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Tomorrow, I am off to Europe. On Thursday, I am speak on the future of supply chain technologies at an Eyeon conference in Rotterdam. It is the end of the fall speaking conference circuit and I am looking forward to spending time at home over the holidays. While I love talking to supply chain professionals at conferences and challenging them to think more holistically about supply chain excellence, as the leaves fall, I yearn for my home.
Inventory configuration is usually the predominant issue in most manufacturing environments. Inventory policy is usually the predominant issue in most distribution environments. Here are five types of inventory optimization that you should be aware of if you are considering an optimization solution. Knowing which types are important to your business is an important step to determining which solution best fits your needs.
Do you remember the old days when the hottest topic in supply chain software evaluations was whether it was smarter to go with the “good enough” applications from the major enterprise resource planning (ERP) vendors or to go with the superior functionality of the best-of-breed vendors even though integration was a concern? IT argued that having a fully integrated approach and “one throat to choke” was more important than covering 100 percent of users’ needs. […].
Today's post continues our ongoing series on staying a strategic shipper. We first did an overview of the 10 areas of strategy a shipper must know in order to stay competitive. We then are taking each of those 10 strategic areas and going a bit deeper. Our first post focused on distressed shipments. Today we will talk about the flow of strategy as pertains to inventory flow and driving warehouse efficiency.
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.
Is the current performance of your supply chain network optimal? How do you gauge network performance, which numbers are important to you and what do they mean? You don’t have to be a data scientist to answer questions like these. And you do not need to know high-level math or the intricacies of building complex models to get a sense of when a consultant’s expertise is needed.
Confusion about what exactly big data, analytics and optimization mean, is not uncommon. Many companies do not fully grasp what these things are and sometimes it feels as if new terminology is being used for old concepts. But even if you understand these concepts, that’s only half the battle. The key to success is knowing how to apply these assets usefully to your business, or at least know whether you should use them in your business at all.
Confusion about what exactly big data, analytics and optimization mean, is not uncommon. Many companies do not fully grasp what these things are and sometimes it feels as if new terminology is being used for old concepts. But even if you understand these concepts, that’s only half the battle. The key to success is knowing how to apply these assets usefully to your business, or at least know whether you should use them in your business at all.
‘Chin Music’ Definition: Idle Chatter, Idle Talk or Vague Explanations. Urban Dictionary. In my work as a supply chain analyst, and Founder of Supply Chain Insights, I attend many supply chain conferences. On a day like today, when I am struggling with jet lag and recovering from sleep deprivation, I tell my friends that I attend more conferences than I would like to attend.
I learned about “lean manufacturing” (or simply “lean”) back in the 1990s when I met James Womack and read his book “ The Machine that Changed the World ”. Based on MIT's five-year, fourteen-country study – one of the largest and most thorough ever undertaken -- the book describes the entire managerial system of lean production. It described not only a fundamentally different system of business, but a very different way of thinking about how humans work together to create value.
I’m kind of happy to say that the blog I wrote in 2009 outlining when and why companies should choose to deploy private and dedicated fleets remains largely accurate today. An additional six years of economic, supply chain, and logistical changes have effected how all companies and us at Chainalytics evaluate fleet deployment practices. However, I still see some companies missing the mark in choosing a sub-set of lanes and activities when deciding how their […].
We continue our ongoing strategic shipping series by covering how to use technology to provide better logistics visibility. Interestingly enough, many shippers are still using manual methods, like excel, email, and phone calls to keep track of their transportation budget. However, simply applying a little bit of technology in transportation, such as a transportation management system rich with the ability to automate and have visibility into shipments and shipping activity, can aid in creating a
One of the best quotes I heard this year came from a young professional commenting on why she chose a career in supply chain management: “I wanted to work in a field where I knew I wouldn’t live the same day twice.”. Every day in supply chain management brings new challenges and opportunities. Or to echo Quintiq’s tagline, every day brings new puzzles to solve.
I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Norm Jerome, a longtime AIMMS customer. It was great to learn about how AIMMS is used in the BP Petrochemical businesses and how it has been adopted by more and more end-users across the business. Here is a summary of that interview. Hi Norm, Tell me a little about your background. My formal training was in Chemical Engineering with emphasis on Process Control, and for the first 10 years of my career I worked as a Process Control Engineer, initially a
Today LLamasoft announced the acquisition of the Barloworld CAST and Optimiza assets for an undisclosed sum of money. This announcement closely follows the September 29th press release about $50 million Series B financing with affiliates of Goldman Sachs & Co. This is LLamasoft’s second acquisition within a year. (LLamasoft acquired the LogicTools assets from IBM in the spring of 2015.
For those finishing up their 2016 strategic goals, or perhaps looking for a Christmas wish or a New Year’s resolution, here is one to consider: a 99+% customer service level for your supply chain. If you think this gold standard sounds unrealistically high, stick with me for a minute. We'll talk about how to get to near-perfect fill rates, but first let me first reaffirm that companies are achieving it.
“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.
