June, 2014

article thumbnail

XX and XY: A Different World in Supply Chain

Supply Chain Shaman

'The deserts of the southwest sprawl below me as the plane ascends from San Diego. It is such a very different landscape than the green mountains of my farm in West Virginia or my city streets in Philadelphia. It appears SO barren from my window in seat 4D. It has been a good week. I now have a working manuscript for the entire book of Metrics That Matter.

article thumbnail

Introducing Supply Chain Power Influencers on Twitter

Supply Chain Opz

'Social media has been adopted by supply chain management professionals as a mechanism to express opinions and disseminate knowledge. Since there is too much information floating around, many people rely on "influencers" who exhibit expertise, enthusiasm or credibility. Then, this article will show how the influencers in supply chain management can be identified.

Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

A big “tack” (thank you!) from the Stockholm World Tour

DELMIA Quintiq

'Sweden has always encouraged innovation. It has produced 31 Nobel laureates, holds the highest number of patents per capita and is where 20 elements in the periodic table were discovered. In other words, it’s the perfect place for one of Quintiq’s two offices in the Nordics region. And the perfect place for us to bring together some of the brightest minds in planning and optimization for some very interesting leadership discussions.

article thumbnail

The Science of Sustainable Supply Chains (Guest Post by Dara O’Rourke, UC Berkeley)

SCM Research

'My guest post today comes from Dara O’Rourke. In his recent Science article, The Science of Sustainable Supply Chains, Dara argues that the field of supply chain management needs to significantly improve and integrate sustainability measurement systems and decision-support tools. The science of sustainability measurement has progressed alongside efforts to advance supply chain traceability, impact assessment, and aggregation of data into sustainability indicators.

article thumbnail

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?

article thumbnail

Your 3PL as Supply Chain Risk Management Partner?

Talking Logistics

'As I discussed last Friday, Accenture published a report recently on supply chain risk management. Seventy-six percent of the companies that participated in the study described supply chain risk management as important or very important, and “of the more than 1000 companies represented across 10 industries, 25 percent plan increased investments of at least 20 percent in supply chain risk management in the next two years.”.

More Trending

article thumbnail

Dreaming of Clouds, Lakes and Streams

Supply Chain Shaman

' It is morning in Chicago. I crave coffee. The sun shines brightly out the window, but the noisy city is quiet. My mind is moving to the click-clack of my keyboard on this quiet morning. I cannot sleep. It is hard to quiet an unquiet mind. Somewhere deep inside me is the need to write this post. Yesterday, I spoke at the Eye for Transport conference on the Big Data opportunity in supply chain.

Big Data 282
article thumbnail

7 Reasons Why You Need Supply Chain Planning Software

Supply Chain Opz

'Supply chain planning has been recognized as one of the best practices due to the force behind globalization and higher level of competitions. Considerable cost savings can be achieved when it''s implemented properly. This article will explain its basic concept and some reasons why you may need the help of supply chain planning software. Basic Concept Many companies use the word "supply chain planner" to describe an entry level job dealing with the demand forecasting and material scheduling.

article thumbnail

Willkommen! Quintiq World Tour opens its doors in Düsseldorf

DELMIA Quintiq

'It’s 8am, the morning of June 12th, a few days after one of the most devastating storms hit the greater Düsseldorf and Rhine region. But the Quintiq team is upbeat, anticipating a storm of another kind. Shortly, a wave of thought leaders and industry experts will be rolling in for the Quintiq World Tour at the Hyatt hotel in Düsseldorf. Registrants pick up their name tags and Rubik’s cubes.

article thumbnail

What’s the biggest cause of poor performance in every supply chain?

The Network Effect

'Note: this is part 2 in a series of posts. In part one I laid out the 5 stage maturity model that shows how organizations can turn their “big data” into “big visibility” The stages are 1) Representation; 2) Accessibility; 3) Intelligence; 4) Decision Management; 5) Outcome-Based Metrics and Performance. The fifth stage was so important, I promised to devote an entire post to it. .

article thumbnail

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.

article thumbnail

The Difficulties of Implementing Rates in a TMS

Logistics Viewpoints

'Implementing rates is one area that people continue to underestimate or under plan during a Transportation Management System (TMS) installation. On the surface it seems relatively easy. However, once you dig into how your company uses its transportation rates, you start to get a feel for the complexity and level of detail that needs to […].

article thumbnail

World Cup in Brazil: Did it make it into your S&OP planning process?

