News You Can Use: 3/22/2017

  • How to Keep Kids, Pets, and Other Interruptions From Derailing Your Skype Meetings

    1. Take responsibility for what happened. Don’t pawn it off on other people.
    2. Explain why it happened as gracefully as you can. People find comfort in the “why” of things.
    3. Don’t make it a bigger deal than it is. Your reaction can make it more embarrassing than it already is.

    http://lifehacker.com/how-to-keep-kids-pets-and-other-interruptions-from-de-1793177092

  • How to Use Pocket Casts To Wrangle Your Horrible Podcast Addiction

    I know many visitors on the site listen to the podcast right in the browser, but if you want to take SourceCast with you on the go, and listen to other, much better content, use Pocket Casts – this is the Podcast app I personally use to keep up with the multitude of podcasts I follow.

    http://lifehacker.com/how-to-use-pocket-casts-to-wrangle-your-horrible-podcas-1793102283

  • Report: Why Merck turned to supply chain integration to save costs

    Many companies operate, for example, on an established safety stock or production level because that’s the way it has always been done. When it comes to contracting with suppliers and external manufacturers, changes in scale must be justified… a lack of data makes that process difficult.

    The case study suggests Merck & Co. realized this was a problem, and sought to integrate its systems into a single platform capable of both supply and demand planning. The change allowed the company global visibility for all of its finished goods, and segmentation of goods to better determine when exceptions are necessary, for example.

    http://www.biopharmadive.com/news/report-why-merck-turned-to-supply-chain-integration-to-save-costs/437290/

  • The Science of Style and Fashion for Entrepreneurs with Antonio Centeno

    Antonio Centeno of Real Men Real Style grew up in a trailer park, and that experience made him realize just how a person’s clothes can determine your expectations for them. You’d be more wary of trusting a doctor wearing a tye-dye shirt than one wearing a lab coat, and you’d be less likely to answer the door for a cable repair man who didn’t wear a uniform.

    https://www.entrepreneur.com/video/290171

    The host is somewhat annoying, but interesting information…

  • Maturity is the key to effective analytics

    Many supply chain professionals report that their organizations have increased their investment in analytics over the last three years, according to a recent APQC survey. This survey looked at the analytics practices of organizations, as well as the structure of these efforts. APQC surveyed supply chain professionals from a variety of organization sizes and regions and from 36 industries. APQC’s analysis found that organizations have several areas of focus for their supply chain analytics efforts, and that most organizations have a formal analytics structure. However, the payoff of these efforts may not be at the level organizations would expect.

    http://www.scmr.com/article/maturity_is_the_key_to_effective_analytics#When:15:16:00Z

Photo: Caroline Hernandez