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However, as carbon taxes and emissions reporting requirements continue increasing, supply chain professionals face mounting pressures from inside and outside their organizations to measure and improve performance against new, nebulous sustainability metrics. Freight transportation makes up over 10% of total global carbon emissions.
As supply chains become more interconnected and risks more dynamic, traditional procurementtools fall short. AI agents offer a smarter, faster way to manage sourcing, risk, and spend across the entire procurement lifecycle. This refers to AI systems that act with autonomy and are programmed to accomplish specific goals.
As supply chains become more interconnected and risks more dynamic, traditional procurementtools fall short. AI agents offer a smarter, faster way to manage sourcing, risk, and spend across the entire procurement lifecycle. This refers to AI systems that act with autonomy and are programmed to accomplish specific goals.
In this type of environment, traditional procurementsoftware and manual processes are insufficient – and many procurement teams are looking to artificial intelligence (AI) for answers. Key Takeaways Understand the potential impact of AI – including Generative AI & AI Agents – in procurement.
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?
Traditionally, procurement has been a process weighed down by manual tasks, fragmented systems, and endless paperwork. Today, procurement is undergoing a transformation. While procurement teams have long worked to add strategic value, Artificial Intelligence (AI) amplifies their impact.
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.
The formula for OTIF is: Measuring a supply chain against OTIF metrics is a key strategy that helps decision makers attach a tangible value to the success of their fulfillment and allows them to determine key strategies. Inadequacy of Planning Tools The second challenge identified by respondents was the inadequacy of planning tools.
Introduction Gardner, (1954) and Huntzinger, (2007) define Purchase price variance (PPV) as a metric used to measure the effectiveness of cost-saving efforts by calculating the difference between the planned cost (standard pricing) allocated for purchasing activities and the actual cost incurred.
The Failure of Existing Demand Planning Solutions. During the pandemic, supply chain leaders turned off their demand planning solutions. Also, the solutions lacked flexibility. No company interviewed was able to successfully use their current what-if solutions to model pandemic impacts. Lessons Learned. The reason?
Procurement and Supply Chain Management are essential functions that can help companies navigate these challenges, but they are often siloed and operate in separate departments. Their metrics are often misaligned as well – supply chain focuses on service and procurement focuses on the cost of acquiring materials and services.
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. Understanding Supply Chain Efficiency Supply chain efficiency refers to maximizing output while minimizing resource input.
Understanding how your Procurement and Supply Chain KPIs are performing isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s essential for survival and growth. But what if you could get a clear, birds-eye view of your core performance without investing in complex, expensive software? Why You Need Visibility of Supply Chain and Procurement KPIs?
What is procurement? In simple terms business procurement is the process of locating and acquiring goods and services from external sources for the business to use. Procurement activities include planning, sourcing, and negotiation, along with risk management, legal and value analysis. Procurement in 2021 and beyond.
Mobile inventory management is a digital solution that combines a mobile inventory app with cloud-based software to track, manage, and optimize inventory in real-time. Cloud software: Stores and distributes real-time data, producing reports accessible to all team members. Let’s get started!
We continue to see strong interest in our domain expertise and our solutions to help companies navigate the complex trade landscape. Acquisition of 3GTMS On March 24, 2025, Descartes acquired all of the shares of 3GTMS, a leading provider of transportation management solutions. Additions to property and equipment (1.9)
Companies often push aside procurement compliance to focus on more pressing issues. No wonder—procurement often gets tedious and burdened with time-consuming processes. However, ignoring procurement compliance is like ignoring a ticking time bomb. Scroll down to find out: What is procurement compliance?
Depending on the nature of your business, your trading partners or your location, this could include procurement strategies, demand planning, logistics, and global trade management among others. Mastering Direct Spend Management Procurement teams generally do not report to the chief supply chain officer.
Procurement is one core process area being focused to better manage today’s fluctuating change, with key performance metrics leading the way to assessing and managing procurement performance. The Basics of Procurement KPIs. Every KPI needs a clearly defined goal. Supplier KPIs.
The purchasing department plays a critical role in the success of an organization. Thought-out practices and well-managed workflows within the purchasing department are crucial for making sure that the company has the necessary resources available at the right time and at a reasonable cost.
This blog explains The Key MRP Metrics in Supply Chain whcih every supply chain professional in Manufacturing or Distribution Businesses. The metrics that underpin MRP could be described as the balls in this juggling act. This article takes an in-depth look at the crucial metrics every supply chain professional needs to know.
I am speaking this morning at the Terra Technology conference and doing a book signing of my new book, Supply Chain Metrics That Matter. Selling licenses does not translate into implemented software. ” LLamasoft: Recycled Software Assets Offering Hope? The LogicTools product was purchased for $15 million in 2007 by ILOG.