Enchange Supply Chain Consultancy

'The 2014 Football World Cup in Brazil is fast approaching, yes it is football not soccer. As a kid you played “footy” where I grew up and if you said anything like “soccy” you would need to be a fast runner. The England team has completed missing penalties practice, donned smart new suits and headed off to Miami to miss some more penalties. Rather like Christmas, you start to see World Cup related merchandise earlier and earlier as producers try to ensure their drink/snack/sticker/game/whatever

S&OP 185
article thumbnail

Redesign to Improve Value: A Case Study of a Supply Chain Leader

Supply Chain Shaman

'This week, I will speak at Llamasoft’s conference on improving supply chain network design. I am also busy this Saturday writing reports for our Tuesday newsletter. One of the reports that I am writing is on the state of Supply Chain Planning (SCP). While other analysts may put the vendors into a four-square evaluation model and declare it magic, I think that this approach does a disservice to the industry.

article thumbnail

Supply Chain Case Study: the Executive's Guide

Supply Chain Opz

'Professionals in supply chain management use various methods to identify best practices to improve the operations. Analysis of case study is certainly one of the most popular methods for people from business management background. In order to accelerate the learning, this article has gathered 20+ most sought-after supply chain case studies, analyzed/categorized them by industry and the findings are presented.

article thumbnail

What is Mesh Networking Trends Report

This report details the capabilities of mesh networks, how they work, and the applications they thrive in supporting. Connectivity is necessary for optimal productivity, and mesh networking will soon be a significant provider of connectivity globally.

article thumbnail

Are you paying attention to your inventory?

DELMIA Quintiq

'Do you remember Hypercolor, the clothes that changed color with body heat? I do, and not just because of the novelty value. Initial demand for the clothes was so high that the company worked tirelessly to meet it. Then they overproduced, struggled to sell, and went bankrupt. It’s a scenario we see time and again. Why? In large part, it’s because many companies don’t pay the right kind of attention to their inventory.

Modeling 189
article thumbnail

The Internet of Things: How “Process Robots” Are Enabling Supply Networks (Part 2)

The Network Effect

'In yesterday’s post I introduced the concept of “process robots”, and showed how they are already being deployed within supply networks to automatically do the work. For the most part these process robots have been hidden from view, lurking deep in the bowels of our supply networks solving a range of problems from simple matching of tagged services to some of the harder supply chain problems which may require some level of optimization or advanced mathematics.

article thumbnail

Alibaba Details its Logistics Capabilities in a New IPO Filing

Logistics Viewpoints

'The Chinese e-commerce behemoth Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. released fresh insights a couple of weeks ago on its logistics capabilities ahead of what’s expected to be one of the largest tech IPOs in history. In an updated security filing, Alibaba included additional details, including new insights on its approach to logistics, that were missing in […].

Logistics 190
article thumbnail

Logistics Trend Radar 2014

SCM Research

'Trend research helps academics and managers to discover topics that are interesting and important alike. DHL has now published the 2014 edition of its Logistics Trends Radar. Trends discussed in this new report include (1) omni-channel logistics, which refers to “[t]he integration of different offline and online shopping channels making use of interactive eTags with personalized content and integrating social media and mobile devices”, (2) anticipatory logistics, which involves R

Trends 136
article thumbnail

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,

article thumbnail

Throwing Down the Gauntlet

Supply Chain Shaman

'“We live in a world where supply chains, not companies, compete for market dominance. But companies often have diverging incentives and interests from their supply chain partners, so when they independently strive to optimize their individual objectives, the expected result can be compromised. ”. Hau L Lee, Triple-A Supply Chains, Harvard Business Review, October 2004. “The idea of the value chain is based on the process view of organizations, the idea of seeing a manufacturing (or

article thumbnail

7 Reasons Why You Need Supply Chain Planning Software

Supply Chain Opz

'Supply chain planning has been recognized as one of the best practices due to the force behind globalization and higher level of competitions. Considerable cost savings can be achieved when it''s implemented properly. This article will explain its basic concept and some reasons why you may need the help of supply chain planning software. Basic Concept Many companies use the word "supply chain planner" to describe an entry level job dealing with the demand forecasting and material scheduling.

article thumbnail

Gartner Top 25 Supply Chains: Did your FMCG company make the list?

Enchange Supply Chain Consultancy

'The annual Supply Chain “Oscar’s” have been announced by Gartner for 2014. I list the top 10 here but to see the full list of top 25 global Supply Chains please click and surf here. Apple. McDonald''s. Amazon.com. Unilever. Procter & Gamble. Samsung Electronics. Cisco Systems. Intel. Colgate-Palmolive. The Coca-Cola Company. Many of the usual suspects are present as you would imagine but what is very interesting for me is seeing Unilever in the top group after being as low as 21 st in 2010.

