Category: Industry News

Posted on

The Supply Chain: 2/11/2015

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  • Taking the guess-work out of forecast planning:

    To avoid the financial risks associated with planning errors, supply chain leaders and manufacturers should consider building an “insight-based” demand planning process, which brings together analytical tools and data with key human inputs across various functions. This “next generation” demand management approach will allow supply chain operations to evolve and scale with the ever growing volatility and uncertainty of today’s markets.

    http://blog.kinaxis.com/2015/02/what-if-you-could-take-the-guesswork-out-of-forecast-planning/

  • Vanguard named leader in supply chain strategy:
    The link is a press release with all the standard trimmings…
    http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pwc-named-vanguard-leader-in-supply-chain-strategy–planning-300031396.html
  • McDonald’s and the challenges of a modern supply chain:

    The trouble is bad reputations aren’t lost that easily. A generation of cynical middle-class customers have already decided that McDonald’s is a tarnished brand. Supply-chain transparency is that kind of challenge: It’s rarely the top thing on consumers’ minds, but it is an issue that sticks in the imagination. And when newer, less tarnished players like Chipotle arrive, consumers can tacitly exercise the prejudices and cross the street. The lesson for other firms: If you have problems in your supply chain, don’t let the critics get there first.

    https://hbr.org/2015/02/mcdonalds-and-the-challenges-of-a-modern-supply-chain

  • Shell is leveraging supply chain to reduce costs:

    Van Beurden said the company was taking a prudent approach and would be careful not to overreact to the recent fall in oil prices. “There are cost reduction programmes in place across Shell, looking not only at our own costs, but also in the supply chain,” he said. “These programmes are balanced against the different strategic activities in the company, we’re not chasing costs for costs’ sake, and we are careful to make sure none of this compromises safety.

    http://www.supplymanagement.com/news/2015/shell-drills-into-supply-chain-to-slash-costs

  • 4 issues original equipment manufacturers need to consider in 2015:

    Collaboration in the cloud will enable logistics companies to work seamlessly together.  In particular, smaller players will feel the benefit. Soon, the barriers to entry will get even lower. “Fourth party logistics providers (4PLs) as overall organizers are able to orchestrate the total supply chain,” said Farrell. “When you combine what you can do in the cloud with 4PL, you get to the point where you can combine multiple supply chain networks to get overall better service.”

    http://www.ebnonline.com/author.asp?section_id=3219&doc_id=276526&itc=ebnonline_gnews

  • The problem is not the problem. The problem is your attitude about the problem…

    For example, one of the greatest challenges in supply chain management is to get beyond a focus on cost reduction as opposed to revenue generation. If you are a supply chain executive, you struggle to have that discussion with the rest of the executive team. One retailer I know took a different approach to describing their metrics to get their point across.

    http://logisticsviewpoints.com/2015/02/03/the-problem-is-not-the-problem-the-problem-is-your-attitude-about-the-problem/

  • The core components of supply chain management:
    I like to read these summary general summary posts due to the “tell me what I don’t know” factor.  But something else jumped out at me when I read this article… Does this feel like the work that we do (or should be doing)?
    http://www.ebnonline.com/author.asp?section_id=3742&doc_id=276501
  • Procurement needs to innovate:

    For procurement to better contribute to institutional effectiveness, then, it needs to innovate. Promoting innovation in procurement means processes that are transparent and efficient, and that facilitate equal access and open competition. Innovative solutions to public service needs are instrumental to delivering better services with long-term value for money.

    http://blogs.worldbank.org/governance/innovation-procurement-why-and-how/?cid=EXT_TWBN_D_EXT&hootPostID=4dc8c253a29b9262da353be71ba78b06

  • 2015: the year of hyper-transparency in global business

    Many of the core benefits of increased transparency become apparent when its absence is considered. How can you address problems with your goods if you don’t know who is supplying you? How can you prioritise your activities if you aren’t collecting data on how you interact with your customers and suppliers? How can you mitigate risk if you don’t understand what your risks actually are? And how can you encourage trust and transparency within your own supply chain if it transpires that your own processes don’t support your suppliers.

    http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2015/feb/02/2015-hyper-transparency-global-business

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The Supply Chain: 2/4/2015

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  • Time for CPOs to Focus More on Organizational Costs and Efficiencies Rather than Just Contracted Costs

    He adds that “If we can start eliminating work – by eliminating sacred documents such as the purchase order – as procurement leaders we can move to the forefront of innovation. By cutting costs in administration we can shift our time and talents toward strategic matters, which drive our companies forward.”

    http://www.scdigest.com/ontarget/15-01-27-3.php?cid=8924

  • Story about a retail company deploying DiCentral’s EDI procurement solution:
    Just interesting to read about alternative deployments
    http://www.just-style.com/news/genesco-to-streamline-supply-chain-with-edi_id124219.aspx
  • Procurement increasingly takes a back seat in BCO-carrier negotiations

