Supply Chain Shaman
JANUARY 21, 2014
'New shoes feel awkward. Blisters appear. Feet hurt. The shoes are worn for short periods. Often we shelve them to allow our feet to recover. However, over time, they slowly feel comfortable. They become a part of our wardrobe. Learning to speak a new language is similar. Conversations are strained. Mistakes are made. Pauses are awkward. Confusion reigns.
DELMIA Quintiq
SEPTEMBER 28, 2014
'More than just charity. We often hear of companies participating in supplier diversity programs, and the standard reasons for their participation. Some companies say that it is a testament to their commitment as a socially responsible organization while others say that it is their contribution to society. We also see some companies implementing supplier diversity initiatives to meet customer mandates, to leverage governmental initiatives, or to comply with federal supplier requirements.
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GlobalTranz
DECEMBER 10, 2014
'Editor’s Note: We love talking about and reporting on technology which effects and also makes the lives’ of manufacturing companies much better. We’ve been providing manufacturing companies and shippers with a web-based transportation management system since 1998, before web-based TMS was as prolific as it is today. We built one of the first Mobile TMS apps , have the only end-to-end LTL eCommerce Freight shipping applications for B2B shopping carts, continue to innovate on in
Supply Chain Opz
FEBRUARY 9, 2014
'At the beginning of each year, many supply chain blogs/sites publish the articles about their most popular contents of the year or make the predictions for things that might happen in the coming year. For SupplyChainOpz, we will do something a bit different, we will uncover the most outstanding supply chain blogs and their contents. Background Since we live in the era that the instant communications via the Internet is readily available, information is considered as a strategic business asset.
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Logistics Viewpoints
NOVEMBER 26, 2014
'Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, a time for family, friends, and turkey. Lots of turkey. Just how much turkey? According to the National Turkey Federation, over 730 million pounds of turkey will be consumed in the United States during Thanksgiving. Given that the average weight of a Thanksgiving turkey is 16 pounds, that is about 45 million […].
Supply Chain Brief brings together the best content for supply chain and logistic professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
The Network Effect
AUGUST 28, 2014
'We all know that supply chains are becoming more and more global, but how often can we actually see them becoming more global? The site vox.com has compiled 38 maps that explain the global economy. We’ve selected 6 that are especially relevant to supply chains. #1: How Sugar Circulates Globally. Even seemingly simple commodities have complex supply chains.
Talking Logistics
JUNE 30, 2014
'As I discussed last Friday, Accenture published a report recently on supply chain risk management. Seventy-six percent of the companies that participated in the study described supply chain risk management as important or very important, and “of the more than 1000 companies represented across 10 industries, 25 percent plan increased investments of at least 20 percent in supply chain risk management in the next two years.”.
Supply Chain Insights
SEPTEMBER 2, 2014
'On September 9–11, 2014, 110 supply chain visionaries will gather in the desert at the Phoenician Hotel in Scottsdale, Arizona to think differently and define the future of supply chain. It is needed. Today, 90% of publicly-traded companies are stuck at the intersection of operating margin and inventory turns. While most companies have been able to make progress in one of these two critical metrics in the period of 2006-2013, they have not been able to make progress on both together.
Enterra Insights
OCTOBER 2, 2014
'Earlier this year, Robert J. Bowman, Managing Editor of SupplyChainBrain, wrote about a discussion he had with Yves Leclerc (@wmpyleclerc), managing … Continued The post Cognitive Computing and Supply Chain Risk Management appeared first on Enterra Solutions.
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Supply Chain Shaman
MARCH 12, 2014
'I am an old gal. In six months, I will raise a toast to my sixtieth birthday. It is hard for me to believe that I am that old and still working. Many of my friends are retiring. The industry is in flux. Daily, I get notices from Linkedin of job changes. Sometimes, I ask myself, “Where has time gone?” Other times I celebrate how much I have learned.
Supply Chain Shaman
NOVEMBER 10, 2014
'“What did you learn?” asked the client. I smiled and reflected. It was a thought-provoking question. The ROI study on supply chain planning was completed. We were reviewing the data that is showcased in the blog post Three Questions People are Afraid to Ask. The data is clear: best-of-breed supply chain planning solutions are faster to implement, have a better ROI and yield higher satisfaction than planning systems from ERP providers.
Supply Chain Shaman
APRIL 11, 2014
'“This is not a supply chain process. It is a new way of doing business.” Financial Leader in Discussions on Demand Sensing. In 2013, 80% of supply chain leaders had a material supply chain disruption. It was not just one. The average company had three. Yet, in a study that we just completed, when asked about business pain, supply chain risk rates low.
Supply Chain Shaman
MARCH 19, 2014
'“Lora in your own way, you are helping. You tell it straight. You are pissy and opinionated in this world of supply chain blandness. I find it refreshing.” Quote from a reporter this morning. The term supply chain excellence is easier to say than define. It permeates corporate strategy, but it lacks definition. I have been trying to define it as a supply chain analyst for over fifteen years.
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Supply Chain Shaman
OCTOBER 29, 2014
'Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people in which there is a desire for harmony within the group, but the result is an irrational or dysfunctional outcome. Wikipedia. You know the drill. The meeting is on everyone’s calendar. It has been set-up by the CEO or a board member’s assistant months in advance.
