October, 2013

article thumbnail

Change the Conversation

Supply Chain Shaman

'It is Monday morning. As the sun rises, I find myself on the 6:00 AM train drinking coffee. I am giving thanks that I am able to do what I do. There is nothing like a cup of coffee at this time of morning. As I hold the warm ceramic mug in my hands, the horizon rolls forward with the rhythmic sounds of the train on the track. I love the sounds of the train.

article thumbnail

7 Megatrends Supply Chain People Should Watch

Supply Chain Opz

'Current logistics and supply chain management trends are discussed very often on social media sites. How can we identify them really? This article will show you some trends in the past and reveal what the future holds. Background Expert opinions appear to be the most important source of information for a trend prediction. In the year 2000, Journal of Business Logistics published the article named " Ten Mega-Trends That Will Revolutionize Supply Chain Logistics ".

Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

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

article thumbnail

Our Journey

Supply Chain Insights

'Over 110 supply chain leaders gathered in the desert to discuss the future of supply chain management. With nine out of ten companies stuck in their ability to improve corporate performance through advancements in supply chain, the discussion at the 2013 Supply Chain Insights Global Summit was not a rehash of the past. Instead, the group was challenged to think about supply chains differently.

article thumbnail

What’s new in supply chain planning?

DELMIA Quintiq

'About 100 years ago, Frederick Taylor created history by separating planning from production. He was the first person to create a planning office with well-defined roles. There was someone to create production routes. Another person to ensure that the relevant raw materials were available. Yet another person to track the orders and update the status of tasks.

article thumbnail

Monetizing Analytics Features

Think your customers will pay more for data visualizations in your application? Five years ago, they may have. But today, dashboards and visualizations have become table stakes. Turning analytics into a source of revenue means integrating advanced features in unique, hard-to-steal ways. Download this white paper to discover which features will differentiate your application and maximize the ROI of your analytics.

article thumbnail

Guest Commentary: Have You Black-Friday-Proofed Your Supply Chain?

Talking Logistics

'It’s a rite of passage for the most serious of shoppers. Black Friday. It conjures up images of long lines of intrepid bargain-hunters camped out overnight. Stampedes when the doors open. And frenzied crowds ready to drop-kick their way to door-busting prices on the year’s hottest products. Aside from the sheer entertainment (or blood sport) value, Black Friday marks more than the start of the holiday season when retailers make most of their annual profits.

More Trending

article thumbnail

What About the Supply Chain Index?

Supply Chain Shaman

'I have traveled 12,000 miles this week. When I get off the plane, I am accosted by the signs at airports around the world. SAP touts “best-run companies” while the Accenture ads claim “ high-performance supply chains.” As I shuffle along, I am not sure. I shake my head. I am a nomad, searching for a good definition of supply chain excellence.

Gartner 257
article thumbnail

7 Traits of Great Supply Chain Leader: A Case Study of Tim Cook

Supply Chain Opz

'The value of supply chain management as a discipline has gained more and more recognition from the business communities. Some supply chain leaders now take the helm at the world''s leading companies like Apple Inc, Wal-Mart and Tesco in UK as the CEOs. This article will discuss about the leadership quality of Apple''s Tim Cook and some reasons why Steve Jobs chose him to lead the company.

article thumbnail

Mind the Supply Chain Talent Gap

Logility

“If you don’t have good people you are running a giant ‘going-out-of-business’ sale!” That’s how Jake Barr started a recent panel discussion on the supply chain talent gap at the Supply Chain Insights conference last month. He continued to rattle off ear-catching proof points of a current and worsening talent shortage. 25 – 30% of your organization is at or beyond retirement age… These are the same supply chain resources you currently overwork and

article thumbnail

Achieving supply chain maturity

DELMIA Quintiq

'Are your business goals aligned with your technology priorities? A Gartner survey of 2053 CIOs has revealed significant differences in the priorities of CEOs and CIOs. While CEOs are prioritizing business growth, CIOs are focusing on business intelligence. In a review of the survey , CIO Insight made the following observation: ‘Theoretically, analytics and business intelligence would help drive overall business growth.

article thumbnail

GEP Spend Category Outlook 2024

Your Roadmap to Smarter Spend Management in 2024 Geopolitical, economic and supply chain challenges will stick around in 2024, but don’t despair. There are strategic opportunities to leverage AI-powered technology and digital toolsets to overcome these hurdles more effectively. GEP experts in nearly two dozen critical categories guide you in the right direction in our annual comprehensive resource — GEP Spend Category Outlook 2024.

