July, 2018

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Be Careful What You Ask For

Supply Chain Shaman

Companies asked for integrated supply chain planning. They got it. It does not work so well. Now what? Sharing A Story. Last week, I met a client for breakfast in Frankfurt. Let’s call her Sally. As a leader of a global supply chain organization, her goal was simple. She was trying to define and drive supply chain excellence. In the last year, she worked with three consulting companies.

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If you can measure it then you can manage it

Claritum

Claritum Article - Procurement Blog. Contents. 1. Introduction. 2. The Challenge of Tail Spend. 3. An approach to Tail Spend Analytics. 4. Benefits of better Analytics. 5. Conclusion. 6. Further reading. 1 Introduction. “If you can measure it then you can manage it” This statement is so true in the procurement field. Whether you are focused on controlled growth or cost efficiencies, the ability to measure what is occurring in real time is essential to making decisions.

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Making Manufacturing Fun for Future Generations of Workers

Enterra Insights

Most people have heard the term Industry 4.0 which refers to the next industrial revolution. The revolution is being triggered by technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), and additive manufacturing (aka 3D printing). Industry 4.0 is predicted to make manufacturing more efficient and effective and to eliminate many manufacturing jobs.

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Blockchain Technology in Logistics: What Are the Implementation Challenges?

GlobalTranz

Blockchain explores more and more industries every day. Due to a popularity of Bitcoin , this technology has already demonstrated countless opportunities for the financial area. Entrepreneurs from many other industries are trying to use the blockchain technology in other areas, and the window of opportunities looks impressive. The main advantage of blockchain is its transparency and ability to optimize ecosystems of digital information.

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GEP Procurement & Supply Chain Tech Trends Report

The technological landscape is dynamic and changes quickly. And for procurement and supply chain leaders looking to harness the power of technology to navigate complex challenges and an uncertain business environment, keeping up with the latest trends can be its own obstacle. So, what’s on the technological horizon for procurement and supply chain for the year ahead?

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The sharing economy: An effective model for supply chain management?

Kinaxis

by Emily Hunt The sharing economy involves buying and selling temporary access to goods or services, usually arranged through an online platform. It is inevitably becoming a major source of revenue in today’s global economy, led by the likes of Uber and Airbnb. By using new digital platforms, the sharing economy has created an effective business model for the utilization of goods and availability of services.

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More Trending

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Advanced analytics meets social good: how Angel Flight West optimizes flight routes for families in need

AIMMS

There are many great examples where advanced analytics have contributed to social good. North Star Alliance , for instance, uses optimization to find optimal locations for its mobile HIV-AIDS clinics in Africa. The Dutch Delta Program Commissioner used analytics to prevent flooding and was recognized with the 2013 Edelman Award. Most recently, we encountered Angel Flight West , a non-profit organization that is using AIMMS-based optimization to plan flights for families in need.

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The Data Behind Amazon’s Logistics and Fulfillment Play

Freightos

In his 2017 annual shareholder letter , Bezos lauded “divinely discontent” customers as innovation drivers. This is how he described their impact (emphasis added): “It may be because customers have such easy access to more information than ever before – in only a few seconds and with a couple taps on their phones, customers can read reviews, compare prices from multiple retailers, see whether something is in stock, find out how fast it will ship or be available for pick-up, and more.

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Robots for eCommerce Fulfillment

Logistics Viewpoints

For robots in eCommerce fulfillment, last year was the year of pilots. This year customers are willing to publicly speak about the benefits they got from eCommerce robots at eft’s 3PL & Supply Chain Summit in Atlanta. The post Robots for eCommerce Fulfillment appeared first on Logistics Viewpoints.

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Why Blockchain in the Supply Chain Is an Absolute Game Changer

GlobalTranz

The application of blockchain in the supply chain is among the greatest innovations to take root in the shipping industry. Application of blockchain holds promises to increase visibility, renew viability, reduce inconsistency, increase payment processing accuracy, and eliminate compliance problems. Even though the technology is still new, its potential cannot be ignored, and supply chain executives need to know why.

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2024 Annual T&L M&A Report

Tenney Group, an industry specialized M&A Advisory firm in the T&L space, produced the 2024 Annual M&A Report. The report contains an in depth overview of 2023 notable deals and the market, while also providing the outlook for 2024 M&A.

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Celebrating and Encouraging Women in Supply Chain

Kinaxis

by Mike McAllister By APICS CEO Abe Eshkenazi, CSCP, CPA, CAE. This article was originally published on apics.org, and is repubished with permission. Since 2012, The Manufacturing Institute has celebrated women in manufacturing with its STEP (Science, Technology, Engineering and Production) Ahead Awards, which recognize women in manufacturing who exemplify leadership within their companies.

