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The problem is that the reduction of costs within one function does not necessarily drive value. In today’s architectures and functional metrics, value optimization does not exist. I think the rewiring starts with the education of the executive team, and that process should follow strategy. You are right.
The transition to renewable energy and the adoption of sustainable practices are now essential for reducing environmental impact, ensuring regulatory compliance, and maintaining competitiveness. Reducing dependency on fossil fuels can mitigate these risks and improve operational predictability.
For senior leaders, understanding and integrating the three pillars of sustainability—environmental, social, and economic—into supply chain strategies is essential. Reducing carbon emissions is a cornerstone of this effort. Meanwhile, advances in AI-driven route optimization reduce unnecessary mileage, cutting emissions and costs.
Optimizing fulfillment requires a series of steps to get a shipment from its source to the end customer. These steps include sourcing and receiving inventory, storing inventory, order processing, picking and packing an order, shipping the order, and returns management.
If you’re evaluating procurement technology or exploring ways to drive more value from existing systems, chances are you’re looking beyond tactical fixes – you want a smarter, scalable strategy. Misaligned priorities across finance, legal, and procurement create friction that delays decision-making and reduces impact.
Reducing cost was the primary objective, and most operational decisionsfrom sourcing to fulfillmentreflected that mindset. Resilience is the ability to respond to disruption while maintaining core operations, and more companies are shifting their strategies accordingly. For years, supply chains were engineered to be lean.
In follow-up qualitative interviews, one of the largest issues with organizational alignment was metric definition and a clear definition of supply chain excellence. In my post Mea Culpa, I reference my work with the Gartner Supply Chain Hierarchy of Metrics. Error is error, but is it the most important metric? My answer is no.
This is amplified across the supply chain into an exponential impact on inventory and planned orders for manufacturing. The use of outside-in signals can reduce it by 40-60%. Inventory Health. I find only 8% of companies actively measure inventory health. Does it increase error and inventory targets? Most likely.)
In the automotive sector, manufacturers are simultaneously reducinginventory costs and delivery times. We’ll examine the key components of efficient supply chains, explore essential performance metrics, and uncover the fundamental drivers that influence efficiency.
Now for the Do’s & Don’ts In the dynamic world of FMCG, your Route to Market (RTM) strategy and distributor partnerships can make or break your brand’s success. Do Set Clear KPIs and Governance Structures : Establish transparent metrics for sales, coverage, and service levels. Ensure margins are fair and sustainable.
Read on to explore key AI use cases in procurement, the challenges businesses face, strategies to overcome them, and the exciting opportunities AI brings for the future. Contract analysis AI in sourcing and procurement is transforming contract management by automating key tasks like contract review, compliance tracking, and renewal alerts.
Material Flow: Optimize material flow patterns to accommodate increased volume without creating bottlenecks or excessive inventory. Consider these essential metrics: Asset Utilization: How efficiently are your machines being used? Production, technology, and organizational structure should all support the overall scaling strategy.
It’s the key to transforming your supply chain from a source of frustration into a well-oiled, profit-generating machine. You’ll learn how to leverage data to streamline operations, reduce costs, improve efficiency, and exceed customer expectations. That’s where data analytics comes in. Ready to get started?
These benefits aren’t just about lower prices; they’re also about reducing transportation and inventory costs, which can really add up over time. The procurement department works with inventory and logistics teams to ensure that everything ends up in the right place without delays or discrepancies.
According to McKinsey , organizations implementing AI-driven demand forecasting solutions can reduce forecast errors by 30% to 50%. Even more impressive, lost sales due to stockouts can decrease by up to 65%, while inventoryreductions of 20% to 50% are possible. The company recognizes over 200 micro-climates within the U.S.
Discover how Ivalua’s Supply Chain Collaboration solution empowers you to work more closely with suppliers, reduce risk, and build a more agile, connected supply chain. But within an enterprise, being aware of the differences between the two functions will shape strategy and operations, and ultimately impact performance.
Think about it: How much time is wasted hunting down misplaced inventory? These digital tools transform traditional warehouse processes, creating streamlined, automated workflows that reduce errors, improve warehouse productivity, and increase overall efficiency. Think real-time inventory visibility across all your locations.
The client leaned across the table and asked, “Is a customer-centric supply chain strategy the same as a demand-driven supply chain strategy?” Drawing from the Whiteboard: Building Customer-Centric Supply Chain Strategies. The focus is on channel data: price; inventory positions; and policies. Channel Sensing.
If you’re exploring procurement technology, chances are you’re not just looking for a better tool – rather, you’re looking for a smarter, scalable strategy. Broadly speaking, procurement technology encompasses the digital e-procurement tools and systems used to automate, streamline, and optimize the entire Source-to-Pay (S2P) lifecycle.
By maximizing space utilization, improving inventory control , and boosting workflow efficiency, you can unlock significant cost savings and elevate your customer service game. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore the key elements of warehouse optimization and provide actionable strategies you can implement today.
