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Usually Gartner’s year-end predictions for the upcoming year consist of extrapolation of recent trends and gradual changes that are already happening, so they don’t make for particularly exciting reading. Not this year. For the first time in many years, Gartner is predicting big near-term changes in supply chain planning. In Predicts 2016: Reimagine SCP Capabilities to Survive , Gartner starts by laying down the gauntlet.
Well, my big audacious prediction for 2015 did not come true. Google did not acquire a third-party logistics (3PL) company or a logistics software vendor. And business relationships did not become more Vested this year — if anything, they reverted back to being “win-lose” arrangements (see Walmart’s Message to Suppliers: Talk to the Hand and The High Cost of Poor Supplier Relationships ).
As we close the year of 2015, we want to take a look at some manufacturing trends for 2016. We look at 6 core areas that manufacturing companies will take a long look at as they gear up for a successful 2016. E-Commerce for Manufacturing. The Internet’s large-scale global penetration has spawned an increasingly large number of technology and web-savvy consumers, creating a huge opportunity for both industrial manufacturers and their end customers.
2016 is around the corner. For the supply chain leader, it is time to reflect and build budget targets. To help, in this blog post, I share industry trends. For the discrete industries, we contrast the industry averages for growth, operating margins, inventory turns, cash-to-cash cycle, revenue per employee and SG&A ratio for the periods of 2006-2014 and 2011-2014.
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.
Now that I am finally off the road for the balance of the year, I had a chance to sit down and look at some of the macro trends of 2015 and how they could impact logistics operations and technology providers in 2016. In some respects, the biggest trends are continuations from the past several years. Ecommerce, the economy, customer experience and security are dominating the headlines.
Today, John McNamara, SVP Sourcing, Adidas Group, visited me and my SCM students at Copenhagen Business School. He presented a case study about the supply chain processes for t-shirts. It was very insightful and also a lot of fun for my students (and me). Thanks, John, for a great case study and an insightful discussion!
Today, John McNamara, SVP Sourcing, Adidas Group, visited me and my SCM students at Copenhagen Business School. He presented a case study about the supply chain processes for t-shirts. It was very insightful and also a lot of fun for my students (and me). Thanks, John, for a great case study and an insightful discussion!
Last week we discussed how grabbing hold of data at the point of consumption—essentially, taking continuous-frame snapshots of buyer behavior—can improve supply chain performance and enhance inventory optimization. But many companies don’t have their own captive retail network and therefore don’t have direct access to point-of-sale (POS) data. And even if they could access data from multiple retail networks, their Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software typically couldn’t handle this data at
Take a look at your budget for 2016, which is probably finalized by now. Does it contain a line item for supply chain talent and leadership development? Is the dollar amount allocated enough? Unfortunately, as I’ve written in the past, many companies still underinvest in talent and leadership development , and it’s among the first budget items they cut when cost pressures arise.
The Future of Our Industry Is Now. The logistics, manufacturing, supply chain, and transportation industries are going through a time of rapid and unprecedented transformation. The future of these industries is paved with innovation and technology. It was not long ago that ideas like 3D printing, the Internet of Things (IoT), drone delivery, and augmented reality were things of science fiction.
2016 is around the corner. For the supply chain leader it is time to reflect and build budget targets. To help, in this blog post I share industry trends. For the discrete industries we contrast the industry averages for growth, operating margins, inventory turns, cash-to-cash cycle, revenue per employee, and SG&A ratio for the periods of 2006-2014 and 2011-2014.
by Alexa Cheater Supply chain risk. It’s a topic that just never seems to go away (nor should it!). Everyone and their uncle has probably read at least one article, blog, research report, etc. on the topic. We’ve covered it here extensively on the 21 st Century Supply Chain blog, and Kinaxis has even produced a great infographic about it. There’s no denying it’s a very important subject when it comes to good supply chain management.
There’s a new boss in town and she is tougher than any boss you’ve had before. She wants what she wants, when and where she wants it. She’s the new digitally-empowered consumer and she is dictating how retailers and consumer goods companies must transform their supply chains to serve her. This new boss will access your brand wherever and whenever she wants through the device of her choice.
Note: Due to the holidays, there will be no blog post next week. Since there will be a week off between posts, we wanted to forgo the fluff in most year-end blogs and leave you with a deep philosophical thought to ponder while on your holiday break, and it’s this: Maybe you are doing your demand forecasting completely wrong. OK, to be more precise, there are two equally important outputs of demand forecasting and you may be focusing nearly all your energy on only one, and maybe even the wrong on
Five years ago today, I left the comfort of a relatively secure job and paycheck to launch my own company. I spent my first day as an entrepreneur not in an office, but serving as a juror in a murder trial. The trial lasted two and a half weeks and I think I earned less than $100 for my time served — not a great way to start off financially, but serving as a juror was a worthwhile experience nonetheless (see the post below that I wrote after the trial ended).
“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.