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Here come the Response Networks

ToolsGroup

As competition heats up to meet consumer fulfillment expectations, the analyst community has worked to define a supply chain model that can dynamically and rapidly respond to changing market needs, sometimes called "Response Networks". Gartner calls their version “ Respond Planning ”. Supply Chain Insights (Lora Cecere’s firm) calls it “Networks of Networks”.

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FMCG Co-packing and Re-packing Management

Enchange Supply Chain Consultancy

Whether you call it co-packing or re-packing this involves the further manipulation of a previously finished and complete SKU. Look around the shelves and the evidence of extra expense and work is displayed by special stickers, multi-packs and banded promotions amongst many others. The impact this has on your Supply Chain is potentially huge. I will park the question of the value (or waste) of these activities for another day but where is the best place to carry out such operations?

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Process Chemicals — A Complex Supply Chain in Motion

Logility

On a recent road trip to retrieve my daughter from college I drove past a handful for chemical manufacturing plants of various types. Viewing a chemical manufacturing plant from a distance everything seems so peaceful and static. A chemical plant is a complex and expensive array of storage tanks, pipes, controls and special chemical or biological transformation and/or separation equipment to take raw materials and create new value-added materials.

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The Big Payoff of Application Analytics

Outdated or absent analytics won’t cut it in today’s data-driven applications – not for your end users, your development team, or your business. That’s what drove the five companies in this e-book to change their approach to analytics. Download this e-book to learn about the unique problems each company faced and how they achieved huge returns beyond expectation by embedding analytics into applications.

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Innovating Production and Supply Networks to Increase Value from New Product Introductions

Logistics Viewpoints

Product and service innovation, driven by digital technologies, is key to gaining extra value from new product introductions. One particularly interesting development is the emergence of modular plants. Forecasting a NPI can be very difficult. Modular plants help companies to scale economically. The post Innovating Production and Supply Networks to Increase Value from New Product Introductions appeared first on Logistics Viewpoints.

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The Hurdles & Current Challenges of Using Blockchain in Supply Chain & Logistics

GlobalTranz

Although using blockchain in supply chain and logistics is an exciting prospect, the technology lacks the maturity necessary to enable global deployment today. Such limitation can be discouraging, but it serves as a beacon of hope for a better future in supply chain management. To unlock the true value of using blockchain in supply chain and logistics management, shippers should consider its existing hurdles and possible challenges as the technology matures.

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How demand planning can quench our thirst for beer

Kinaxis

by Mike McAllister World Cup and hot summer combine to create beer bottle shortage for German brewers. On the heels of a carbon dioxide (CO2) shortage in the UK that caused some breweries to ration beer production , Germany’s long, hot summer and the revelry surrounding the World Cup have combined with suboptimal demand forecasting to create a significant shortage of beer bottles , causing breweries large and small to plea to customers to return their empties.

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Supply Chain Resiliency - Top to Bottom

ToolsGroup

There is an increased focus on being prepared for supply chain risks such as digital threats, product traceability issues, and now the potential impact of a trade war. Coping with these risks necessitates matching supply chain resiliency to both the bottom and top layers of the Gartner “CORE” supply chain planning model. Gartner defines four types of supply chain risk (see chart above) depending on frequency and impact.

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Supply Chain Orchestration: A New Era in Supply Chain Management

When the only certainty is uncertainty, what does that mean for today’s supply chain management approaches? This eBook delves into how supply chain orchestration can help businesses unlock agility, transparency, intelligence, and trust across their end-to-end supply chain.

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FMCG & Pharma: Top 10 Tips for a Tip Top Supply Chain

Enchange Supply Chain Consultancy

Only a few months into the year and I am hearing the same old complaints about the economy and business being in general ill health. However, there is a new recurring theme which popped up at various parties and gatherings over Easter; “my company doesn't seem to do anything different and just hopes business will improve”. Not going to happen, no way!

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Takeaways from the IBM Watson Supply Chain Summit

Talking Logistics

I haven’t attended an industry conference over the past year, or participated in a client meeting, where blockchain — along with artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning — hasn’t been part of the conversation. In fact, at one conference this spring, after delivering a keynote presentation that had nothing to do with technology, the very first question I received from the audience was “What do you think about blockchain and its potential in supply chain management?”.

