This site uses cookies to improve your experience. To help us insure we adhere to various privacy regulations, please select your country/region of residence. If you do not select a country, we will assume you are from the United States. Select your Cookie Settings or view our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Cookie Settings
Cookies and similar technologies are used on this website for proper function of the website, for tracking performance analytics and for marketing purposes. We and some of our third-party providers may use cookie data for various purposes. Please review the cookie settings below and choose your preference.
Used for the proper function of the website
Used for monitoring website traffic and interactions
Cookie Settings
Cookies and similar technologies are used on this website for proper function of the website, for tracking performance analytics and for marketing purposes. We and some of our third-party providers may use cookie data for various purposes. Please review the cookie settings below and choose your preference.
Strictly Necessary: Used for the proper function of the website
Performance/Analytics: Used for monitoring website traffic and interactions
A data gateway is essentially a connective tissue across your supply chain, providing unified access to supply chain data from various sources, including enterprise systems, data feeds, data warehouses, data lakes, data marts, and business entities. Achieving these goals requires visibility into the entire supply chain.
The most common form of trading partner collaboration is purchase order collaboration. With PO collaboration, buyers send digital purchase orders over the network to suppliers or other trading partners. 18,000 suppliers ship 70,000 different types of parts to 72 Molex manufacturing plants across the globe.
They integrate AI into demand forecasting, inventory optimization, and logistics operations to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and mitigate risks. Excess inventory, stockouts, and increased transportation expenses are common consequences of outdated planning methods. Amazon is a leader in AI-driven supply chain management.
A data gateway is essentially a connective tissue across your supply chain, providing unified access to supply chain data from various sources, including enterprise systems, data feeds, data warehouses, data lakes, data marts, and business entities. Achieving these goals requires visibility into the entire supply chain.
This metric measures the percentage of time the planners accept replenishment, transportation, or inventory plans as they are without any change in the timing of the delivery or the quantity to be delivered. You don’t act on a forecast; you act on what you purchase. You manufacture stuff. You set a target inventory level.
Just-in-time (JIT) inventory models, lean supplier networks, and offshore manufacturing reduced expenses but left companies exposed to disruptions. The COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing geopolitical shifts demonstrated the risks of relying on single-source suppliers and minimal inventory buffers.
Transportation, warehousing, and manufacturing collectively contribute significantly to carbon emissions, making these areas critical for meaningful change. Ethical sourcing is a fundamental aspect of social sustainability. The impact of supply chains on local communities cannot be overlooked.
Running a manufacturing business isn’t easy. You’re juggling production schedules, managing inventory, keeping an eye on finances, and making sure everything runs smoothly on the shop floor. That’s where a manufacturing ERP comes in. It’s a lot to handle. Let’s get started.
If you would like to participate in a current research study, we would love your help and participation in the contract manufacturing study. We are trying to assess the value of a network in managing contract manufacturing.) One of the alignment gaps that is growing and is unfortunate is the gap between procurement and manufacturing.
In May 2025, one in seven home-purchase agreements fell through resulting in the cancellation of 56,000 purchase contracts. Supply chain was defined in 1982 as interoperability between source, make and deliver. Ask a procurement or transportation professional if they have a good demand signal and expect a laugh.
Despite the evolution of technology, none of the 28 industry segments I follow can drive improvement at the intersection of operating margin and inventory turns. We paused publishing the report this year while we worked with Georgia Tech on the right balance of metrics to drive market capitalization/employee. Change is Hard.
It is crucial for organizations to understand the importance of Purchase Order collaboration to effectively manage their direct spend, optimize operations, and mitigate risks. Make to Order: Here, products are manufactured based on specific customer orders.
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.
Scaling manufacturing operations is crucial for business growth but presents unique challenges. Balancing increased demand with consistent quality and controlled costs is difficult but essential for manufacturers looking to expand. Successfully scaling manufacturing requires more than just adding resources.
In a previous post , I made a case for how the Chief Supply Chain Officer (CSCO) and Chief Procurement Officer (CPO) are smarter together. Accordingly Supply Chain and Procurement will need continuous collaboration. Such sourcing events can be in the context of direct materials or logistics capacity.
Keeping track of all your moving parts in manufacturing is a tall order. That’s where manufacturinginventory management software comes in. We’re talking real-time tracking, automated purchasing, and a whole lot less stress. Spreadsheets just don’t cut it anymore.
They emphasized being an Industry Cloud Complete Company with industry-specific solutions for over 2000 micro verticals across Process Manufacturing, Distribution, Service Industries, and Discrete Manufacturing. Industry-specific content is available for processes like Source to Settle, Procure to Pay, Order to Cash, and more.
The report, which comprised 310 respondents, provides a cross-industry snapshot of the current state of RPA in supply chain, including the likelihood of implementation as well as the benefits and obstacles surrounding RPA deployment. Many technologies are implemented as a source of cost cutting.
In the fast-paced world of smart manufacturing, making quick, accurate and informed decisions is essential. Real-time decision-making, powered by artificial intelligence (AI) , is revolutionizing smart manufacturing processes. That said, manufacturers need to take several steps to successfully enable these technologies.
At each company, there is a relationship between the metrics of growth, margin, inventory, customer service, and asset strategy. Keith led the work to move P&G from a regional to a global manufacturer opening up the Warsaw center of planning excellence and outsourcing IT to HP. The supply chain is a complex non-linear system.
GEP and the North Carolina State University (NCSU) Supply Chain Resource Cooperative surveyed supply chain, procurement and IT professionals across a range of industries to gain insight into their priorities and strategies regarding supply chain resilience and optimization. Procurement solutions are often updated with purchased information.
