the past several years I have been involved with some rather sophisticated technologies around consumer goods and retail. One of the more exciting solution areas I have worked with is Clientelling – a software application that is typically deployed by a retailer, but can also serve the supplier’s objectives as well. If you have ever walked into a store, car dealer, or service company and been approached by a sales associate holding an iPad®, you have interfaced with a Clientelling Applicati

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Supply Chain Insights

MAY 10, 2017

I have never been a survey taker. Not really. But I do like to see what other people say about things, so naturally, I am a fan of intelligence and knowledge. The problem is that the information we seek must originate somewhere; and that is generally going to come from someone asking questions and other people answering them. Right? For longer than I care to state, I have been involved in trade promotion management and execution (what I am calling “TPx,” because it involves far more these days

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Supply Chain Insights

MAY 9, 2017

Recently I left a company after 14 years of service. That’s a long time to be at the same place, and it’s uncommon. I experienced multiple changes in leadership, structure, focus, and strategy. During times of change, I soaked up every scrap of a lesson that I could scrounge. During stable times, I knocked out some of the ideas I had accumulated, those “wish I had the time for this” projects.

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Supply Chain Insights

MAY 3, 2017

Trade promotion execution is but one component of the Consumer Chain, albeit a very critical one indeed. So, in a recent conversation about trade promotion execution with the head of a corporate revenue management organization I asked the question: “Where does the consumer fit in all that?” After a short delay, he answered, “Nowhere really – TPM is essentially a deal between us and the retailer.”.

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