Supply Chain Shaman

MARCH 9, 2020

Before boarding the plane, I watched a traveler pull a diet Coke from the bin and thought about the struggle to source sweetener with the rise of COV-19. As I poured the dog food into the bowl for my pups, I wondered if I was going to have to switch kibble due to the looming issues of sourcing taurine—a health additive in many pet foods.

Supply Chain Design Software 336

Supply Chain Design Software Supply Chain Planning Software Optimal Sourcing Supply Chain Design 336

Supply Chain Shaman

MAY 21, 2013

I also had the opportunity to speak at the GHX conference and facilitate a leadership workshop on the required changes for implantable devices. Medical Device Manufacturer. In the last five years, while the physician is still important, the buying decisions transitioned from the supplier to the care provider. The problem is us.

Modeling 240

Modeling Modeling Software Pharmaceutical Procurement Analytics 240

Supply Chain Shaman

JUNE 3, 2013

It was funded by 50 large consumer products manufacturing companies (CPG). In the dawn of e-commerce, conservative manufacturers, anteed up $240 million in four months. In the height of the e-commerce craze, the marketplace offerings started with a focus on e-procurement. The stories border on the ridiculous.

Supply Chain Design Software 269

Supply Chain Design Software Supply Chain Planning Software Procurement Analytics Manufacturing Procurement 269

Supply Chain Shaman

MAY 2, 2016

During the spring, I get to spend a lot of time in airplane(s) attending and speaking at technology confer ences. We also see that manufacturing companies with a strong dependency on BPO are less agile and rate themselves lower on innovation. Avoid buying software from a consulting company. Open source needs maintenance.

Supply Chain Planning Software 150

Supply Chain Planning Software Modeling Software Analytics Software Supply Chain Software 150

Supply Chain Shaman

OCTOBER 29, 2020

If the word collaboration was listed on a card as a drinking game at supply chain conferences, we would be drunk at many. Cash-to-Cash Metrics. Cash-to-cash is a compound metric: (Days of Receivables+Days of Inventory)-Days of Payables=Cash Conversion Cycle. Here I share perspective on cash-to-cash abuse. My takeaway?

Optimal Sourcing 247

Optimal Sourcing Supply Chain Design Software Waste Reduction Inventory Reduction 247

The Logistics & Supply Chain Management Society

APRIL 26, 2022

According to the Conference Board, despite lockdowns and COVID-19 related restrictions, consumer confidence in Asia rose in the last quarter of 2021 to 128 points from 126 points. Brand loyalty is no longer the driver for consumer purchasing decisions. As a result, consumer behaviour is likely to become more and more unpredictable.

Supply Chain Planning Software 246

Supply Chain Planning Software Supply Chain Design Software Agile and Lean Supply Chain Supply Chain Software 246

Supply Chain Shaman

JUNE 29, 2014

This week, I spoke at the Llamasoft Summercon Conference. The conference was low-key. We laughed, and felt a bit silly, leaving the conference room holding our new furry tchotchkes. Most companies are still struggling with “what good looks like” and “what defines supply chain excellence.”

Supply Chain Design Software 268

Supply Chain Design Software Supply Chain Design Network Design Software Supply Chain Planning Software 268

Supply Chain Shaman

NOVEMBER 9, 2014

This team is not buying the message. The team was organized around the functional silos of source, make and deliver. So much so, that three years ago, I founded a research company to focus on understanding supply chain excellence. For a couple of hours I looked around the room and saw glazed eyes. “I study supply chains.

Manufacturing Procurement 289

Manufacturing Procurement Optimal Sourcing Benchmarking Supply Chain Design Software 289

Supply Chain Shaman

SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

Source: Dictionary.com. During the year, I go to a lot of conferences. How do they buy from you? How do they buy from you?” I find that in this world of the global multi-national that procurement processes have become convoluted and increasingly complex. (In Why does it matter to you? This makes me yawn.

Inventory Reduction 150

Inventory Reduction Cost Reduction Strategies Sourcing Strategies Supply Chain Strategy 150

Supply Chain Shaman

SEPTEMBER 3, 2015

Cycle stock is the management of stock required to cycle through production runs and procurement buys effectively. There are two buffers in the supply chain: inventory and manufacturing capacity. More and more companies purchasing inventory technologies, but failing to give planners time to plan. Rising Volatility.

Waste Reduction 150

Waste Reduction Inventory Reduction Inventory Optimal Sourcing 150

Supply Chain Shaman

OCTOBER 11, 2012

” CFO of a major manufacturer. Procter & Gamble and Kimberly Clark); but for most companies that I have worked with, I see that they have purchased and implemented inventory technologies, but there has not been an impact on future years results in either Days of Inventory or Days of Working Capital. I am a skeptic.

