Supply Chain Shaman

APRIL 24, 2025

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.

Gartner 195

Gartner Supply Chain Planning Software Supply Chain Planning Scenario Planning 195

Supply Chain Shaman

SEPTEMBER 3, 2018

According to my research, top-performing supply chains possess three very different qualities. To help the reader, let’s start with definitions used in our research: Efficiency. In Table 1, from our research, I share ten tactics to consider. Reward teams for cross-functional metrics. Customer-Centric Supply Chain.

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 27, 2022

In this area of research, I find that companies are like dogs chasing cars. 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.)

Procurement Analytics 369

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

Supply Chain Shaman

JULY 6, 2020

Despite goals to improve agility and resiliency, functional metrics for manufacturing efficiency continually throw the supply chain out of balance. However, in my research, I find four factors make the difference (correlations at an 80% confidence level): Supply Chain Leadership. The second step is to align metrics to the strategy.

Agile and Lean Supply Chain 362

Agile and Lean Supply Chain Supply Chain Design Software Supply Chain Planning Software Supply Chain Strategy 362

Supply Chain Shaman

APRIL 25, 2013

The relationship between corporate financial performance and supply chain metrics was complex; and in my first attempts, I was unable to derive a correlation. The year 2012 marked the 30th anniversary of the use of supply chain management as a cross-functional process for source, make and deliver in the commercial sector. Definitions.

Supply Chain Design Software 310

Supply Chain Design Software Supply Chain Planning Software Supply Chain Software Supply Chain Design 310

Kinaxis

JULY 18, 2014

Even if you’re not you should check out Supply Chain Insights, Supply Chain Metrics That Matter. For the past several years, Supply Chain Insights has been delivering this research series. The research benchmarks A&D companies against other industries and looks at the top five A&D companies over the last decade.

Supply Chain Planning 224

Supply Chain Planning Supply Chain Design Supply Chain Strategy Aerospace 224

Supply Chain Opz

JUNE 1, 2014

In 2011, a research team consists of the experts from University of Michigan and Yahoo, Inc published the article named " Everyone’s an Influencer: Quantifying Influence on Twitter ". Data Collection As you may notice, "retweet" is the key metric for influence measurement and each database adds its own secret ingredients.

Supply Chain 277

Supply Chain Metrics Michigan SCM 277

Supply Chain Shaman

JUNE 6, 2013

In research study after study, we see that the greatest challenge to achieving supply chain excellence is the understanding of the supply chain by the leadership team. Closing the gaps happens when there are aligned metrics, clarity of vision and aligned planning processes. Metrics Alignment. They lack cohesion.

Supply Chain Planning Software 330

Supply Chain Planning Software Supply Chain Planning Optimal Sourcing Scenario Planning 330

Supply Chain Shaman

DECEMBER 15, 2022

In my research, I find that the lack of alignment has a direct impact to value (operating margin and market price to book value). Functional Metrics. This maniacal focus on improving functional metrics threw the supply chain out of balance and made the organization less able to work together to solve issues.

Manufacturing Procurement 397

Manufacturing Procurement Supply Chain Design Software Supply Chain Planning Software Procurement Analytics 397

Supply Chain Shaman

JUNE 5, 2013

Integration of corporate social responsibility metrics in planning. Comprehensive view of source, make and deliver. Most often the focus is on transportation or logistics, but does not take into consideration the trade-offs between make, source and deliver. Focus is on make, source and deliver together.

Supply Chain Planning Software 255

Supply Chain Planning Software Supply Chain Planning Supply and Demand Supply Chain Design Software 255

ivalua

NOVEMBER 29, 2022

Tracking the Metrics that Matter. While Ardent expects Procurement to rise to and tackle these challenges, tracking the metrics that matter will help them stay focused for full recovery. Inflation Metrics. Savings from Sourcing: In 2021, competitive sourcing projects generated an average of 7.7% Risk Metrics.

Procurement Analytics 130

Procurement Analytics Metrics Manufacturing Procurement Optimal Sourcing 130

Supply Chain Shaman

NOVEMBER 9, 2014

The team was organized around the functional silos of source, make and deliver. So much so, that three years ago, I founded a research company to focus on understanding supply chain excellence. In our work, we tie research from quantitative and qualitative studies to financial results to drive new insights. This is important.

Manufacturing Procurement 318

Manufacturing Procurement Optimal Sourcing Benchmarking Supply Chain Design Software 318

Supply Chain Shaman

APRIL 14, 2013

I have worked for Gartner Group, AMR Research, Altimeter Group and now my own company, Supply Chain Insights. Here, I would like to share some background information on the Index and how I intend to use it in developing a higher level of research. It will become one of the cornerstones of our research. How was it developed?