Our week of infographics around the industry continues! We expected with so many folks coming back from the long holiday weekend, you may not have a lot of time to read. Therefore, we are giving you all week long the choice to read the accompanying text or simply view it in picture form! Today we bring you an infographic about what is expected to be the most transformative technology to hit the world since the internet: The Internet of Things.
At the 2013 Supply Chain Insights Global Summit, Rick Sather , now VP of Supply Chain for Jack-O-links stated that “there should be an app for that.” And, then quickly retorted holding up his phone, “but, we all know that there isn’t.”. In enterprise architectures, portals proliferate, but they are not the answer. When it comes to inter-enterprise visibility, a portal is like a sticky note in a windstorm.
The massive online selling frenzy in China (Singles’ Day) and in US (Black Friday) are now behind us. The Christmas and post-Christmas shopping rush are still ahead of us. This year, like many before, we will witness the number of merchandise returns proportional in growth to the volume of sales. For all of you “in the know”, we are talking about reverse logistics – the “dark side” mix of art and science of the supply chain operations strategy.
This Black Friday Shawn Simms was first in line at Best Buy in Nashville, TN to bag a Thanksgiving bargain – a Toshiba HDTV for $149.99. COP21, the Paris Climate change conference taking place this week got us thinking what the carbon cost was for shipping the TV. A quick check showed that shipping the TV from Taiwan to Nashville (ocean & trucking) led to about 6.7 kg of carbon emissions.
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
There is a new technique for improving forecast accuracy and inventory optimization—sensing demand from Point of Sale (POS) data or "POS Demand Sensing". When you see which products, or product variants, are actually moving—and how fast they’re selling, in what quantities, based on which promotions, and across what channel—you can improve your forecasting and replenishment.
Most wholesale distributors have recovered from Black Friday and Cyber Monday by now – and are catching their breath just in time to sprint during these last few weeks of the holidays! This time of year is particularly urgent for getting products to consumers more quickly and cheaply than ever before, which means finding ways to strip out supply chain costs while satisfying customer expectations.
As we head into 2016, we are featuring our most read articles of 2015 in our five main categories: Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Logistics, Transportation Management, and Freight. Yesterday we published the top 10 most read manufacturing articles of 2015. . We will take a break next week in the series, as this Marketing Manager is going on vacation. We will resume the series and finish the remaining three categories on December 28th.
by Alexa Cheater Does your supply chain enjoy 100% on-time delivery? A workforce with a 0% turnover rate? How about a 100% customer satisfaction rating (at least among the Nice!)? No? Santa’s does. It’s widely believed Santa Claus has the most efficient supply chain in the world. And who am I to argue with a man who can deliver millions of presents all over the world in just one night.
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.
When is the right time to seek a new IT solution for your business? How does UPS reduce travel time for their drivers? And what can Amazon learn from Rakuten? At the Singapore stop of the Quintiq World Tour this year, our panel of industry influencers delved into these topics and more. Read on for the highlights: Dr. Mahender Singh answers a question at the afternoon panel discussion.
As 2015 comes to an end, a quick thank you to all of our readers, followers, and sponsors for another great year of learning and conversation on Talking Logistics. The numbers speak for themselves: 34 episodes produced in 2015, totaling more than 56,800 views and 1,360+ minutes of conversations with thought leaders and newsmakers in the supply chain and logistics industry. 204 posts published on a wide range of timely and important industry topics, including the most comprehensive weekly news ro
Apple has long been known as a leader in supply chain management with Gartner consistently ranking them number one in its annual report identifying the Top 25 Supply Chain Leaders. Apple’s sourcing and supplier management practices are under a constant microscope and have certainly taught us many valuable lessons including: The importance of keeping your supply chain as simple as possible.
At the beginning of the year the ARC supply chain team made supply chain predictions for 2015. This article circles back and reports on how we did. Very often any predictions you can make for a one year period are not about a brand new thing that will occur, the prediction is really part of a larger megatrend that has not only been going on for some time but will also continue for many years […].
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.
Happy New Year! Since today is the last day of the year before we all get ramped up towards a productive 2016 and after finishing out top 10 most read articles in each of our five main categories ( Manufacturing , Supply Chain , Logistics , Transportation , & Freight ) we wanted to give you all a treat and list the top 50 most read articles of all time from the Cerasis blog.
by Carol McIntosh Insight #3 – Your supply chain measurements. Much has been written about supply chain measurements. Just Google it. If nothing else, this blog reinforces the importance of establishing goals and measuring performance. Which metrics are most important? How are they calculated? How do you align your supply chain at every level? Everyone would agree that the big buckets of metrics are Service, Revenue, Inventory (Cash), and Cost, which support your company’s strategic goals.
What happens when you ask four experts for their thoughts on supply chain transformation? We did precisely that at Quintiq World Tour Singapore 2015 with experts from Hewlett Packard, Baker Hughes, ZALORA and FCI Electronics. And this is what they shared: How would you define supply chain transformation? Travis Wong (Regional Logistics Director, Baker Hughes): Having gone through different supply chain management strategies, I’d say it boils down to three elements: Supply, demand and product.
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