Logistics Viewpoints

APRIL 10, 2025

First, overreliance on a narrow group of suppliersespecially those in politically sensitive regionsexposes companies to risk when trade relationships shift. Companies that treat landed cost as a fixed figure are increasingly at risk of mispricing, misallocating inventory, or miscalculating profitability.

Optimal Sourcing 227

Optimal Sourcing Modeling Cost Reduction Strategies Supply Chain Optimization 227

Supply Chain Shaman

MAY 25, 2024

The use of orbit charts allowed me to see the patterns of performance at the intersection of metrics over time. By charting the performance against peer groups, I could see the story. The first step was to find a reliable data set and establish the peer groups. The second step of establishing peer groups was trickier.

Eliminating Excel in Purchasing 385

Eliminating Excel in Purchasing Gartner Supply Chain Design Supply Chain Strategy 385

RFgen

NOVEMBER 13, 2024

Picture this: You’re a warehouse manager, and with a few taps on your smartphone, you instantly know the exact location and quantity of every item in your inventory. That’s not science fiction—it’s the power of mobile inventory management. Ready to turn your inventory from a headache into a strategic asset?

Inventory Management Software 96

Inventory Management Software Real-time Visibility Inventory Reduction Inventory Management 96

Supply Chain Shaman

DECEMBER 28, 2020

Only four percent of companies compared to their peer groups improved balance sheet performance of growth, operating margin, and inventory turns. When compared to pre-recession years, we ended the decade with twenty more days of inventory. Days of Inventory Comparison. Both companies outperformed their peer groups.

Supply Chain Planning Software 420

Supply Chain Planning Software Forecasting Forecasting Software Modeling 420

Supply Chain Shaman

SEPTEMBER 3, 2018

Over the last six years, we studied the connection between business results (growth, operating margin, inventory turns and Return on Invested Capital (ROIC)) and the link to company characteristics. The technology group wanted to implement SAP IBP, and the business leaders were resistant. Reward teams for cross-functional metrics.

Supply Chain Planning Software 377

Supply Chain Planning Software Supply Chain Design Software Agile and Lean Supply Chain Supply Chain Software 377

Supply Chain Shaman

APRIL 2, 2025

For my long-time readers, you know that fewer than 3% of companies outperform their peer group in our Supply Chains to Admire analysis , and that the Gartner Top 25 is essentially a beauty contest for underperformers. The third step is to do a data inventory. The focus is on unveiling a new, bright, and shiny object. And what is value?

Optimal Sourcing 195

Optimal Sourcing Supply Chain Planning Software Modeling Supply Chain Design Software 195

Supply Chain Shaman

MAY 15, 2023

Use of Supply Chain Descriptors Most organizations are locked into functional silos driven by functional metrics. Stuck in a rut, supply chain leaders try to punch their way through a set of conflicting metrics and priorities each day. The metrics defining success in manufacturing and procurement do not align.

Manufacturing Procurement 469

Manufacturing Procurement Optimal Sourcing Agile and Lean Supply Chain Supply Chain Planning 469

Supply Chain Shaman

APRIL 27, 2022

At each company, there is a relationship between the metrics of growth, margin, inventory, customer service, and asset strategy. For the purpose of this article, I will use Return on Invested Capital (ROIC) as the proxy metric to discuss asset utilization.) Understanding this relationship requires modeling. (A A Case Study.

Procurement Analytics 369

Procurement Analytics Manufacturing Procurement Supply Chain Planning Software Supply Chain Design Software 369

Supply Chain Shaman

JANUARY 9, 2024

They are unconscious that they are underperforming their peer group and have not driven industry improvement. An average margin of 21% with inventory turns of 1.58 Sanofi Performance Versus Peer Group for 2013-2022 Similarly, I find 35% of companies following the pack not able to drive resilience in the face of market shifts.

Supply Chain Planning Software 388

Supply Chain Planning Software Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Planning Gartner 388

Supply Chain Shaman

JANUARY 2, 2024

We talk about the move from functional metrics to a balanced scorecard, but we don’t use a balanced scorecard as an objective function. They underperform in their peer groups against companies weaker in planning. Orbit charts of four companies for the period of 2013-2022 at the intersection of operating margin and inventory turns.

Gartner 369

Gartner Supply Chain Planning Software Supply Chain Design Software Case Study 369

Supply Chain Shaman

MARCH 19, 2014

As an analyst in the market for the past ten years (first with Gartner, then with AMR Research, followed by my work at Altimeter Group and now with my own firm Supply Chain Insights), I have stood in front of clients doing strategy days advocating “best practices” and I wanted to set the record straight. It was an awakening.

Gartner 383

Gartner Supply Chain Planning Software Supply Chain Strategy Supply Chain Software 383

Supply Chain Shaman

JUNE 29, 2021

Using balance sheet data from 2011 to 2019, we chart companies’ progress by peer group on rate of improvement and performance in the metrics of growth, operating margin, inventory turns, and Return on Invested Capital (ROIC). A focus on functional metrics throws the supply chain out of balance.)