    Major companies are realizing that their logistics teams bring in-depth transportation knowledge and long-term ocean carrier relationships, across a multitude of cultures, to the negotiating table. Those relationships can have an almost magical effect on the final freight dollar amount and resultant service level,” said Chas Deller, who retired in September as head of global ocean freight procurement for UTi Worldwide and is now a partner in 10XOCEANSOLUTIONS Inc. which advises shippers in contract negotiations.

    http://www.joc.com/maritime-news/container-lines/procurement-increasingly-takes-back-seat-bco-carrier-negotiations_20150126.html

  • Three tips for better IT Procurement

    1) Learn to navigate a three-tiered global supply chain
    2) Keep up with advances in technology
    3) Use impartial and reliable information to beat a volatile market

    http://www.supplymanagement.com/blog/2015/01/three-tips-to-better-it-procurement

  • The best supply chain CEOS
    I am not picking #1 (so you read the article) – here is #3:

    Frederick Smith
    Modern-day legend and proof of the American dream, Smith is the founder of one of the biggest companies in the world. Now a $45 billion interest, the idea for it began during Smith’s three-year stint, 1966-69, as a US Marine, where he observed closely the logistics and procurement of the armed forces and was inspired to start up an overnight delivery service for civilians. He founded Federal Express with his $4 million inheritance (modern equivalent $23 million) and raised $91 million ($525 million) in venture capital in 1970.

    http://www.supplychaindigital.com/top10/3800/TOP-10-SUPPLY-CHAIN-CEOs-2015

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The Supply Chain: 1/28/2015

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  • Should companies hire supply chain EHS leaders?

    Given this approach to supplier relationship management, it’s a wonder whether or not enterprises are creating environmental, health and safety positions within procurement departments. According to the National Association for Environmental Management, an EHS manager oversees internal and external operations to ensure all suppliers and staff are abiding by national EHS regulations in addition to supporting progressive environmental policies and worker safety programs.

    http://www.strategicsourceror.com/2015/01/should-organizations-hire-supply-chain.html

  • Demand forecast practices that make customers happy:

    For a company to identify and take advantage of the patterns related to demand forecasting, they need to follow three best practices:
    1.) Implement forecasting software
    2.) Improve processes relating to inventory and sales
    3.) Focus on the customer

    http://www.ebnonline.com/author.asp?section_id=3745&doc_id=276358

  • Turning supply chain into an innovation engine.
    Nothing we haven’t heard, but an good summary and it shows the projects we are looking to take on are in the right direction…

    For many companies, the simplest form of analytics is looking at customer demands and patterns; then leveraging the gathered insights to build innovative and differentiated services—delivering greater value to the consumer and the businesses bottom-line.

    http://blog.kinaxis.com/2015/01/how-to-turn-your-supply-chain-into-an-innovation-engine-guest-post-from-erwin-hermins/

  • Best practices for a lean international supply chain operation

    5. Adopt a control tower approach:
    Companies today want to increase their end-to-end supply chain visibility. This visibility, though, is much more than track and trace. Today’s global supply chain requires a high degree of operational readiness and synchronization of end-to-end activities, including integrating the flow of goods, information and money associated with the movement of goods. Best in class companies achieve this visibility using a control tower approach. A control tower approach is the cornerstone to agility, responsiveness, and visibility.
    With this approach, companies can reduce inventory, lower total landed costs and decrease cycle times by connecting planning and execution, from raw materials to delivery to the end customer. This end-to-end supply chain connection involves integrating import/export data and information from overseas suppliers, logistics providers, brokers and carriers. Without the big picture, it is nearly impossible to implement cost-saving strategies such as just-in-time inventory replenishment.

    http://www.scdigest.com/experts/Amberroad_15-01-22.php?cid=8899

  • The cheese has moved…

    Stated bluntly, many of today’s sourcing and procurement professionals are not going to be successful in this new world. Those who make the transition probably already demonstrated innovative and adaptive behaviors. CPOs should begin now to retool their organizations with the talent that enables rather than hinders transformation. CPOs should focus on five key competencies in rebuilding their organizations:
    1. Consultative attitude
    2. Financial sophistication
    3. Communication and change management skills
    4. Technical savvy
    5. Vendor management skills

    http://www.sdcexec.com/article/12036122/a-key-trend-affecting-procurement-is-the-basic-fact-that-old-jobs-are-going-away-and-new-jobs-emerging

Posted on

The Supply Chain: 1/21/2015

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  • Assessing and managing risk: Interview with IBM’s Louis R. Ferretti

    As supply chains have become more global, the complexities of managing risk across vast and varied physical and political geographies arguably have grown by orders of magnitude. That’s a lesson that IBM, one of the world’s largest technology companies, has taken to heart. Beginning in 2009, the company undertook the task of building a complex supply chain risk management tool, now deployed globally, that provides managers with a way to examine supply risk in a much more robust fashion than ever before.