Solvoyo’s Solution Bugaboo: something that causes fear or distress out of proportion to its importance. When companies talk about improving their forecasting, they are most often referring to demand forecasting. It is important to benchmark forecast accuracy and similar supply chain metrics against your peers. Absolutely!
According to McKinsey & Company, procurement accounts for 50% to 80% of a company’s cost base. 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.
What does Procurement mean? An organization’s Procurement function is responsible for managing spend, in other words the buying goods and services that are used to make the products sold to customers as well as the purchasing of products and services used to run the organization on a day to day basis.
In the realm of efficient procurement management, understanding the various types of procurement reports becomes paramount. These reports serve as navigational tools, offering insights into different facets of the procurement process.
The article is written and the story is spun, but the solution offered is a supply-centric solution based on yesterday’s technology. As a result, articles are written proclaiming demand-driven results and then the reader is given a solution that is anything but demand driven. The concepts surrounding demand driven sound right.
To monitor supply chain performance, stakeholders of successful companies typically define supply chain metrics that are relevant to the given business and track these KPIs regularly. By setting benchmarks for metrics, analysts can recognize unsettling trends and take preventive measures on time.
For some businesses – usually smaller or with a single-source purchasing flow – it may be sustainable to react to the immediate needs. However, growing organizations that face increasing complexity recognize the value of thoughtfully-planned and managed procurement. Office supplies would be an example of indirect procurement.
Category management is a procurement strategy that involves grouping similar products or services together into categories and managing them as a single unit. This approach can help organizations streamline their procurement processes, negotiate better deals with suppliers, and ultimately save money.
Climate change, often referred to as Global Warming, is fast becoming a major issue for business, as well as our communities. This means developing supplier evaluation frameworks that include carbon metrics, working together on joint emission reduction projects, and incentivising suppliers to meet or beat carbon targets.
This is not to be confused with the cost of goods manufactured (COGM), which refers to just the cost of inventory that was finished and prepared for the sale in the period. Here’s a formula to calculate your total direct materials costs: Beginning Inventory + Added Purchases – Ending Inventory = Total Direct Materials Costs.
The key point is that I have spent a lot of my working life focused on the value generated by more advanced planning solutions. They have piloted the process in Excel and know that they need an enterprise level solution for a global roll-out of S&OP. Their words. She states that. However, excellence in corporate planning matters.
I think about this discussion with Keith often as I work on the Supply Chain Index and edit the chapters of Metrics That Matter. E2open last week announced the purchase of Serus. This purchase increases E2open’s capabilities for visibility into the processes of the outsourced semiconductor network of foundries.
At the NRF event, I feel that the words were largely overhyped and the solutions showcased on the floor largely underdelivered. As these words filled the air in session after session, the promises were vast and overarching, but the solutions showcased in the vendor booths on the floor were largely the same.
As a result, I invested in building qualitative survey capabilities and built a database of twenty years of supply chain ratio data (for more on this capability reference the research report, The Effective Frontier and check out our community ). Ownership of Inventory as a Metric. There are a few outliers (e.g., Rock, Scissors, Paper.
In today’s fast-paced and competitive business landscape, organizations across industries are realizing the immense value of effective procurement practices. Procurement professionals play a vital role in driving operational efficiency, cost savings, and strategic decision-making. But how do you get started? Do not worry!
It often employs statistical metrics like MAPE (mean average percentage error), which has hit a wall in recent years due to increased demand volatility and this approach's mostly backward-facing nature. Demand sensing software must reconcile the signals with the forecast. Demand Planning. Demand Sensing.
Behind every successful product business is a thoughtful procurement strategy designed to optimise the supplier management and purchasing process. This guide answers exactly what is procurement, how procurement works in a business , and which tools and strategies lead to supply chain success.
Here explain what DSI is, how to use it, and why it’s crucial to track this metric in your business – whether you’re a retailer, manufacturer, wholesaler or distributor. The next figure you need to calculate is COGS, which is a metric that relates to the direct costs of a product that a business sells.
Reverse logistics refers to all operations related to the reuse of products and materials. Customers expect to return products in the same way they purchased them, so it is not always as simple as just returning to a store. What is reverse Logistics?
Strong companies depend on a range of hardware and softwaresolutions to support key business processes like customer service, financial management, and supply chain operations. This article encompasses the best practices for planning and executing successful IT procurement strategies. What is IT procurement?
For any wholesale business, software has become critical to survival. So what should you keep an eye out for when you’re shopping around for wholesaling software? Learn more: Handle your wholesale orders with confidence Why is dedicated software so crucial for a wholesale SME? That place in between? split shipments). ?
Effective management of the master schedule requires a tool that has several key characteristics; Scenarios – This simply refers to the ability to create a copy of your data in-memory in less time than it takes to click a mouse. This tool must take that long too, right? The same tool doesn’t fit every company.
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