Enterra Insights

APRIL 18, 2019

Gone are the days when a consumer decides they need something and their only choice is to head to the store to buy it. Even when a consumer concludes making an in-store purchase is their best option, they are likely to have used their smartphone to search for other options or to compare prices. The digital path to purchase is becoming the norm for many consumers and both retailers and manufacturers are taking notice.

Omnichannel 100

Omnichannel Reverse Logistics Retail Warehousing 100

Enterra Insights

AUGUST 21, 2017

Today, much of the United States will experience a total solar eclipse. That hasn’t happened for nearly 100 years. Because … Continued. The post Solar Eclipses and Supply Chain Risk Management appeared first on Enterra Solutions. Business Risk Management Supply Chain Enterra Solutions Stephen DeAngelis

Risk Management 286

Risk Management Supply Chain Risk Management United States Supply Chain 286

Enterra Insights

APRIL 17, 2019

The late Emma Goldman, a twentieth century anarchist and political activist, once stated, “If I can’t dance to it, it’s not my revolution.” ” The latest industrial revolution, labeled Industry 4.0, is a revolutionary dance many manufacturers have yet to join. Many analysts believe manufacturers need to start dancing if they are going to survive and thrive in the digital age. Most manufacturers seem to understand the need to transform.

Industrial 100

Industrial Industry Big Data Manufacturing 100

Enterra Insights

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

Anyone who has served in the armed forces knows the military loves its acronyms. For years the military has used the acronym VUCA to describe what, in wartime, is often referred to as the fog of war. VUCA stands for Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity.

South Africa 141

South Africa Military Detroit Arizona 141

Advertisement

Network design as a discipline is complex and too many businesses are still relying on spreadsheets to design and optimize their supply chain. As a result, most organizations struggle to answer network design questions or test hypotheses in weeks, when results are demanded in hours. This Buyer’s Guide helps you find easy-to-use technology to become more proactive and less reactive when it comes to network design and optimization.

Supply Chain

Enterra Insights

APRIL 12, 2019

The digital age is transforming almost every industry and the food and drink sector is no exception. One might not immediately think about supermarkets when the topic of digital enterprises is raised; but, those in the industry are well aware of how e-commerce is changing the business landscape. Russell Redman reports a study by consumer target marketing firm SKUlocal found, “Grocery shoppers have come to rely on digital channels and now expect online access in their path to purchase.

Food 100

Food Comparison Retail Report 100

Enterra Insights

APRIL 8, 2019

The world is becoming so specialized it’s difficult to find generalists in almost any field of endeavor. Supply chain managers probably come as close to being generalists as anyone in the business field. They need a general understanding of everything from procurement of raw materials to customer service. That’s why Lora Cecere ( @lcecere ), founder of Supply Chain Insights, insists, “The supply chain IS Business, not a department within a business.”[1]

Turkey 100

Turkey Analytics Reverse Logistics Study 100

Enterra Insights

APRIL 2, 2019

Trust is defined as firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something. In talks with the Soviets about nuclear disarmament, Ronald Reagan famously stated, “Trust, but verify”; but, I’m not sure that’s real trust. Trust is an unwavering assurance that something is as it seems to be. Hope Liu ( @hopeEximchain ), CEO of Eximchain, observes, “As far as one can remember, commerce has been conducted based on trust.

Currency 100

Currency Distribution Security Data 100

Enterra Insights

MARCH 19, 2019

Numerous studies have concluded nearly half of all Internet of Things (IoT) projects end in failure. Unless you are playing baseball, batting less than.500 is not great. The failure rate demonstrates the IoT remains in its infancy and implementing it correctly remains difficult.

Guidelines 109

Guidelines Internet of things Security Data 109

Enterra Insights

MARCH 28, 2019

Vince Lombardi, the late, great football coach, once stated, “Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.” ” Logistics professionals could adopt that statement as their motto. Half-a-decade ago, Apptricity analysts wrote, “In the world of supply chain and logistics management, perfection remains an elusive goal.

Logistics 100

Logistics Cargo Innovation Tools 100

Advertisement

Learn which supply chain applications are the best for your organization.

Software

Enterra Insights

MARCH 27, 2019

Retailers have always been curious about the paths consumers take when they decide something needs to be purchased. Historically, when consumers needed something, they made their way to a bazaar, a marketplace, or a shopping center. When the Internet and World Wide Web introduced consumers to online shopping (aka e-commerce), the path to purchase became much more complex. Today the digital path to purchase is growing in importance.