Gartner 286

Gartner S&OP Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Planning Software 286

Supply Chain Shaman

SEPTEMBER 17, 2014

Supply Chain Improvement is based on the work that we completed with an Arizona State University Operations Research team to determine the Supply Chain Index. Attending the conference was Alexia Howard, Senior Research Analyst – US Foods for Sanford C. Aligned Metrics. We find that this is true of too few companies.

Optimal Sourcing 365

Optimal Sourcing Supply Chain Design Software Supply Chain Planning Software Manufacturing Procurement 365

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. Here we share the answers to the questions that we get the most often about this research: What is the source of data? Today we published a new report, Supply Chains to Admire.

Pharmaceutical 307

Pharmaceutical Gartner Supply Chain Design Software Supply Chain Design 307

Supply Chain Shaman

JULY 22, 2019

In the research, I’m trying to understand the impact of choices—technology, process innovation, and leadership– on balance sheet performance. The research is independent and data-driven. For the past six years, I have analyzed public reporting and triangulated the results to the quantitative research. What have I found?

Supply Chain Design Software 304

Supply Chain Design Software Supply Chain Planning Software Gartner Supply Chain Software 304

ivalua

MAY 21, 2025

Digital procurement streamlines workflows and unifies data, enabling faster sourcing, better collaboration, and improved accuracy. Digital procurement is the use of digital technologies to enhance, automate, and optimize procurement processes across the entire source-to-pay (S2P) lifecycle.

Optimal Sourcing 130

Optimal Sourcing Procurement Solutions Procurement Analytics Analytics Software 130

Supply Chain Shaman

MAY 14, 2013

This week, at Supply Chain Insights LLC, we published our 11th report in the series titled Supply Chain Metrics That Matter. To write these reports, I work with Abby Mayer (twitter: @indexgirl ), Research Associate at Supply Chain Insights. When companies look at singular metrics (labor costs or inventory), they have moved backwards.

Supply Chain Design Software 256

Supply Chain Design Software Supply Chain Planning Software Optimal Sourcing Pharmaceutical 256

Logistics Viewpoints

DECEMBER 15, 2022

Price index and price elasticity are useful metrics on their own, and a combination of these can help determine the right price point to maximize revenue and profit. Since there are often differences in store sizes, a metric representing the size can be added as well for a two-dimensional clustering approach. Asena holds B.S.

Optimal Sourcing 260

Optimal Sourcing Analysis Procurement Analytics Purchasing Skills 260

Supply Chain Shaman

SEPTEMBER 24, 2017

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. This research was tough work. The results?

Cost Reduction Strategies 262

Cost Reduction Strategies Inventory Reduction Resource Reduction Manufacturing Procurement 262

Supply Chain Opz

JANUARY 7, 2013

Surprisingly, IT research firm Gartner ranks Apple Supply Chain as the best supply chain in the world for 4 years in a row. Apple Inc purchases raw materials from various sources then get them shipped to an assembling plant in China. Some components are currently obtained from the single or limited sources. Inventory Turnover.

Case Study 279

Case Study Study Negotiating Skills Supply Chain Planning Software 279

Logistics Viewpoints

FEBRUARY 14, 2022

D’Aquila is a director of research at ARC. This orientation is fundamental in determining what KPIs the company values, as many of them are far different from metrics managed by manufacturers relying on traditional views of success.”. Tesla scored the top spot, followed by Intel, BMW, Johnson & Johnson, 3M, and Eli Lilly.

Supply Chain Design Software 260

Supply Chain Design Software Supply Chain Software Report Logistics Network Optimization Software 260

Logistics Viewpoints

JULY 19, 2023

APQC conducts research on supply chain and logistics to help organizations assess the performance of their own processes and functions compared to their peers. Most recently, the APQC has conducted best practice and benchmarking research on environmental sustainability. Per our survey, 64.2

Sustainability 246

Sustainability Optimal Sourcing Logistics Material Savings 246

Supply Chain Shaman

JUNE 16, 2014

The research that I have conducted has enabled me to look at this holistically. When I left AMR Research I invested over 400K in building a database of supply chain financial ratios to correlate supply chain results. After three years of research, I have just refined the methodology to start to pull the trends. I am an old gal.

Supply Chain Design Software 319

Supply Chain Design Software Network Design Software Supply Chain Planning Software Supply Chain Network Software 319

Logistics Viewpoints

JULY 22, 2021

As product flows rapidly shifted and hard baked assumptions about lead times and sourcing locations were put to test, users across many organizations bypassed their planning systems and turned to excel sheets, internal data science teams or non-traditional supply chain vendors who could deliver AI based solutions at a faster turn.

S&OP 284

S&OP Supply and Demand Optimal Sourcing Supply Chain Design Software 284

Logistics Viewpoints

OCTOBER 26, 2021

Supply chains must be connected and collaborative so all links can align to business strategy and oriented toward a common set of the most important metrics (and not functional metrics that drive siloed behavior). But to operate at the board level we need to be able to speak the CFO’s language. Spike up to protect against attack.

