One could argue that everything in the supply chain starts with planning. Even the simplest supply chains require at least some basic assumptions and forecasts around cost, supply and demand. Although this process is more complex than it is at first blush. Just look at the daily news, and you’ll see supply chain planning complications …
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Tag Archives: Supply Chain Optimization
As the global economy seeks to recover post-pandemic, a renewed focus is being put on supply chain optimization. No one wants to relive the days of cleaned out produce aisles at the grocery store or a toilet paper shortage. But more importantly, as the medical community seeks to vaccinate the world, we’re starting to realize …
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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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Modern technology has accelerated the rate of change in our world and allowed us to operate more effectively and with lower costs. Along with this rapid change, manufacturing network optimization becomes even more nuanced and more essential. Retooling production networks to strike a new balance between cost optimization, remaining competitive and increasing resilience where it …
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Retail demand planning is a key aspect of supply chain optimization. Understanding and predicting how much stock to have on-hand to appease consumer demand at any given time helps dictate the retailer’s manufacturing and shipping needs. Not surprisingly, consumer demand can change rapidly based on environmental, economic and geo-political influences. A couple years ago, I …
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The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the frailties in our supply chains. If we would like to keep our supply chains from being paralyzed by a global health crisis in the future, perhaps we can learn something from our colleagues in Environmental Health & Safety. Because the EH&S departments of manufacturing companies perform assessments periodically to …
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What is the best inventory strategy to manage the risk of a supply interruption? Will the COVID-19 pandemic change our minds about the wisdom of continually driving down inventory targets to reduce working capital costs, especially during the last quarter of the fiscal year? During the hurricane season of 2005 that included Katrina, chemical …
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I have worked in the manufacturing supply chain information technology (IT) field for more years than I care to admit. A sleepy-eyed dinosaur stares back at me from the bathroom mirror each morning. Over the course of my career, more than a few trends have emerged. Many of them, perhaps most of them, have turned …
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In just a short time, the year 2020 has introduced the average person to phrases unheard only three months ago – social distancing, N95 masks, PPE, and Global Supply Chain. As the COVID-19 virus spread around the world, countries went under lockdown as they tried to “bend the curve” on the spread of the virus. …
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I’m a supply chain lifer. I started in manufacturing, but early in my career made the transition to supply chain and never looked back. It was never easy to explain to others what I did though. I would say, “all the stuff between manufacturing and sales.” Still, I don’t think they really understood the complexity …
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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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The biggest challenge organizations face is retaining expertise and organizational knowledge. This may be hard to fathom, but in the 29 years I have been helping supply chain and business organizations make better decisions, it is surprising how often the groups re-visit the same decisions over again. Key roles are turning over more quickly, and …
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