Supply Chain Shaman
JANUARY 14, 2014
'Over the last month, I have been working with five companies that say that they want to implement an End-to-End (E2E) Supply Chain Strategy. However, when I hear their stories and get their PowerPoint slides outlining their design, I laugh. Why? The slides all look the same. And, they are anything BUT end-to-end. Why does it matter? Nine out of ten companies are stuck.
Supply Chain Shaman
SEPTEMBER 17, 2014
'Last week was the Supply Chain Insights Global Summit. It was great to see old faces at the kick-off. 110 supply chain leaders attended. I smiled on the week following the conference as the accolades piled up in my inbox. In preparation for the summit, we readied the final report of the work on translating balance sheet results into a methodology to judge Supply Chain Excellence.
Supply Chain Shaman
MAY 29, 2014
'Mush is a thick cornmeal pudding boiled in water or milk. It sits until the gel forms a semisolid state. In the United States, we lick it up with maple syrup or molasses, while in Eastern Europe it is served cold. It is a tasteless, innocuous food with little form or satisfaction. Mush in the Real World. Last week, the Gartner Top 25 was announced with great fanfare.
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
Supply Chain Shaman
JUNE 20, 2014
'Hoax: An act intended to deceive or trick. Integrated Planning: Tight Coupling of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) to Supply Chain Planning (SCP). Was it intentional? Or accidental? We will never know. However, what is clear from our recent study of 73 manufacturers using supply chain planning is that companies using best-of-breed solutions implement faster, achieve a quicker Return-on-Investment (ROI), and are more satisfied.
Supply Chain Shaman
JUNE 8, 2014
'The deserts of the southwest sprawl below me as the plane ascends from San Diego. It is such a very different landscape than the green mountains of my farm in West Virginia or my city streets in Philadelphia. It appears SO barren from my window in seat 4D. It has been a good week. I now have a working manuscript for the entire book of Metrics That Matter.
Supply Chain Shaman
SEPTEMBER 2, 2014
'The Supply Chain Insights Global Summit is a week away. We are currently tabulating the results to publish the report, “Top 15 Supply Chains to Admire.” In this report, we track the progress on balance sheet performance of companies by peer group and chart the relative improvement for the period of 2006-2013. This work has taken us two years to finish.
Supply Chain Shaman
SEPTEMBER 30, 2014
'Definition: Brass tacks are a type of pin or nail. The phrase to come (or get) down to brass tacks is sometimes used idiomatically to consider the basic facts of a situation. Source Wikipedia. In the 1990s suppliers had channel power. The formula for success seemed foolproof. A new product was launched, the ads ran on national TVs, and “poof” a new brand was created.
Speaker: Jason Cottrell and Gireesh Sahukar
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.
Supply Chain Shaman
AUGUST 1, 2014
'These are the grim facts. Only 9% of companies feel that they manage supply chain talent better than peers.The issues are growing. Job turnover is 15% and new positions remain open for 4 months before they are filled. I think that supply chain talent is a broken link in the supply chain. I also believe that the adoption of new mental models is a barrier to progress.
Supply Chain Shaman
MAY 6, 2014
'It is about the right balance of the carrot and the stick. Progress happens when you measure. Relationships happen faster when there is more carrot than a stick. Over the last decade, scorecards have become more of a stick than a carrot. Reflections. Some days, in my coverage of consumer value networks, it seems like we are making slow progress. So slow, that I often feel like I am watching paint dry.
Supply Chain Shaman
JUNE 14, 2014
'“We live in a world where supply chains, not companies, compete for market dominance. But companies often have diverging incentives and interests from their supply chain partners, so when they independently strive to optimize their individual objectives, the expected result can be compromised. ”. Hau L Lee, Triple-A Supply Chains, Harvard Business Review, October 2004. “The idea of the value chain is based on the process view of organizations, the idea of seeing a manufacturing (or
Supply Chain Shaman
MARCH 27, 2014
'“How can I move the ball down the field, if I don’t have the ball?” A Question from my Training Class this Week. “How do I know if I am ready for cool technologies? Especially demand sensing and shaping?” A Demand Planner for a Large Multinational Pharmaceutical Company. Last week was a blur. It was a series of days on planes, trains and automobiles.
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Supply Chain Shaman
MAY 2, 2014
'An antagonist (from Greek ???????????? – antagonist?s , “opponent, competitor, enemy, rival”, from anti- “against” + agonizesthai “to contend for a prize,”) is a character, group of characters, or institution that represents the opposition against which the protagonist , or main character, must contend. In other words, an antagonist is a person or a group of people who oppose the main character(s). .
Supply Chain Shaman
DECEMBER 23, 2014
'Details matter. Execution is essential. …it might make a difference on what is under your tree. In 2014, ecommerce strategies grew in importance. In the last decade, ecommerce was a permissible and desirable channel only for retailers. At that time, manufacturers talked about customer-centric supply chains, but were afraid to aggressively adopt ecommerce strategies.
Supply Chain Shaman
OCTOBER 8, 2014
'Throw a coin in the air. There is a 50% chance of heads and a 50% probability of tails. Today, based on a recent study with 113 process companies, an organization’s probability of success with an IT project is almost the same as the toss of a coin. Based on a recent study of 113 process manufacturers, only 58% of companies report that their projects meet their business objectives.
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