Supply Chain Design Software 306

Supply Chain Design Software Agile and Lean Supply Chain Supply Chain Planning Software Pharmaceutical 306

Supply Chain Shaman

SEPTEMBER 28, 2022

Last week, after booking an additional $1B in unexpected supplier costs in the third quarter, the CFO led the company’s focus on restructuring to “support efficient and reliable sourcing of components and internal development of key technologies and capabilities.” So, what can Ford and others learn from our current research?

Manufacturing Procurement 195

Manufacturing Procurement Supply Chain Design Software Network Design Software Supply Chain Planning Software 195

GlobalTranz

MAY 20, 2015

The next posts in the series will break down metrics and issues to consider in SQM by industry and conclude with a case study on the application of SQM. 5 Key Metrics to Use for Scoring Supplier Quality Management (From LNS Research ). The definition of this metric is similar to the way it sounds. Cost of quality.

Procurement Analytics 120

Procurement Analytics Metrics Quality Supply Chain Planning Software 120

Logistics Viewpoints

JUNE 19, 2024

ESG reports can help investors make informed business decisions by identifying companies with less financial risk and avoiding those that may be impacted by stricter ESG metrics. APQC conducts research on supply chain and logistics to help organizations assess the performance of their own processes and functions compared to their peers.

Supply Chain Strategy 293

Supply Chain Strategy Waste Reduction Cost Reduction Strategies Supply Chain 293

Supply Chain Shaman

MARCH 28, 2016

The supply chain is a complex system with finite, and non-linear relationships between supply chain metrics that drive balance sheet results. We find that companies can improve one, but not two of the metrics. Teams struggle to drive improvement in both metrics at the same time. A Look at History. Resiliency.

Pharmaceutical 195

Pharmaceutical Metrics Manufacturing Procurement Supply Chain Planning Software 195

Supply Chain Shaman

APRIL 17, 2013

Source Merriam-Webster Dictionary. As a writer of research on demand-driven supply chains for over eight years, I find many amusing. The first definition of Demand-driven Supply Chains was pushed into the market by AMR Research (now part of the Gartner Group) in 2004. The acronyms keep coming…. The cadence does not stop.

Supply Chain Design Software 258

Supply Chain Design Software Manufacturing Procurement Supply Chain Planning Software Supply and Demand 258

Supply Chain Shaman

MARCH 18, 2018

Financial reengineering focuses on the optimization of short-term results that are usually based on a functional analysis of source, make, or deliver. Few consultants understand the interrelationships between source, make and deliver. Snow fell last night as I worked on my last Supply Chain Metrics That Matter report.

Optimal Sourcing 191

Optimal Sourcing Supply Chain Planning Software Supply Chain Design Software Supply Chain Optimization 191

Logistics Viewpoints

SEPTEMBER 19, 2023

Metrics such as lead-times, forecast accuracy, inventory levels, and service are used to measure operational risks. There may be several nodes that are critical and single sourced thus elevating the risk profile of the supply chain. AI Assistants can also help make managing the process of supply chain design easier.

Supply Chain Design Software 293

Supply Chain Design Software Supply Chain Design Supply Chain Planning Software Supply Chain Software 293

Logistics Viewpoints

APRIL 6, 2023

Their metrics are often misaligned as well – supply chain focuses on service and procurement focuses on the cost of acquiring materials and services. Optimize sourcing: Focus on optimizing sourcing spend across all categories of products. This approach results in inefficiencies, higher costs, and missed opportunities.

Optimal Sourcing 246

Optimal Sourcing Sourcing Strategies Manufacturing Procurement Material Savings 246

ToolsGroup

JULY 11, 2017

To achieve Stage 5, S&OP must be “a fully integrated business planning forum… (where) metrics are value-based and aligned across the network and enterprise to support the required trade-offs.”. Gartner’s research is echoed by Lora Cecere of Supply Chain Insights. She says ERP is “reactive”.

S&OP 92

S&OP Supply and Demand Inventory Reduction Price Reduction 92

ivalua

JUNE 14, 2023

Process: Blueprints for Success This process workstream focuses on blueprinting existing processes, policies, and metrics. As an industry analyst, he researched and advised organizations in various industries​ on best ​and innovative practices, digitization and optimization.

Optimal Sourcing 239

Optimal Sourcing Procurement Sourcing Strategies Resource Reduction 239

Precoro

DECEMBER 11, 2023

To enhance their competitive edge, companies across industries are adopting a key tactic: strategic sourcing. Strategic sourcing is a holistic approach to supply chain management that includes tactics for optimizing the total cost of ownership, improving supplier relationships, and ensuring long-term value creation.

Negotiating Skills 105

Negotiating Skills Purchasing Skills Optimal Sourcing Sourcing Strategies 105