Tag Archives: Supply Chain Planning

5 Steps to Prepare Before Implementing a New Production Scheduling System

It has been said that proper preparation prevents poor performance. With so much threatening supply chain performance in today’s environment, preparation has never been more critical – especially when it comes to implementing a new production scheduling system. Successfully implementing a new production scheduling system can have great benefits for your company, like helping you …
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Effects of Highly Seasonal Demand on a Supply Chain

What is Seasonal Demand? During the holidays, when we’re continuously flooded with the next themed decor, or Starbucks Coffee drink, or seasonal dinner dish, I’m constantly reminded that these goods are purposefully designed to be consumed at a particular time of year. To get these goods to consumers, including myself, supply chain professionals have worked …
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How Supply Chain Optimization Technology Boosts Resiliency and Cuts Cost

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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Outsourcing for Supply Chain Expertise

Trends that persist
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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The Impact of 5G Networks on the Digital Supply Chain

5G networks are the next generation of mobile internet connectivity, offering faster speeds and more reliable connections on smartphones and other devices than ever before. 5G will help power a huge rise in Internet of Things technology (extension of Internet connectivity into physical devices and everyday objects), providing the infrastructure needed to carry huge amounts …
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What Supply Chain Hell Looks Like

There’s no doubt that the Sales and Marketing side of a business can often seem like the ‘sexy’ side of the operation.  Just picture a new car showroom with all of those shiny, glitzy vehicles just waiting for a test drive.  But the supply chain that put those gleaming new cars in the showroom initially …
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Tardigrades can survive anything…. Can your Supply Chain?

survive
Tardigrades, which are often called water bears, are nearly microscopic. Although they are usually water dwelling creatures, they can be found in Antarctic ice, ocean depths of 14,000 feet and in the Himalayas at a height of 20,000 ft. They can survive just about anywhere, including outer space. Fossils of tardigrades have been found in …
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Supply Chain Challenges during the Retail Recession

Supply Chain Challenges
Last summer we were having dinner with some friends. One of the people at the table worked for DineEquity, the parent company of Applebee’s. He proceeded to tell us about the current initiative to redo the cooking equipment in all Applebee restaurants with wood-fired grills. They were going to introduce wood fired steak, chicken, pork …
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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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