article thumbnail

Social Networking, TMS, and Mega Trends: My CSCMP Conference Agenda

Talking Logistics

'Are you attending the CSCMP Annual Global Conference later this month in Denver? It’s is one of the best conferences in the supply chain and logistics industry to learn and network. The challenge, of course, is choosing which sessions to attend, spread out across twenty-six tracks. Let me help you. Below are the sessions that I am participating in focused on social networking, transportation management systems, and “mega” supply chain trends.

article thumbnail

Collaboration Networks, Structural Holes, and Innovation

SCM Research

'Recently, I discovered an article by Ahuja (2000), Collaboration Networks, Structural Holes, and Innovation: A Longitudinal Study , which was published in Administrative Science Quarterly. It contains a framework that “relates three aspects of a firm’s ego network —direct ties, indirect ties, and structural holes (disconnections between a firm’s partners)—to the firm’s subsequent innovation output.” The author suggests that “[t]he more direct ties that a firm

article thumbnail

Why It Matters

Supply Chain Shaman

'As I work with companies, I often contrast the strategies, approaches and outcomes within a peer group. Over the last five years, I have helped two companies, Sonoco Products and Owens Illinois (OI) with their selection of technologies to improve Sales and Operations (S&OP) planning. Both companies provide packaging materials to the food manufacturing industry.

Illinois 251
article thumbnail

10 Outstanding Books for SCM Professionals

Supply Chain Opz

'Are you a supply chain management professional who are looking for inspiring ideas to improve the operations of your supply chain? This article will show you 10 amazing SCM books that provide the information you can really use. Background Early this year, I published one article named " 10 Greatest Supply Chain Management Books of All Time ". The reason for this was to provide a list of "classic" scm books that people can study by themselves while working full-time.

SCM 246
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

Uncommon-Sense Approach to Forecasting

Demand Solutions

The Old Farmer’s Almanac -- a new version of which is published each September -- provides a solid year’s worth of reliable, though safely vague, regional weather forecasts. Even more admirable than the accuracy of the Almanac’s forecasts is the disclaimer with which its predictions are tempered: “We believe nothing in the universe occurs haphazardly; there is a cause-and-effect pattern to all phenomena, including weather.

article thumbnail

Who wants to become a demand-forecasting expert? (Part 2)

DELMIA Quintiq

'Welcome back to the present (assuming you’ve just been to the future and back)! This is part 2 of a two-part series discussing insights revealed at the recent sales & operations webinar hosted by Quintiq and EyeOn. Continuing from where we left off , we explore key messages shared by Dr. Michiel Jansen, senior solutions consultant at Quintiq. 35% of companies using only Excel as #demand planning tool whereas 18% using integrated end-to-end planning tools #DemandPlan2013. — Quintiq (@Quintiq

article thumbnail

Guest Commentary: P.O. Management Programs – Know Pain, Know Gain!

Talking Logistics

'As a participant in managing all or part of your company’s supply chain, you may know the pain of answering sometimes difficult questions. Where is my order? Why is it late? When will it get here? Why didn’t the vendor let us know? What should I tell the client? Who is responsible? What is this going to cost? You could answer them with a purchase order (P.O.) management system.

article thumbnail

Introducing a New Co-Blogger

Supply Chains Rock

'I''d like to introduce Joseph C. Selle who starting this week will become a monthly contributor to this blog. Joe lives for supply chains and when he is not blogging he is supporting IBM''s own Integrated Supply Chain (ISC) responsible for analytics.

Analytics 100
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

Applause!

Supply Chain Shaman

'Last week, I wrote about the evolution of supply chain planning. In my blog post, I commented on HOW little supply chain planning has changed in its twenty-year evolution. As I worked with clients this week, I had a long and hard talk with myself. I am part of the problem. I, like other analysts, are stuck in the traditional software APS paradigm.

article thumbnail

Executive's Guide to Supply Chain Research

Supply Chain Opz

'Many people think a supply chain research is boring and it is the ivory tower that they don''t need to climb. This article will show you why a research is relevant to you and how to study without damaging your brain! Background What is a research? In layman''s terms , a research is the way you solve problems in a systematic manner. And, you know very well, problems are a part of business environment.