Everyone in the beer world is talking about it. Have you too been speculating over the impact of the upcoming merger of the world’s two biggest brewers, Anheuser-Busch InBev and SABMiller? According to WSJ , this fourth-largest takeover in history would result in “the world’s largest brewer, with nearly 30 percent market share after divestitures.” This leaves the rest of industry in a tight spot.
While logistics had remained the same for decades, the rise of modern civilization has transformed the industry. Small shipping companies have grown into larger third-party logistics providers , and warehouse management has become more focused on efficiency and accuracy instead of quantity of shipments. Transportation costs make up 60 percent of overall logistics expenses for all shippers and 3PLs.
The answers to “What is a third-party logistics provider?” and “What is a transportation management system?” don’t fit so neatly in a box any more. The boxes and labels of yesterday are giving way to a single amorphous category: “Providers of Supply Chain Software and Services.”. I shared that perspective more than a year ago in Putting 3PLs and Software Vendors in a Box.
Here is a sample question for prospective supply chain, business, or financial analysts, “how many piano tuners are there in Chicago?” This question comes from the business best seller Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction. Before I give you the “answer” to the question, let me tell you a bit about this book’s genesis. While one of the authors, Philip Tetlock, has been doing research on forecasting for decades, the more recent origin of this book […].
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
The elephants are coming! They will soon change your supply chain. In time, you will come to love them. I think that they will be a game changer. What do I mean? Let’s start with a story. Designed in the 1960s when a Megabyte (MB) of disk storage cost the same as a Terabyte (TB) does today, relational databases form the basis of today’s supply chain systems and IT architectures.
Wouldn’t it be amazing if someone could cut through the hype and summarize the key freight and logistics trends every month? Thought you’d never ask. That’s exactly what Freightos has been doing. We’ve split the trends into the sections on the right. If you prefer to find the news yourself, head over to our free roundup of nearly 100 digital logistics and supply chain news sources.
by Alexa Cheater This guest post comes to us from Argentus Supply Chain Recruiting , a boutique recruitment firm specializing in Supply Chain Management. Following on the success of our recent post about the Rise of the Supply Chain C.E.O , we wanted to cover the topic of the emergence of Supply Chain into a C-suite function from another angle. That post discussed the trend of companies looking to the Supply Chain function when hiring for the most coveted role at any company: CEO.
How the right production schedule enables fast, profitable decision making at Nampak. Precise means being exact, accurate and careful about details. The difference between good and great. As we discussed in our recent Supply Chain webinar, this is not an easy task if you have a lot of fluctuating demand and uncertainty in your production process. During the webinar, Paul Coombe (Supply Chain Director at Nampak Glass) shared his insights on making the best possible use of your production faciliti
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.
Earlier this year at the JDA FOCUS 2015 conference , I led a panel discussion on the third-party logistics (3PL) industry that featured Rick Jordon , SVP Regional Head of Logistics – Americas at Panalpina , and other 3PL executives. I caught up with Rick again on a recent episode of Talking Logistics , where we discussed a variety of topics related to the 3PL industry.
In last Friday’s “This Week in Logistics News” blog post, I mentioned that the TPP details had finally been released by the participating countries’ governments. Since Friday, I have spent a good deal of time reviewing the TPP trade agreement for topics of relevance to the logistics and logistics technology industries. Here is my first finding – I could never have been a lawyer.
It is big. It is bold. It is talked about. It is … well … complicated. From the distance, it looks like a brave attempt at resuscitating an ancient network of commercial routes known as Silk Road. While there is reason to believe in the importance of land and maritime routes linking China to the countries west of it, there was a reason the Silk Road trade lost significance over time.
Cloud-based supply chain planning is gaining traction. Each year more users opt for cloud-based systems and there is a lot of support in the analyst community. But cloud-based supply chain planning has not proliferated nearly as fast as many have predicted and "public cloud" (versus "private cloud") i mplementations are still a small minority, leaving a lot of head scratching about why cloud hasn't been as widely adopted as some expected.
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.
by Alexa Cheater This is a guest post from Meena Al-Azzawe, Process Integration Manager, Qorvo, who presented at Kinexions on ‘Expediting Time to Value With Data Integration’ alongside Kinaxis’ Angela Adams. I could hardly contain my excitement as I cleared the TSA checkpoint and marched down to my gate. This time, it was different.
Source: Oliver Wight. Optimization is a form of advanced analytics that helps you solve complex decision problems that involve conflicting objectives and constraints, enabling you to make the best use of your business’ limited resources. When applied to S&OP and IBP, modeling and optimization enable you to balance out scenarios and perform what-if analyses so you can analyze how these different scenarios will affect your inventory and/or cost.
A couple of weeks ago, Meg Whitman, the CEO of the new Hewlett Packard Enterprise, wrote a post on LinkedIn that included the following excerpt: Every Company is a Technology Company. As I’ve mentioned in earlier posts, we’re now living in an era of disruption, what we call the Idea Economy. Companies today can turn ideas into reality in a fraction of the time it took just five or 10 years ago.
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