Supply Chain Planning Software 370

Supply Chain Planning Software Supply Chain Design Software Supply Chain Planning Supply Chain Design 370

Supply Chain Shaman

SEPTEMBER 9, 2014

It is the end of a two-year research project, and identifies which publicly held companies outperformed their peer group on balance sheet results. We built peer groups based on like industries. How did you define peer groups? As a result, we report their results along with their pharmaceutical peer group.

Pharmaceutical 308

Pharmaceutical Gartner Supply Chain Design Software Supply Chain Design 308

Supply Chain Shaman

MARCH 21, 2024

The Company was attempting to gain economies of scale by grouping manufacturing technologies within a common infrastructure to reap the benefits of a co-generation facility, a centralized warehouse, and a talented administrative team. In my forty years of studying supply chain planning, the groups became larger, but with questionable results.

Inventory Reduction 435

Inventory Reduction Supply Chain Planning Software Cost Reduction Strategies Supply Chain Design Software 435

Supply Chain Shaman

NOVEMBER 21, 2023

My client attempted to have a supply chain discussion to improve flow, and his executive group just did not get it. In the early 1980s, As a result, we did not have a perpetual inventory signal. Without a perpetual inventory signal, we were never synchronized on where to place customer orders. The metrics were not aligned.

Supply Chain Planning Software 407

Supply Chain Planning Software Inventory Reduction Supply Chain Design Software Cost Reduction Strategies 407

Logistics Viewpoints

DECEMBER 15, 2022

The idea is that data points within a group share similar properties, and each group is different (statistically speaking) from another. Retailers can apply cluster analysis techniques in different ways to find groups of customers, products, stores, or suppliers that behave similarly. The retail industry is rich with data.

Optimal Sourcing 264

Optimal Sourcing Analysis Procurement Analytics Purchasing Skills 264

Supply Chain Shaman

MAY 22, 2013

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 companies. Inventory Turns values are based on an average of quarterly reporting for the past year. Inventory Turns is only part of the story.

Gartner 306

Gartner Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Chemicals 306

Supply Chain Shaman

JUNE 19, 2018

It is now our fifth year of analyzing balance sheets to understand which companies are outperforming their peer groups on the metrics of growth, operating margin, inventory turns and Return on Invested Capital (ROIC) while driving improvement. This is the fun part of my job. This work is not easy. Today, it is not.

Gartner 279

Gartner Supply Chain Design Software Supply Chain Design Supply Chain Strategy 279

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. I feel that the industry is engaged in ‘Group Think’ No one in this meetings is going to ask tough questions.

Supply Chain Planning Software 379

Supply Chain Planning Software Modeling Demand Planning Software Optimization Software 379

Supply Chain Shaman

JUNE 24, 2022

The future inventory fire sale. One of my stark realizations this year is that smaller companies are beating larger and often more established companies on growth metrics, inventory turns, operating margin, and Return on Invested Capital (ROIC). (In The metrics selection resulted from work with Arizona State University in 2013.)

Supply Chain Planning Software 398

Supply Chain Planning Software Supply Chain Design Software Supply Chain Planning Supply Chain Software 398

Supply Chain Shaman

OCTOBER 5, 2018

The award, based on beating the industry peer group on rate of improvement on the key metrics of growth, operating margin, inventory turns, and Return on Invested Capital (ROIC) while outperforming their peer group, is tough to achieve. Orbit Chart for L’Oréal at the Intersection of Inventory Turns and Operating Margin.

Case Study 330

Case Study Inventory Reduction Study Agile and Lean Supply Chain 330

Supply Chain Shaman

JULY 6, 2020

Tom, the colorful warehouse manager, constantly heckled Frank for the increasing inventory levels while Ed, the quiet material/logistics manager, constantly questioned if there was a better way. He felt that inventory was no problem, he would just cut it at the end of each quarter to make the balance sheet goals. The So What?

Agile and Lean Supply Chain 365

Agile and Lean Supply Chain Supply Chain Design Software Supply Chain Planning Software Supply Chain Strategy 365

Logility

MAY 22, 2020

The obvious danger of this is that business rules and data governance often don’t exist from department to department or user to user, leaving an overall picture into the health of the business that is foggy because KPIs and metrics do not correlate across the organization. A great example of this comes from a Logility customer.

Analytics Software 148

Analytics Software Metrics Supply Chain Design Software Supply Chain Software 148

Supply Chain Shaman

MARCH 27, 2014

I also continued to work on the manuscript for the book Metrics That Matter to publish in the fall of 2014. This is a networking group that meets by phone once a month. The average client that has implemented demand sensing technologies has reduced inventory by 11%. The book is now a very worn manuscript. It makes a difference.

Supply and Demand 343

Supply and Demand Inventory Reduction Demand Planning Software Forecasting Software 343

RFgen

NOVEMBER 20, 2024

Think about it: How much time is wasted hunting down misplaced inventory? These include: Barcode Scanning Devices: These handheld devices, equipped with integrated inventory management apps, enable real-time tracking and data entry. Think real-time inventory visibility across all your locations.

