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'This week, Gartner is hosting their annual supply chain conference. A major item on the agenda is the announcement of what used to be named the AMR Top 25. It is now the Gartner Supply Chain Top 25. While the name has changed, the methodology has remained fairly constant, with a only a few changes, since 2004. The research tries to establish “ who did supply chain best ” by looking at a weighted formula of Year-over-Year Growth, Return on Assets (ROA), and Inventory Turns for the Fortune 500 co
'NAVIGATE. Home. Basics. Case Studies. Graphics. All Posts. About. Copyright. Privacy. Blogroll. History of Logistics and Supply Chain Management. Logistics and Supply Chain Management is a relatively new discipline. Its the crossroads of diverse subjects, covering various branches of business, management and engineering. Understanding of our own roots helps create the appropriate mindset, ending the rhetoric and bringing supply chain integration to reality.
'Managing transportation — the ebb and flow of rates, capacity, fuel and regulations — is an ongoing challenge for many companies, especially those still using spreadsheets and fax machines to plan and execute shipments. At some point, usually when costs are out of control or service levels are heading south, companies finally make the decision to invest in a transportation management system (TMS) or outsource all or part of their transportation operations to a third party.
'There are 11 transportation service offerings. Last summer, Inbound Logistics published a list of different 3PLs and their services. The article listed 11 different types of transportation services and I decided to write an overview of those 11 transportation service offerings described in the article. I wrote a similar overview for warehousing: The 7 Warehouse Service Offerings.
The $53 trillion manufacturing economy in the US is undergoing a major automation paradigm shift due to Artificial Intelligence (AI). Thanks to new practical frameworks, automation projects that were once impossible or inefficient to implement are now being fast-tracked, and robotics automation is becoming increasingly relevant to a growing number of users and scenarios.
'Nobel laureates rarely publish articles in journals within the supply chain arena. Vernon L. Smith was awarded the 2002 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences “for having established laboratory experiments as a tool in empirical economic analysis, especially in the study of alternative market mechanisms” In its recent issue, the Journal of Business Logistics had the great privilege to publish an article by Cary Deck and him, in which these ideas were applied to our field: Using L
'For most companies, growth has slowed. Profits are sluggish. Complexity reigns and cycles are longer. The challenges and opportunities of business are greater. We believe that supply chain excellence helps a company to better balance demand and supply. We also believe that it helps companies to be more resilient: weathering demand and supply volatility while maximizing opportunities and mitigating risks.
'NAVIGATE. Home. Basics. Case Studies. Graphics. All Posts. About. Copyright. Privacy. Blogroll. Origin of Logistics & Supply Chain Revealed! What do we know about "Logistics" and "Supply Chain" to date? The purpose of this article is to shed the new light on this topic, who coined the terms, the true meaning of the terms and its relationship with other disciplines. 1) Current State.
'Many companies have collaborative planning and forecasting processes with suppliers and manufacturing partners, but very few companies translate demand and production forecasts into transportation capacity requirements. Has the time come to make this a standard leading practice? In this episode, Adrian discusses the key challenges and opportunities associated with transportation forecasting.
'As a result of today’s economic turbulence, supply chain managers are having to make more and more decisions every day. The current economy presents many risks, but plenty of opportunities too. When sailing in a storm, good competitive sailors know how to turn the rough weather to their advantage and take the lead. In order to make the right decisions when a storm is gathering, it is essential to have some knowledge of risk management.
'The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Global Manufacturing Outlook 2013 , written on behalf of KPMG, is out now. It is based on an international survey of more than 300 senior executives from five industries. The report demonstrates that competitive advantage can be secured by enhancing supply chain networks for efficiency and innovation. Particularly, it is demonstrated that (1) many manufacturers are planning mergers or acquisitions to seize opportunities in global markets, and they plan to exit
'Blurred vision. Supply chain innovations such as the early adoption of RFID underline how a flawed view of new technology can lead to unwise investment decisions. For many companies supply chain innovation (SCI) is a key source of competitive advantage. Yet there is no clear, commonly accepted definition of the concept; one company’s SCI is another company’s process improvement.
'NAVIGATE. Home. Basics. Case Studies. Graphics. All Posts. About. Copyright. Privacy. Blogroll. Segmenting Supply Chain using Portfolio Matrix (2x2 Matrix). Supply Chain Segmentation is the planning process that links a corporate strategy to the executions. But, how should companies ensure that the process is done systematically and timely? This article will show you how to use a simple 2x2 matrix system to segment supply chain with examples across various functions. 1) Purchasing Portfolio Mat
“What should we do about the tariffs?” There’s no straightforward answer — every leader has a different expectation. CFOs want numbers. COOs want action. CEOs want strategy. And supply chain and procurement leaders need to be ready with the right response — fast. That’s why GEP has created a simple three-part framework that will help CPOs and CSCOs brief the board and C-suite with clarity and confidence.
'Last week at the Ariba LIVE 2013 conference, I led a discussion session titled “At the Intersection of Social and Business Networks” with about fifty senior executives in supply chain and procurement. I made the case that we are currently seeing the rise of supply chain operating networks , the business equivalents of Facebook and LinkedIn, which are enabling communities of trading partners to communicate, collaborate, and execute business processes in more efficient, scalable, and innovative w
'LTL Carrier Profile: UPS Freight. UPS Freight is the fourth largest less than truckload (LTL) carrier with approximately $2.4B in sales (estimated 2012). UPS Freight has 6.9% of the less than truckload (LTL) market. UPS Freight is based in Richmond, Virginia. UPS Freight is a business segment of United Parcel Service, Inc. UPS, Inc. had $54.1B in sales in 2012.
