All posts by Jim Piermarini

Jim has extensive experience in the chemical industry, including ten years working in a plant and twenty additional years working with businesses to improve their supply chains.

Supply Chain Trends: Our 2021 Recap and 2022 Predictions

What we hoped would be a short-term disruption in 2020 has become the new long-term reality. The world we live in is far less predictable. Supply chains are under pressure. As we have seen, disruptions can happen anywhere in our supply chains due to port congestion, warehouse staff shortages, weather-related shutdowns, or raw material uncertainty. …
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The New Horizon for Machine Learning in Supply Chain Optimization

Supply chain optimization practices focus on leveraging available data within your ecosystem to make smarter business and operations decisions. Organizations also use this data to make their supply chains more sustainable and eco-friendly. Traditionally, this data has typically been consolidated within enterprise resource planning (ERP) tools. ERP system supply chain integration has been a hot …
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Using an Agile Supply Chain to Avoid a Coronavirus Disruption

Using an Agile Supply Chain to Avoid a Coronavirus Disruption
Disruptions in Multiple Supply Chains Are Happening Now “Reports on how the Covid-19 outbreak is affecting supply chains and disrupting manufacturing operations around the world are increasing daily. But the worst is yet to come.” by Pierre Haren and David Simchi-Levi.” Harvard Business Review, February 28, 2020 “Analysis has shown that for most companies, the …
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The Outlook of Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence is frequently (though not always) better at decision-making than humans. In some areas, we might expect this. For example, AI will suggest the fastest route on a map, accounting for traffic and distance, while we as humans would be prone to taking our tried-and-true route. But some less-expected areas where AI is better …
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Perseverance, Seasoned with Flexibility Builds a Better Supply Chain

Perseverance, seasoned with flexibility builds a better supply chain.
The Business of improving a Supply Chain is a similar experience to digging a French drain. My 1730 New England farmhouse sits a bit downhill from my driveway, and when it rains hard, or for long periods, the water will follow the slope from this watershed and make its way into my cellar. I have …
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SAP (PPDS) vs Aspen Plant Scheduler (SCM/MIMI)

Advanced Production Scheduling comparison
Recently Mark Rockey posted a blog about the 5 characteristics of Advanced Production Scheduling Tools.  Around the same time, I was asked by a client about the differences between SAP (PPDS) and Aspen Plant Scheduler (SCM/MIMI) and I thought this would be a good follow-up to Mark’s blog. Here is what we at Profit Point …
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Do you feel as if you are running faster and faster just to keep up?

I just finished a book on the swirling times we are in, called Thank you for Being Late by Thomas L. Friedman.  In it Mr. Friedman pauses to reflect on the forces currently reshaping our world. With the tumultuous, confusing, threatening, forces of advances in technology, (due to Moore’s Law), Globalization of the Market, and Climate …
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A Hero making Network Bridge

Network Bridge
Like many people I have a home network for which it falls to me – the Dad – to be the administrator. And like many home network administrators, over the years, I have tried many different routers, network bridges, and wi-fi access points to improve reception, coverage, and distance. I have tried Dlink, EnGenius, and …
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