Massachusetts 100

Massachusetts Omnichannel United States Asia 100

Enterra Insights

FEBRUARY 13, 2019

Most often when people discuss artificial intelligence (AI), they are discussing a subset of that field known as machine learning. Louis Columbus ( @LouisColumbus ) explains, “Enterprises are striving to find greater meaning in the massive amounts of data they generate and save every day. Machine learning is providing the needed algorithms, applications, and frameworks to bring greater predictive accuracy and value to enterprises’ data sets and contributing to diverse strategies succeeding.”[1]

Columbus 116

Columbus Predictive Analytics Analytics Forecasting 116

Enterra Insights

MARCH 22, 2019

Children have been singing about Old MacDonald and his farm for the last century. A lot has changed on the farm over those 100 or so years. Jayson Lusk ( @JaysonLusk ), Head of the Agricultural Economics Department at Purdue University, reports, “In 1900, just under 40 percent of the total US population lived on farms, and 60 percent lived in rural areas. Today, the respective figures are only about 1 percent and 20 percent.

Nebraska 100

Nebraska Food Turkey Pharmaceutical 100

Enterra Insights

MARCH 21, 2019

Most people are aware blockchain technology originated in the finance sector as cryptocurrencies (e.g., Bitcoin) unfettered by government regulation. Although the irrational enthusiasm for cryptocurrencies has cooled, enthusiasm for blockchain technology has not. Vishnu Rajamanickam ( @vishnucr92 ) notes, “[Blockchain technology] has expanded dramatically … with use cases being identified across a myriad of segments including finance, energy, supply chain and defense.”[1]

Security 100

Security Food Distribution Government 100

Advertisement

What does it mean to become a digital business or digital supply chain?

Data

Enterra Insights

MARCH 20, 2019

When most people hear the term “gathering intelligence,” they think of fictional spies like James Bond or George Smiley or about spy agencies like the CIA or MI6. In business circles, gathering intelligence is generally a bit less sinister. Business Intelligence (BI) means gathering necessary information to make informed decisions.

Data 100

Data Analytics Analysis Tools 100

Enterra Insights

MARCH 18, 2019

Silos have been symbols of farming for decades. Today, however, one is more likely to read about data silos in businesses than storage silos on farms. Business silos, and the data contained in them, are remnants of industrial age organizations. Half a dozen years ago Laurie Sullivan ( @LaurieSullivan ) wrote, “In the past the departments like sales, marketing, customer service, public relations, and supply chain typically used their own datasets, keeping the information in silos.”[1]

Data 100

Data Big Data Government Journal 100

Enterra Insights

MARCH 13, 2019

As supply chains become more digital, it makes sense to leverage the massive amounts of data being generated by digital transactions in the planning process. At the same time, planners need to remember that technology doesn’t mean planning fundamentals no longer apply. Lora Cecere ( @lcecere ), founder and CEO of Supply Chain Insights, believes too many supply chain professionals have forgotten the fundamentals of planning in the digital age.

Supply Chain Planning 100

Supply Chain Planning Supply Chain Demand Planning Trends 100

Enterra Insights

AUGUST 30, 2017

We live in a risky world. Supply chains, especially extended ones, are subject to an almost infinite number of risks. … Continued. The post Supply Chain Resilience in a Risky World appeared first on Enterra Solutions. Business Cognitive Computing Risk Management Supply Chain Enterra Solutions Stephen DeAngelis

Supply Chain 200

Supply Chain Risk Management 200

Speaker: Jon Leposky, Director of Operations and Logistics, Z Customization

Automation can be an incredibly powerful tool to lower costs, increase capabilities, and enable scaling. However the road to implementing automation can be long and challenging even when all the proper steps are taken. Being equipped with the proper tools and knowledge of common pitfalls when implementing automation can make the difference between a show stopping disaster and seamless success.

Tools

Enterra Insights

NOVEMBER 2, 2017

As the United States continues to recover from Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, it seems unnecessary to warn supply chain risk … Continued. The post Weather Disasters Usher in New Era of Supply Chain Risk Management appeared first on Enterra Solutions.

Risk Management 194

Risk Management Supply Chain Risk Management United States Supply Chain 194

Enterra Insights

MARCH 14, 2019

Okay, I admit the headline is sarcastic. It comes as NO surprise that in the digital age cyber threats are becoming a greater concern. The late Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish once wrote, “Sarcasm helps me overcome the harshness of the reality we live, eases the pain of scars and makes people smile.”

Security 100

Security California North America Risk Management 100

Enterra Insights

DECEMBER 19, 2018

Technology is an ambiguous word referring to a wide range of marvelous (and sometimes scary) man-made gadgets. Deciding what technological trends are important depends on the activities in which you or your organization are involved. Regardless of your area of interest, technology of some sort is going to impact it in the years ahead. Prolific inventor Dean Kamen once stated, “Every once in a while, a new technology, an old problem, and a big idea turn into an innovation.”

Trends 126

Trends Internet of things India Government 126

Enterra Insights

MARCH 5, 2019

Nearly every week it seems another brick-and-mortar retailer declares bankruptcy and closes stores. The press has dubbed this the Retail Apocalypse and some pundits are openly wondering whether we are seeing the death of brick-and-mortar retail. Ken Cottrill, a Global Communications Consultant at MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics, believes the pessimists are wrong. He writes, “High street retailing is far from down and out.