'You are looking for a business school and you do not know where to enroll? A ranking might help. One of these rankings is from Bloomberg Businessweek. As part of their 2013 Best Undergraduate Business Schools ranking, they have now published the top 10 business schools in the area of operations management , an area that focuses on “the processes involved in production and everyday business operations, whether on an assembly line, a supply chain, or even something as common as a movie thea
Speaker: Andrew Skoog, Founder of MachinistX & President of Hexis Representatives
Manufacturing is evolving, and the right technology can empower—not replace—your workforce. Smart automation and AI-driven software are revolutionizing decision-making, optimizing processes, and improving efficiency. But how do you implement these tools with confidence and ensure they complement human expertise rather than override it? Join industry expert Andrew Skoog as he explores how manufacturers can leverage automation to enhance operations, streamline workflows, and make smarter, data-dri
'What is the biggest barrier to social media integration in the supply chain. “the supply chain leader will have to first learn about social technologies to apply them, and the digital marketing person will have to learn about supply chain before he can have the discussion” says Lora Cecere. When you’re past this first –critical- phase, the following infographic, based on a research by O’Leary (2011), you might get a good idea how social media integration can help across four categories: S
'NAVIGATE. Home. Basics. Case Studies. Graphics. All Posts. About. Copyright. Privacy. Blogroll. Supply Chain Maturity Model for Capability Assessment. The concept of maturity model was firstly introduced by Watts Humphrey of Carnegie Mellon University in 1987 with the goal to improve the performance of software development process. Since then, the maturity model has been adopted by many disciplines.
'“We’re toast,” said one of my son’s baseball teammates from the bench last night, as their team quickly fell behind 8-0 against the best team in the league. From my beach chair on the sidelines, I thought the same thing. Then came the bottom of the fifth inning, when my son hit a 2-run home run with two outs, followed by more hits and more runs, and when the dust settled in the infield, the game was tied.
'Inventory mismanagement. Ingrained attitudes can block better inventory practices. Depending on which corporate silo you belong to, inventory can be a liability, an asset, or something in between. How do supply chain (SC) professionals overcome these biases and implement optimal inventory management solutions? More than 30 SC managers from some 19 organizations pondered the issue at a recent MIT CTL roundtable (see below for details).
Retailers know the clock is ticking–legacy SAP Commerce support ends in 2026. Legacy platforms are becoming a liability burdened by complexity, rigidity, and mounting operational costs. But modernization isn’t just about swapping out systems, it’s about preparing for a future shaped by real-time interactions, AI powered buying assistants, and flexible commerce architecture.
'A CPO in the financial services industry also noted that a need to redefine procurement’s role in the enterprise is happening, driven by the recognition that a new type of procurement capability is needed: Prior to our transformation, the ONLY metric by which our performance was measured is how much money we saved for the organization. When people are compensated only on some of the money they save this drives some interesting behaviors.
'One of the most valuable things to come out our workshops is insight into some of the less obvious root causes for why supply chain efforts go wrong. Recently a delegate told us something surprising: that his company’s IT department chose some planning software without consulting anyone in supply chain. I later heard a similar story from someone in our last Supply Chain Club meeting.
'More than 2,600 JDA Software and RedPrairie customers came together yesterday as JDA FOCUS 2013 began showcasing its supply chain, retail merchandising, store operations and all-channel commerce solutions at the industry’s premier event of the year. The day got off to an impressive start with General Session presentations from JDA CEO Hamish Brewer, JDA Users Group President George Frongillo, Ray Kurzweil, Author, Inventor and Futurist, and others.
What is Remote-Insourcing? Sounds like an oxymoron, right? Not anymore. Remote-Insourcing isn’t outsourcing—it’s a revolutionary staffing model that lets our clients fill key entry-level positions with top-tier, loyal, long-term talent, integrated seamlessly into their businesses—just like local employees but without the turnover or W2 HR hassles. With under 4% unwanted attrition, you train once and keep the same team for years.
Automated data collection can help companies manage inventory, optimize warehouse performance and provide a greater level of transparency across the supply chain. When inventory management systems are integrated with existing accounting and tracking systems, companies can realize numerous benefits. There are various factors that make it likely companies could benefit from integration, explained American Machinist: Prices of products vary.
'3D printing is being hailed as a breakthrough technology that will revolutionize manufacturing and supply chain management. This may be the case, but we should avoid repeating the mistake of relying on hype to judge its value. For those who are still unfamiliar with the concept, in 3D printing (or additive manufacturing) a digital file of a computer-aided design is sent to a “printer” that creates an object by depositing successive layers of materials a few microns in thickness.
'I’ve been leading a few calls for the International Institute of Analytics, as a faculty lead for the manufacturing group. We are preparing for the Chief Analytics Officer meeting coming up in Chicago in June. One of the issues that comes up is where the analytics function should reside – in IT or in the business function? We have heard from people on both sides.
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