Research 227
article thumbnail

3 Tips for Managing the Dr. Oz Effect

Demand Solutions

We're the curmudgeons who grouse in the shadows as the latest sales windfall is celebrated. While our colleagues gleefully exchange high fives to celebrate an unprecedented sale, we bury our heads in despair at the burden of fulfilling our customers’ hopes and our salesmen’s promises. All kidding aside, unforeseen spikes in demand are a fact of life for forecasters and planners.

article thumbnail

Mind the Supply Chain Talent Gap

Logility

“If you don’t have good people you are running a giant ‘going-out-of-business’ sale!” That’s how Jake Barr started a recent panel discussion on the supply chain talent gap at the Supply Chain Insights conference last month. He continued to rattle off ear-catching proof points of a current and worsening talent shortage. 25 – 30% of your organization is at or beyond retirement age… These are the same supply chain resources you currently overwork and

article thumbnail

How to Conduct Workplace Incident Investigations to Create Safer Workplaces

This white paper provides a comprehensive overview of global workplace incident trends, focusing on the top three biases leading to such incidents. It also highlights the significance of CSA Z1005 as a risk management standard and outlines the ROI of thorough incident investigations, covering emergency response to post-incident interviews. Additionally, it introduces an Investigation Evidence Gathering Matrix.

article thumbnail

This Week in Logistics News (October 14-18, 2013)

Talking Logistics

'Several years ago, I interviewed CIOs and IT executives from leading third party logistics (3PL) companies, and one of the most interesting findings was that their teams spent a majority of their time fixing and cleansing data. I’m sure if I conducted those interviews again today, the story would still be the same. Therefore, I wasn’t surprised by an article in today’s Wall Street Journal about how faulty data is hindering the HealthCare.gov rollout.

article thumbnail

Thank Heavens for Little Girls | The 21st Century Supply Chain

Kinaxis

''

article thumbnail

Improving Relationships within the Healthcare Value Chain

Supply Chain Shaman

'The healthcare provider network is fragmented. As the power shifted from the supplier to the healthcare provider, over the last decade, the healthcare provider responded. The hospital built a supply chain organization that is now viewed as stronger than that of its suppliers. Today, providers of healthcare self-assess that they are more successful meeting their goals than the supplier.

article thumbnail

5 Outstanding Transport & Logistics Book for Managers

Supply Chain Opz

'Are you a transportation and logistics professional who are looking for inspiring ideas to improve the operations? This article will show you 5 amazing logistics books that provide the information you can really use. Background Previously we published the article named " 10 Greatest Supply Chain Management Books of All Time ". The reason for this was to provide a list of "classic" scm books that people can study by themselves while working full-time.

Six Sigma 100
article thumbnail

Sifted's Peak Season Shipping Checklist

Are you ready for your best peak season performance yet? Every year brings new challenges for parcel shippers, and over the last few years, the chaos has been unreal. But don’t let the pressure get to you; you can pull multiple levers today to create a secured, revenue-bursting season. Grab your free Peak Season Checklist and learn how to: Identify quick wins in your operations Put your performance first and exceed customer expectations Modernize your distribution network Become a subject matter

article thumbnail

Only Enough Data to Cause Paralysis: A Timeless Message About Big Data

Demand Solutions

You might think that a book about computers that was written before the Internet would have zero relevance today. Yet, not only does Guy Kawasaki’s 1988 book "The MacIntosh Way" possess a timeless charm, it also contains at least one nugget that cuts to the core of one of our current burning issues: what to make of Big Data. Says Kawasaki: "There is only enough data to cause paralysis -- never enough to make a perfect decision.".

Big Data 100
article thumbnail

How would outsourcing the logistics activities add value?

Supply Chain Movement

'A new model, which is currently being tested academically, gives shippers insight into the strategic added value they could gain by outsourcing their logistics – or not, as the case may be. DSV Solutions, Districon, Nyenrode Business University and Supply Chain Magazine have developed an online assessment that can be used as a practical tool for determining both the current situation and the ideal one, and which provides users with company-specific advice.

article thumbnail

This Week in Logistics News (September 30 – October 4, 2013)

Talking Logistics

'Is it ironic that the U.S. government partially shut down on Tuesday, the same day I was scheduled to give a talk on collaboration ? I’m thinking of sending my representatives in Congress a copy of the book Getting to We , written by my friends Kate Vitasek and Jeanette Nyden — and also inviting them and all members of Congress to participate in my upcoming conversation with Kate and Jeanette on Talking Logistics.