A disruption at any point in the global logistics network including the average of 12 touch points from shipment packaging to final delivery can prove disastrous for profits, service levels, customer loyalty, and other key metrics. With the global e-commerce market predicted to reach $8.1
Suddenly, managing inventory is the name of the game for companies trying to manage working capital and maximize profit while keeping customers happy. And that’s where real-time perpetual inventory signals come in. Plus, accurate inventory information is the key to optimal decision-making.
Whether you’re managing a distribution center, coordinating fleet operations, or shaping global supply strategy, understanding how to deploy and scale digital twins may be your next competitive edge. Static workflows based on outdated assumptions are no match for todays rapidly shifting inventory demands.
Second, they adapt over time as market structures and strategies evolve. 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. Reward teams for cross-functional metrics.
That’s why organizations zero in on strategies to achieve procurement cost reduction. The key thing to remember is that cost reduction in procurement isn’t just about slashing expenses. It cuts costs yet helps maintain product quality and smooth operations. Negotiate better contract terms.
The issue is that when companies optimize functional metrics, they throw the supply chain out of balance and sub-optimize value. We have not designed the planning systems to serve managers, directors, and vice presidents, aiming to improve decision-making and collaboration across the source, make, and deliver processes.
In manufacturing-based companies, 70-80% of costs are in the processes of source, make and deliver. While the practices of finance are over 200 years old, in contrast, supply chain as a cross-functional practice (the combination of make, source and deliver) was recently defined in 1982. Is talent a cost or an asset? Empowered talent.
Configure to Order: This strategy involves customizing standard products based on customer specifications. Here is a summary of the key supply chain characteristics of each of the manufacturing strategy and how it impacts collaboration with suppliers.
However, building such a supply chain requires smart strategies , the right partners, andmost importantlythe ability to adapt quickly when things go wrong. In this article, well explore proven strategies to safeguard your supply chain, minimize risks, and keep your business running smoothly, no matter what obstacles lie ahead.
Strategic Sourcing Simplified: Best Practices for Maximizing Value Strategic sourcing goes beyond cost savings its about making informed decisions that drive long-term value. Now well dive into best practices in these critical areas to ensure a more effective and resilient sourcingstrategy.
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?
For instance, a student struggling with inventory management concepts can receive supplementary materials, interactive simulations, and one-on-one tutoring sessions tailored to their needs. Conversely, a student who quickly grasps procurement strategies can be challenged with advanced case studies and leadership projects.
The research methodology for the Supply Chains to Admire compares the performance of a company against its industry peer group for the metrics of Year-over-Year Revenue Growth, Inventory Turns, Operating Margin, and Return on Capital Employed (ROCE). Today, companies measure too many metrics without a clear definition of value.
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
Inventories in the chemical industry are at record lows: a forerunner of bad days ahead. While we will recover quickly in retail (moving from painful shortages to a glut of inventory), the chemical industry–sitting four and five layers back in the supply chain–takes longer to recover. Retail shelves are increasingly empty.
As these organizations act on their climate pledges, the responsibility to reduce emissions is cascading to suppliers at every level. Tesco and Walmart have announced procurement policies aimed at reducing carbon emissions and promoting sustainability throughout their extended supply chains. Retailers are following suit.
There are many ways an organization can cut supply chain costs. While there are no short-term fixes, enterprises should prioritize areas where they can make the quickest gains to reduce costs. This is a short term strategy, and one that can ultimately damage relationships with key suppliers.
The traditional metrics of excellence cost efficiency, on-time delivery while still important, are no longer sufficient in an era defined by volatility, complexity and political changes. Inventory management has similarly evolved from static calculations to autonomous orchestration.
Clear operating strategy and definition of supply chain excellence across plan, source, make and deliver. A shift from functional metrics to a balanced scorecard. I like the use of growth, margin, inventory turns, Return on Invested Capital, customer service and ESG metrics. I write this post as a guide.
Inventory is the lifeblood of any manufacturing business. By leveraging analytics and key performance indicators (KPIs), manufacturers can optimize inventory, reduce waste, and boost profitability. Tracking inventory flow and performance across your supply chain is a must. But what exactly should you measure?
Here we share the answers to the questions that we get the most often about this research: What is the source of data? We eliminated several large conglomerates. We placed them in the industry that they were the most like, e.g., the primary source of revenue. There are a lot of misconceptions about inventory.
The use of orbit charts allowed me to see the patterns of performance at the intersection of metrics over time. This data source synchronizes corporate reporting across global markets while tracking restatements, name changes, and currency shifts.) The second part of the story is that inventory turns for Lenovo are 10.8,
The point of the virtual summit was to discuss how streamlining the order-to-fulfillment process achieves perfect delivery, improves customer loyalty, and reduces costs. What is the Perfect Delivery Metric? The wrong metrics drive suboptimal behaviors and metrics can often be manipulated. Third is to deliver on time.
A solid supply chain and logistics strategy is essential for large companies. Using a logistics-oriented strategy helps companies better understand their suppliers, improve customer service, and optimize shipping. Smart logistics strategies can reduce wastage and improve operational costs. Subscribe Here! Email Address.
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