Today, I speak at the North American Manufacturing Association, Manufacturing Leadership Conference, in Nashville on the use of data to improve supply chain resilience. Interestingly, in Q3 2023, 38% of manufacturers, distributors and retailers missed their target for revenue guidance for the quarter. The result was restatement.
Supplier Collaboration: Fundamental to Elevating Manufacturing Performance Supplier relationships are at the heart of manufacturing performance. That’s why supplier collaboration—that consistent, trusted, and responsive interaction between supplier and manufacturer—is pivotal to manufacturing success.
They write, “This includes tackling bigger issues such as compliance, supplier relationship management, risk and disruption, responsible sourcing, and transparency. IoT devices track inventory in real time, providing valuable insights into stock movement, reducing waste, and ensuring products are available when needed.”
Leveling up your inventory life cycle can be crucial, but keeping all the fundamental factors jumping is essential to let the life cycle evolve. However, if the life cycle stock is healthy, inventory management is smooth. Inventory management revolves around the pivotal concept of the product life cycle. Click here!
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?
I volunteered to write a report on supply visibility. We never published the report. Too few companies have a holistic approach to embrace the plan, make, source, and deliver together. The problem with supplier visibility is bookended into procurement processes that have gone back, not forward over the last decade.
I see a preponderance of reports and white papers that have lots of pages but say little. Rolling up a perpetual inventory signal takes eleven hours. Contract Manufacturing Signal Latency. In my last blog post, I shared insights on data synchronization between brand owners and contract manufacturing. Back to John.
Choosing the Right ERP System for Manufacturing: Key Features to Consider Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is a cornerstone of modern manufacturing, bringing together core business functions to improve operational efficiency. Quality Control – Manufacturers must ensure that every product meets industry and customer standards.
following the reporting of fourth-quarter results. The Salesforce.com model is primarily a pipeline management tool suitable for discrete markets but not process manufacturers. Relex will continue to do well in the retail market but will struggle to be a serious player in manufacturing due to the lack of thought leadership.
How MES is Shaping the Future of Manufacturing and Boosting Production Efficiency What is a Manufacturing Execution System (MES)? A manufacturing execution system (MES) is a comprehensive, dynamic software system that monitors, tracks, documents, and controls the process of manufacturing goodsfrom raw materials to finished products.
Supply chain efficiency is the cornerstone of success and involves the effective management of processes, resources, and technologies from procurement to production, transportation to warehousing. In the automotive sector, manufacturers are simultaneously reducing inventory costs and delivery times.
Advances in automation, sensors, analytics, and other technologies have made significant changes in manufacturing. A modern manufacturing ERP system will make use of these technologies so that their benefits can be realized. Two major transformational changes have occurred in manufacturing.
Supply shortages, low inventory to sales ratios, and hiring lags are noted as factors at play. Data as recent as the end of June 2021 show that inventories remain below 1.3 However, the CPI report did state, “ the index for used cars and trucks rose 0.2 Used cars and trucks were up 41.7%. I question if this is a data anomaly.
Automotive distributors play a vital role in the automotive supply chain by procuring parts, warehousing them, and then supplying them to OEMs (original equipment manufacturer), retailers or end consumers. The data can be used to identify inefficiencies in the supply chain, improve inventory management, and streamline operations.
The latest study highlights opportunities for businesses to strengthen resilience with artificial intelligence (AI)-driven demand sensing to optimize inventory, realize more value from planning investments, and better serve clients during disruptions of any size. Orlando, FL – October 2, 2024 – E2open Parent Holdings, Inc.
Supply Chain Matters highlights indications providing added evidence that manufacturers and retailers are front loading inventory management actions in attempts to initially hedge against added U.S. We cited indications of the post Lunar New Year ramp-up of global production levels to replenish inventories, more so than in prior years.
Instead of high-level frameworks, attendees heard directly from global manufacturers including RHI Magnesita, Teleflex, and Marelli. The company reported early gains, including a 24 percent reduction in inventory levels and verified cost savings exceeding €81 million. The agenda prioritized outcomes over abstraction.
The Losers Are the Global Multi-National Supply Chain Teams As I work on the Supply Chains to Admire report, that will publish soon, I wince at the performance of large strategic customers of the supply chain planning vendors when compared to their peer groups. The methodology is now 20 years old. Let’s have an honest discussion.
PwC reports that almost half of assets under management are held by investment firms committed to decarbonization. Similarly, UPS has strong commitments to sustainability and invests in many options, such as alternative fuel vehicles, e-cycles in dense cities, and carbon offsets for purchase with shipping. Buffering creates waste.
Value networks do not interoperate and the business leader trying to track shipments must manually sync multiple data sources to get to answers. Truck drivers report that maintenance issues are a constant nightmare. There is not a one-to-one relationship between a container and a purchase order. Get Good at Inventory Management.
Since January, Canadians’ weekly grocery trips have become a real-time indicator for the potential impacts of tariffs as shoppers have responded to threats with a showcase of buying power, prioritizing nationally sourced and manufactured products even before a single tariff was enacted. goods were “ rapidly dropping.”
In 2025, efficient spare parts inventory management is no longer a competitive advantage — it’s a business necessity. Yet for many organizations, spare parts inventory remains a critical blind spot. Obsolete stock, fragmented procurement workflows, and disconnected data only make the challenge harder.
We organize all of the trending information in your field so you don't have to. Join 102,000+ users and stay up to date on the latest articles your peers are reading.
You know about us, now we want to get to know you!
Let's personalize your content
Let's get even more personalized
We recognize your account from another site in our network, please click 'Send Email' below to continue with verifying your account and setting a password.
Let's personalize your content