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No Driver Working Today Will Need to Change Careers Because of Autonomous Trucks

Logistics Viewpoints

Mike Reid, the Chief Operating Officer at Embark Trucks, said that “Anyone employed as a driver today will be able to retire as a driver.” What makes that statement surprising is that Embark is a leading developer of autonomous trucks. One might think that the goal of an autonomous truck company is to render drivers superfluous. The post No Driver Working Today Will Need to Change Careers Because of Autonomous Trucks appeared first on Logistics Viewpoints.

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[PODCAST] Why Using Logistics & Transportation Technology is Vital to Gain “Shipper of Choice” in Any Capacity Crunch

GlobalTranz

Cerasis brings you another episode of “The Freight Project Podcast!” Remember, you can catch every episode of “The Freight Project Podcast” by going over to the Podcast section of “ The Freight Institute !” You can also subscribe and find this podcast on Apple iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, Soundcloud , YouTube , and iHeartRadio!

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How to Create a Blueprint for Fleet Resilience

Speaker: Jeff Dickinson - President and CEO of Railgistixs Transport, Supply Chain and Logistics Thought Leader

Despite the ongoing transformation of the supply chain and logistics landscape, the steadfast importance of carrier safety remains a core principle. From prioritizing preventative maintenance to optimizing fleet utilization, the fundamentals persist. If you’re overlooking and neglecting essential safety precautions today, this could result in expensive repairs and potential safety hazards in the future. 🚧 Join Jeff Dickinson for a conversation on how to mitigate risk, enforce compliance,

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Indiana Jones and the supply chain bullwhip effect

Kinaxis

by Joe Cannata According to the European Journal of Operational Research , the term ‘bullwhip effect’ was first coined by Procter & Gamble (P&G) in the 1990s in reference to the order variance amplification phenomenon observed between P&G and its suppliers.”. A small shift in customer demand essentially cracks the whip, and the further a supplier is from the demand, the more significant the impact, which inevitably leads to increasing swings in inventory for suppliers.

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How a changed business model initiated a new supply chain planning approach

ToolsGroup

T he telecom provider business model was traditionally about delivering networked voice and data to homes and businesses, therefore not necessitating strong supply chain planning. But that has changed in the last decade due to the rapid growth of smartphones. The following is how a few telecom providers learned to react to the change, adopting a more aggressive approach to supply chain planning, and breaking through their supply chain and business performance barriers.

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SC and Sales senior team squabbles: Always bad for business

Enchange Supply Chain Consultancy

Another sign of getting old I guess. When was the last time you watched a football match when no tattoos were on show and the haircuts did not look like something out of the Time Warp musical? As I write England is still involved yet we are all waiting for the inevitable elimination on penalties. At least it won’t be to Germany this time – what rotten bad luck boys!

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This Week in Logistics News (July 9-13, 2018)

Talking Logistics

My voice is a little sore this morning. It could be from all the cheering last night. My son’s Little League All-Star team advanced to the District Championship with a thrilling win last night. If the team wins tomorrow, they advance to the next round of the State Championship tournament. Or my sore throat could be from the loud yelp I gave out yesterday when I received my daughter’s first college tuition bill.

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Mastering Order Management: Backorders & Out-of-Stock Inventory

The unfortunate truth is that you will always have low stock and backorder issues with your supply chain. But that doesn’t mean you can’t be prepared to handle them. This brief video explores some of the primary drivers of inventory issues – and how modern technology and best practices can mitigate these issues and ensure a superb customer experience.

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Using Big Data to Improve Your Supply Chain

Logistics Viewpoints

The term “big data” has been one of the hottest buzzwords over the last couple of years, and that’s not a big surprise. Statistical science and data analytics can help organizations (of any size and type) obtain historical measurements and generate actionable information that increases supply chain visibility, drives operational efficiency and supports overall growth.

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Use of Blockchain in Supply Chain & Logistics: Looking to Examples Across Industries for Better Understanding

GlobalTranz

The days of managing supply chains through databases and changing information are over. Although blockchain is often related closely to cryptocurrency, it holds great value for use in supply chain management. Even JP Morgan, Microsoft, and Google, reports Jonathan Chester of Forbes , are working to increase blockchain development and innovation, and supply chain leaders need to understand how the use of blockchain in supply chain and logistics will bring about lasting change and improvements in

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Periodic Versus Continuous Planning – What’s Needed for Success?

Logility

The vast amount of information vying for our attention can make your head spin. When you think about how much this has changed over the last 10, 20 or more years, it is quite dizzying. It has been 11 years since the iPhone was introduced. Just 10 years prior, I remember purchasing my first Motorola Flip phone, which looked like the picture to the right.