Supply chain network design is a necessary regular activity for any company who views competitive strategy in supply chains as an important pillar of their business. This is even more true when supply chain leaders are looking to make a decision that may change the course of their business forever. As my colleague, Jim Piermarini, …
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Tag Archives: supply chain design
2021 has been a difficult year for supply chains around the world. A continuing global pandemic, labor shortages, skyrocketing commodity costs, unprecedented raw material shortages and supply chain delays continue to plague companies that need to transport goods. Ports around the world are now struggling with congestion, and there is no relief in sight. Why …
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As a technologist, I’ve always been interested in the behind-the-scenes workings that make our programs do what we want them to. How does Siri know when to listen to us and how to respond? How is Waze able to give us traffic tips on the fly? The answer lays in smart programming, which is often …
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Supply chain network design is all about creating a model of your existing supply chain network and then adding in alternative possibilities to evaluate them analytically. This gives business leaders a relatively easy, fact-based way to look at how effective their current supply chain is and compare alternative configurations. When done effectively, smart supply chain …
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Supply chain sustainability sounds like it should be table stakes for our industry. However, rapidly changing business conditions often cause organizations to suffer from unplanned heavy demand and unrealistic deadlines. This causes upstream suppliers to request overtime from their resources to meet demand surge. Even though downstream organizations follow sustainability guidelines, high demands and local …
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Supply chain network optimization and design initiatives require trading off many aspects of the supply chain: manufacturing, transportation, warehousing and distribution, inventory and customer service. Organizations need to make sense of internal and external data, collect input, reach alignment and coordinate a realistic but impactful roll out. It is a lot of work, and most …
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Why should I be designing my supply chain network? You’re patting yourself on the back. You’ve sorted through the Marine Shipping chaos. In the face of volatile Marine Transportation rates, you’ve managed to negotiate great prices to transport your North American produced bulk liquid via tank containers to ten Pacific region countries. The contracts are …
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