Inventory Reduction 247

Inventory Reduction Vendor Strategies Resource Reduction Cost Reduction Strategies 247

Supply Chain Shaman

AUGUST 16, 2015

As an analyst, when technology providers acquire and divest companies, I get invited to pre-announcement conferences. On August 13th, Infor announced the intent to purchase GT Nexus for 675M$. The largest was the purchase of Lawson in 2011 for 2B$. The company branded as GT Nexus in 2001 and purchased Tradecard in 2013.

Prescriptive Analytics Software 150

Prescriptive Analytics Software Supply Chain Network Software Supply Chain Design Software Analytics Software 150

Supply Chain Shaman

MARCH 15, 2016

The majority of manufacturing and retail companies want better performing supply chains. However, visibility of channel relationships–customer orders and consumption/purchase–in the demand network, or the use and consumption of materials in the extended supplier network, is an ongoing issue. An Old Gal on a Mission.

Supply Chain Software 150

Supply Chain Software Supply Chain Network Software Manufacturing Procurement Supply Chain Planning Software 150

Supply Chain Shaman

APRIL 7, 2016

I am a manufacturing gal by training. While traditional supply chain processes evolved from functional excellence definitions for source, make and deliver from the inside-out; to make the digital pivot and become more market-driven, companies need to define new supply chain processes outside-in. What drives my passion?

Supply Chain Design Software 150

Supply Chain Design Software Supply and Demand Supply Chain Planning Software Supply Chain Network Software 150

Supply Chain Shaman

AUGUST 26, 2015

While traditional forecasting approaches use statistics to model history assuming that historic shipments and order patterns represent future market patterns, in the times of market volatility, especially for manufacturers two-five levels back in the supply chain, traditionally forecasting is not adequate.

Supply and Demand 150

Supply and Demand Forecasting Modeling Forecasting Software 150

Supply Chain Shaman

MAY 3, 2015

Executive, after executive, lament, “They have purchased many technologies and sponsored many projects to reduce inventories, but they are not seeing results.” We are systemically evaluating each industry in the Supply Chain Insights Metrics That Matter series of reports. At Supply Chain Insights , this is our passion.

Inventory Reduction 150

Inventory Reduction Supply Chain Design Software Supply Chain Planning Software Inventory Management Software 150

Supply Chain Shaman

AUGUST 14, 2016

As we discussed this drawing the dialogue flowed in the conference room. The network senses, translates, and orchestrates market changes (buy- and sell-side markets) bidirectionally with near real-time data to align sell, deliver, make and sourcing organizations outside-in. .” I drew the picture shown in Figure 1.

Material Savings 195

Material Savings Inventory Reduction Price Reduction Cost Reduction Strategies 195

Talking Logistics

APRIL 12, 2017

Which is why a drone took flight from the stage during Ryan’s keynote address at the Descartes Evolution 2017 Conference a couple of weeks ago and broadcast real-time video of the audience as it flew across the front of the hall. Logistics Excellence: Now & in the eFuture. Will this include drone deliveries?

Supply Chain Planning Software 113

Supply Chain Planning Software Logistics Network Optimization Software Supply Chain Software Supply Chain Network Software 113

Supply Chain Shaman

JULY 22, 2016

In the words of a person that I once heard speak at the conference,”It is much easier for a supply chain team to run downhill than uphill.” However, companies mature in the concepts of demand know that each order has latency–the time to translate market take-away into re-order points through the channel to the manufacturer.

Supply and Demand 150

Supply and Demand Modeling Forecasting Price Reduction 150

Supply Chain Shaman

FEBRUARY 25, 2016

The traditional supply chain is inside-out, triggering processes on the back of order-to-cash and procure-to-pay financial processes. High-velocity or streaming data requires different architectures built on non-relational, cloud-based architectures using open source tools like Apache Spark. Let’s start by addressing the barriers.

Supply and Demand 150

Supply and Demand Prescriptive Analytics Software Supply Chain Design Software Supply Chain Planning Software 150

Supply Chain Shaman

MARCH 21, 2022

” Corporations serve international markets, and the source of rare minerals (so critical for the evolution of the green supply chain) is primarily Asia. Others argue the demise of global sourcing; might I add caution? Still, the manufacturing plants and distribution centers are closed. My response is “Hogwash.”

Modeling 284

Modeling Supply Chain Planning Software Supply and Demand Supply Chain Design Software 284

Supply Chain Action Blog

SEPTEMBER 7, 2018

The subject came up at a conference I attended where the theme was the supply chain of 2030. But, before we turn out the lights and lock the door to a fully automated, self-aware, supply chain “Skynet” , let’s take a moment and put this idea into some perspective. Let’s think about that for a minute.

Supply Chain Planning Software 40

Supply Chain Planning Software Supply Chain Network Software Analytics Software Supply Chain Software 40

Supply Chain Action Blog

AUGUST 26, 2018

The subject came up at a conference I attended where the theme was the supply chain of 2030. But, before we turn out the lights and lock the door to a fully automated, self-aware, supply chain “Ava Ex Machina” , let’s take a moment and put this idea into some perspective. And, then, there is the success of Walmart.com.