Omnichannel 100

Omnichannel Retail Conference Strategy 100

Speaker: Irina Rosca, Director of Supply Chain Operations, Helix

Organizations need to focus on demand driven supply planning, utilizing real time information on customer orders from all marketplaces (e-commence, Amazon - or other online retailers, and point of sale data from brick and mortar). Focusing on this information once per month during the S&OP meeting is too late for all business units to align. Companies should have seamless integration between order entry, inventory management, forecasting and supply planning models and purchase order status to sense risk, pull levers to mitigate potential risk, and communicate within and outside the organization. This is especially important for new product releases, in store programs or promotions (sales, end caps, PDQ. etc) or online promotions (company run or 3rd party). Depending on total supply chain lead time, not having real time visibility and analysis of this information can significantly affect sales and the bottom line.

Inventory Management

Enterra Insights

MARCH 6, 2019

When members of the greatest generation and baby boomers were growing up, the milkman was a familiar early morning visitor to many homes. He would leave fresh milk on the porch and retrieve empty milk bottles for reuse. Milk bottles weren’t the only reused bottles. In the afternoon and on weekends, you could often children walking along roadsides looking for discarded soda bottles they could turn in to local grocers for deposit money to supplement their weekly allowances.

Packaging 100

Packaging Switzerland Chemicals New York 100

Enterra Insights

APRIL 30, 2018

Disruption is normally anathema in the supply chain. Formally defined as a disturbance or problem that interrupts an event, activity, or process, disruption means a supply chain that was once functioning smoothly is no longer doing so.

Internet of things 164

Internet of things Video Automotive Security 164

Enterra Insights

MARCH 4, 2019

When talking about big data, the modifier “big” could just as easily apply to its effect on business as it does to the amount of data being collected. The digital age is all about data and companies failing to leverage big data could find survival difficult. Big data touches almost every aspect of a business and marketing is no exception.

Big Data 100

Big Data Data North America United States 100

Enterra Insights

MARCH 1, 2019

Industry 4.0 is the popular name given to the fourth industrial revolution ushered in by the digital age. Analysts from the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) explain the first three revolutions were driven by steam, electricity, and automation. They write, “Industrial production was transformed by steam power in the nineteenth century, electricity in the early twentieth century, and automation in the 1970s.”[1] ”[1] The fourth revolution is being driven by data.

Industrial 100

Industrial Industry Manufacturing Analytics 100

Speaker: Sarah Gibson, Platinum Operations Manager

The order-to-cash (O2C) process is often considered the lifeblood of an organization. It’s why so many business leaders are looking to next generation of O2C solutions to unlock value across their enterprise — value that’s necessary to remain competitive. Join us for an educational webinar with guest speaker, Sarah Gibson of Parts Town, as she takes attendees through her company’s digital transformation journey.

Education

Enterra Insights

FEBRUARY 26, 2019

Industry 4.0, the name given to the Fourth Industrial Revolution involving robotics and artificial intelligence (AI), must be supported by Supply Chain 4.0. But what does Supply Chain 4.0 involve? The fact we live in the digital age should provide the biggest clue.

Boston 100

Boston Data Predictive Analytics Internet of things 100

Enterra Insights

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

Reading today’s headlines one might conclude the Internet of Things (IoT) — sometimes referred to as the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) — is a mature technology providing organizations with valuable and reliable service. One would be wrong. The IoT remains in its infancy and suffers the occasional growing pain.

Internet of things 100

Internet of things Security Chemicals Data 100

Enterra Insights

FEBRUARY 21, 2019

There’s no denying the digital path to purchase is becoming more of a consumer highway than a path. A Forrester report predicts, “Fifty-eight percent of U.S. retail sales will be digitally impacted by 2023, meaning those sales either will occur online or may occur in-store but be influenced by digital technologies.”[1]

Comparison 100

Comparison Retail Journal Data 100

Enterra Insights

FEBRUARY 19, 2019

By now, most people are aware of the spate of retailer bankruptcies and store closures referred to in the press as the Retail Apocalypse. “For years now,” writes Ryan Lester, Director of Customer Engagement Technologies at LogMeIn, “traditional retail stores have been under attack. Consumers love the convenience and selection of shopping online, leaving brick-and-mortar stores to be dubbed a dying breed.

Retail 100

Retail Survey Omnichannel Study 100

Speaker: Adam Robinson, Director of Marketing, Cerasis

In this educational webinar, Adam Robinson from Cerasis, a leading North American Transportation Management Solutions Company, will address how automation in the supply chain is allowing companies to empower their employees with a more strategic work flow aiding in overall collaboration with peers across departments, improved business operations, more efficient manufacturing, a healthier corporate culture, and more visibility to data and processes providing the ability to gain actionable insights that lead towards actions that impact the company’s bottom line.

Supply Chain