Inventory Reduction 98

Inventory Reduction Inventory Management Software Waste Reduction Cost Reduction Strategies 98

Supply Chain Shaman

JANUARY 8, 2024

When compared to the peer group performance, smaller and regional players outperform larger companies. Intuitive Surgical, L’Oreal, and Sleep Number drove excellence through product and service innovation to outperform their peer groups. The supply chain has two important buffers–inventory and capacity.

Supply Chain Design Software 244

Supply Chain Design Software Supply Chain Planning Software Modeling Software Supply Chain Network Software 244

Supply Chain Shaman

OCTOBER 20, 2012

When new groups come together, the forming process is often awkward. ” In this team activity, people who do not know each other list four statements and ask the group to guess which statement is false. .” ” I played three lies and a truth with the group. Here they are: The Lie of Inventory Reduction.

Inventory Reduction 282

Inventory Reduction Cost Reduction Strategies Resource Reduction Material Savings 282

Supply Chain Shaman

JULY 12, 2013

For the supply chain team, the largest area of misalignment is between the supply chain and the sales group. Supply teams are being pressured to reduce costs while demand groups are feeling the squeeze to get the “ demand plan right.” Next week, I will be writing on my new book Metrics That Matter.

Supply Chain Design Software 323

Supply Chain Design Software Supply Chain Planning Software Modeling Modeling Software 323

Supply Chain Shaman

JULY 22, 2019

It is not as simple as trading-off inventory, cost, and customer service. In the Supply Chains to Admire analysis, the focus is to understand the relative performance of a company within a peer group of growth, operating margin, inventory turns, and Return on Invested Capital (ROIC). This share group is now in its sixth year.

Supply Chain Design Software 306

Supply Chain Design Software Supply Chain Planning Software Gartner Supply Chain Software 306

Supply Chain Shaman

APRIL 16, 2014

I have taken myself off the road to write the book Metrics That Matter. On the 2nd of April, I sat before a board discussing how a company could exceed expectations in the delivery of Return on Invested Capital (ROIC) and superior operating margins and fail at the delivery of customer service and inventory. It is a slow week.

Supply Chain Design Software 299

Supply Chain Design Software Agile and Lean Supply Chain Modeling Supply Chain Planning Software 299

Supply Chain Shaman

MAY 29, 2014

I just don’t think the comparison of very different industries in a spreadsheet based on growth, inventory values, and Return on Assets (ROA) is meaningful. To be valid, I believe that companies must be compared within a peer group. As a result, the metrics have to be viewed together as a pattern over time.

Gartner 367

Gartner Inventory Reduction Supply Chain Planning Software Pharmaceutical 367

Supply Chain Shaman

SEPTEMBER 17, 2014

This report, Supply Chains to Admire , compares the progress of 200 companies within their respective peer groups on both performance and improvement. Aligned Metrics. Do you actively design networks with a focus on form and function of inventory? Supply Chain Design. Active, and intentional, design of the supply chain.

Optimal Sourcing 366

Optimal Sourcing Supply Chain Design Software Supply Chain Planning Software Manufacturing Procurement 366

Logistics Bureau

JANUARY 21, 2025

An efficient supply chain strategy is one that takes every aspect of your supply chain into account, from inventory management and warehouse design to freight tendering and transport optimisation. Inventory Management The key starting point is implementing proper ABC analysis, and you need to look at it from multiple angles.

Supply Chain Design Software 98

Supply Chain Design Software Supply Chain Planning Software Supply Chain Software Supply Chain Design 98

Supply Chain Shaman

OCTOBER 22, 2015

The impact of complexity on inventory is not quick. To help, today I want to share some of the insights from our recent Inventory Optimization study. Inventory management is a hot issue. Companies invest in project after project, yet inventory levels remain the same. The Business Problem. The analogy is weight loss.

Inventory Reduction 150

Inventory Reduction Supply Chain Design Software Inventory Supply Chain Planning Software 150

Logility

AUGUST 5, 2021

But before you start measuring everything in sight – and a few things not in sight – start with a set of thoughtful intentions and questions that will guide you to the right set of metrics and the right set of expectations. Inventory-based KPIs probably make sense for you, but how will you benchmark results? That’s a trap.

Metrics 130

Metrics Modeling Supply Chain Planning Software Supply Chain Design Software 130

Supply Chain Shaman

FEBRUARY 26, 2024

On Friday, I presented an overview of outside-in planning to a consulting group. Based on the work with Georgia Tech, we are getting clear on which metrics matter by industry. As companies adopt a balanced scorecard, the functional metrics shift to a focus on reliability. Analyze inventory health. The reason?

Modeling 274

Modeling Supply and Demand Optimal Sourcing Supply Chain Planning Software 274

Supply Chain Shaman

NOVEMBER 9, 2014

It was my first time working with this group. The group laughed. ” The group was quiet as we discussed the fact in the traditional organization that functional silos are not designed to work together. I also believed that this company would have the best inventory and customer service. The first name is Irish.

Manufacturing Procurement 319

Manufacturing Procurement Optimal Sourcing Benchmarking Supply Chain Design Software 319