Supply Chain Planning Software 40

Supply Chain Planning Software Supply Chain Software Modeling Supply Chain Planning 40

Supply Chain Action Blog

MARCH 21, 2019

The subject came up at a conference I attended where the theme was the supply chain of 2030. But, before we turn out the lights and lock the door to a fully automated, self-aware, supply chain “Skynet” , let’s take a moment and put this idea into some perspective. Let’s think about that for a minute.

Supply Chain Network Software 40

Supply Chain Network Software Network Optimization Supply Chain Planning Software Analytics Software 40

ThroughPut

MARCH 30, 2020

Automotive manufacturers are remobilizing to produce ventilators. Our constraint is not our ability to help global manufacturing at scale, but to help global manufacturing in time. The Defense Production Act has been invoked to meet PPE demand in the United States.

Manufacturing Procurement 52

Manufacturing Procurement Supply Chain Design Software Supply Chain Planning Software Demand Planning Software 52

Supply Chain Action Blog

SEPTEMBER 7, 2018

The subject came up at a conference I attended where the theme was the supply chain of 2030. But, before we turn out the lights and lock the door to a fully automated, self-aware, supply chain “Skynet” , let’s take a moment and put this idea into some perspective. Let’s think about that for a minute.

Supply Chain Planning Software 40

Supply Chain Planning Software Supply Chain Network Software Analytics Software Supply Chain Software 40

Supply Chain Shaman

OCTOBER 2, 2020

Many of my clients talk about a customer-centric supply chain but rely on useless metrics from an annual survey or a net promoter score. Starbucks redesigned their cups for the Grande product, and the flimsy cups were a source of constant spills and burns. The Sleep Number Story of Supply Chain Excellence.

Customer Service 324

Customer Service Supply Chain Design Software Supply Chain Planning Software Supply Chain Design 324

Supply Chain Shaman

JUNE 16, 2014

I have learned that supply chain systems are more complex than I originally thought, and that the relationships between supply chain metrics are nonlinear. These tools allow us to look at sell, source, make, and deliver together. These tools allow us to look at sell, source, make, and deliver together. Is it coincidence?

Supply Chain Design Software 290

Supply Chain Design Software Network Design Software Supply Chain Planning Software Supply Chain Network Software 290

Supply Chain Shaman

JUNE 6, 2015

In my role as an industry analyst, I have been lucky to attend many great conferences and hear wonderful speakers. One of my favorite speeches, over this fifteen year tenure, was listening to Alan Greenspan at the AMR Research IT conference in November 2006. It requires the early adopter and visionary. Reflections. I was a skeptic.

Supply Chain Planning Software 150

Supply Chain Planning Software Supply Chain Design Software Forecasting Software Demand Planning Software 150

Kinaxis

SEPTEMBER 8, 2014

They have piloted the process in Excel and know that they need an enterprise level solution for a global roll-out of S&OP. The issue is that none of their IT investments in the last 10 years have moved the needle on operational metrics such as inventory levels, case fill rates, and other operational metrics. Their words.

Supply Chain Planning Software 261

Supply Chain Planning Software Supply Chain Design Software Supply Chain Planning Modeling Software 261

Supply Chain Shaman

NOVEMBER 14, 2016

Over the period of 2009-2015, only 88% of companies made improvement on the Supply Chain Metrics That Matter. To meet the criteria for The Supply Chains to Admire for 2016, companies needed to score better than their peer group average for performance metrics, while driving a higher level of improvement than 2/3 of their industry peer group.

Supply Chain Planning Software 150

Supply Chain Planning Software Supply Chain Software Supply Chain Planning Supply and Demand 150

ThroughPut

MARCH 30, 2020

Automotive manufacturers are remobilizing to produce ventilators. Our constraint is not our ability to help global manufacturing at scale, but to help global manufacturing in time. The Defense Production Act has been invoked to meet PPE demand in the United States.

Manufacturing Procurement 14

Manufacturing Procurement Supply Chain Design Software Supply Chain Planning Software Demand Planning Software 14

Supply Chain Shaman

NOVEMBER 20, 2014

Two weeks ago, I sat in the audience at Pivotcon , a conference focused on the advancement of digital business. Manufacturing is core to the middle class and a healthy economy. The word digital is everywhere in their presentations– digital path to purchase, digital agriculture, and digital manufacturing.

Analytics Software 296

Analytics Software Manufacturing Procurement Supply Chain Planning Software Supply Chain Design Software 296

Supply Chain Shaman

AUGUST 3, 2016

Each are good at localized planning within a focused area of demand, supply, network design, transportation planning, material sourcing or finite scheduling. The greatest value happens when companies can link across source, make and deliver. Few implementations of planning connect to procurement and transportation. Move quickly!

Supply Chain Planning Software 150

Supply Chain Planning Software Supply Chain Planning Scenario Planning Supply Chain Design Software 150