Gartner 171
article thumbnail

The transforming pharmaceutical supply chain

The Network Effect

'I was just with one of the leading global pharmaceutical company yesterday, and once again I was struck by how quickly the pharmaceutical supply chain is changing. I’ve already touched on elements of this before , but today I want to describe one of the main underlying causes of this transformation. The rise of OTC and Generics . The market for Over-the-Counter (OTC) medicines is now forecast to outgrow the total current pharmaceutical market.

article thumbnail

What Your Order Management System Should Be Doing

To continue scaling your omnichannel business, you need to manage a lot of orders across a lot of different channels and marketplaces. Some brands do this by hand. Some try to force their ERP to manage it. Others rely on a complex system of cross-referencing the dashboards of their various channels. None of these is an effective or sustainable solution.

article thumbnail

Time to Transform Your Decision-Making Process?

Talking Logistics

'A problem or other situation arises in your supply chain and a decision needs to be made quickly on what action to take. Since all decisions go through Bill, he needs to be involved, but he’s visiting suppliers in Asia the next two weeks. And Mary should be included in the decision process too, but she’s out on vacation this week. And ideally, you should have representatives from IT, Sales, and Quality in the meeting too, but they’re all in different locations and time zones.

article thumbnail

What’s missing from your demand forecasting?

DELMIA Quintiq

'‘We already have sophisticated demand forecasting. There’s a ton of potentially useful information. Now what?’. The supply chain director I was chatting with had a point. What was the use of all that expensively acquired information if it didn’t translate into a more agile supply chain? In a recent video interview (‘Picking winning supply chain technologies’) , McKinsey’s Alex Niemeyer suggested that one of the key technologies for improving supply chain agility is ‘advanced high-volatility ana

article thumbnail

Let the Design Begin…

Supply Chain Shaman

'This week, I spoke at the Llamasoft Summercon Conference. It was held at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. The conference was low-key. The University building was old, and well-worn. The doors hung precariously on their hinges, and the steps were uneven. The shelves needed a good dusting and the air was musty. It was far a cry from the neon and glitzy hotels of Las Vegas where I am often speaking.

article thumbnail

10 Commandments of Inventory Management

Supply Chain Opz

'Inventory management is one of the most important tasks for supply chain management professionals. However, most inventory control theories are too complicated or too difficult to apply to real world situations. Then, this article will show you 10 simple principles that you can use to streamline your inventory management practices right away. 1) Utilize cross-functional team If you''re an inventory controller and you choose to stay in your cubicle for the whole day, it''s the indication that yo

article thumbnail

Solving the Biggest Tech Challenges in RevOps

In this eBook, we’ll run through real-world examples that show how RevOps teams can benefit from modern solutions for the access, management, and activation of their GTM data. Whether you need to improve lead response times, boost adoption of core tools, improve lead qualification, or target and automate your GTM motions, you’ll find examples of how revenue teams are solving some of the toughest problems in modern business.

article thumbnail

This Week in Logistics News (June 21 – 27)

Logistics Viewpoints

'This week’s logistics news is as follows: There have been backups on the highways to the lakes, mountains, and beaches. Expect this to continue through August. And finally, only working stiffs like you and I are reading about logistics this time of the year. Just kidding, welcome to the official begin to Summer! (or Winter […]. The post This Week in Logistics News (June 21 – 27) appeared first on Logistics Viewpoints: A Blog for Logistics, Supply Chain, and 3PL Executives.

Logistics 156
article thumbnail

How “Process Robots” are Enabling Supply Networks

The Network Effect

'Think about an electronic workforce of process robots designed to count your inventory items in real time, on demand, with no mistakes made. You pay them nothing, and they never complain. They even alert you to any issues related to orders, inventory levels, or shipments, taking action to reorder items when they drop below minimum thresholds. Sure there are certain start-up costs, but consider the following scenario; Based on your current S&OP plan you need to add twenty FTEs to handle the

article thumbnail

Making Transportation Collaboration Work

Talking Logistics

'Collaboration has always been a hot topic in the supply chain and logistics industry, even though relatively few companies have “walked the talk” and taken the necessary action to make it work. Today, however, more and more companies are revisiting collaboration with renewed interest and motivation, especially in truckload transportation, where regulations like hours-of-service and other factors are constraining capacity.