    http://www.dcvelocity.com/articles/20150116-assessing-and-managing-risk-interview-with-ibms-louis-r-ferretti/

  • Supply chain risk has companies on edge:

    In its fourth such survey, the Allianz Risk Barometer 2015 shows “business interruption and supply chain” risks remains of most concern for 47 per cent of respondents for the third year in succession.

    http://www.fullyloaded.com.au/news/logistics/1501/supply-chain-risks-have-companies-most-on-edge-allianz/

  • Corrupt government procurement leads to $1.5 trillion mistake:

    The F-35 fighter jet was supposed to do a bit of everything, as James Fallows explains in “The Tragedy of the American Military”. Instead, the aircraft can barely do anything: it has trouble flying at night, its engines have exploded during takeoff, and early models suffered structural cracks. There’s no end in sight, either. The all-in costs of this airplane are estimated to be as much as $1.5 trillion. (That’s approximately the same price as the entire Iraq War.) In an Atlantic magazine video, Fallows explains how such a disastrous project came to be—and why it can’t be stopped.

    http://nextbigfuture.com/2015/01/pentagons-15-trillion-mistake-is-one-of.html

  • Making supply chain green:

    Workers in sustainable supply chain management must be adept at negotiating supply chain complexities and creatively applying broad business and environmental knowledge. Weaving between profit-related subjects and environmental research generated by NGOs, they innovate cross-sector solutions seamlessly. These workers represent a new breed of eco-polymath and they are in demand.

    http://www.alternativesjournal.ca/community/blogs/aj-special-delivery/greening-supply-chain-management

  • Is There a Third Option for SCM Executives Looking to Revamp their Supply Chain Management Operations?

    Improvements need to be achieved in months, not years, a reality that can only be realized through a managed services partnership in which the only measure of success is tied to the operational improvements resulting from the program. While many supply chain executives have never seriously considered managed services as an SCM option due to liability, performance or security risk concerns, this is indeed an economical, efficient and strategically viable solution that supply chain leaders should consider to deliver operational performance.

    http://blog.kinaxis.com/2015/01/is-there-a-third-option-for-scm-executives-looking-to-revamp-their-supply-chain-management-operations/

  • What if the Problem Isn’t the Rules, but the People? [This is a good article on Federal sourcing, but it applies]

    The study found that while there certainly are problems in buying and implementing the latest technology in government, “many federal leaders believe that these problems are the result of execution of the procurement process rather than regulatory requirements.” While nearly 40 percent of the more than 500 survey respondents had some influence in the procurement process, only one of them cited problems with the Federal Acquisition Regulation in written comments.

    http://www.govexec.com/federal-news/fedblog/2015/01/what-if-problem-isnt-rules-people/102792/

Posted on

The Supply Chain: 1/12/2015

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  • What is the most crucial goal for supply chains?

    To be sure, the pursuit for lower-cost materials and more efficient logistics are very important to industries of all kinds today. But reliability of supply and precautionary redundancy have prompted firms in industries ranging from basic materials like steel and chemicals to high technology, to establish supply networks across the globe.

    http://www.propertycasualty360.com/2015/01/08/what-is-the-most-crucial-goal-for-supply-chains

  • Collaborative Sourcing: Cutting through bureaucracy:

    “Rightly or wrongly, perception can sometimes be more important than reality, especially in large organizations. Trying to argue procurement’s case in a mire of organizational misconceptions is like complaining about your opponent who turned up to the gunfight with his pistol while you turned up with a knife.” In other words, the shift towards cooperation is one that comes through gradual acceptance, not stubborn debate. However, there are some steps procurement teams can take today to get the ball rolling.

    http://www.strategicsourceror.com/2015/01/the-zen-of-collaborative-sourcing.html

  • IKEA Unleashes Bean Counters For ‘Procurement-Led’ Agency Review

    This week IKEA is reaching out to agencies for what it calls a “procurement-led” exploration of agencies. While the brand is said to be perfectly happy with its incumbent agencies, Vizeum and Mother, IKEA UK and Ireland Marketing Manager Peter Wright said: “We continue to work happily with our agencies but, to be expected for a multinational organization, our procurement team occasionally reviews suppliers of marketing services.”

    http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/241384/ikea-unleashes-bean-counters-for-procurement-led.html

  • Podcast: Joe Petriello – Procurement attorney (Federal procurement focus, but good information)
    http://www.federalnewsradio.com/412/3775324/Joe-Petrillo-Procurement-Attorney-Petrillo-Powell-PLLC
  • Eliminating department clashes:

    For those who missed the previous overview of the IT/Procurement Collaboration discussion, this presentation will expand on the benefits of supplementing internal IT resources with Procurement’s expertise to solve both sides’ challenges. Following a Source One survey in 2012, we were able to gather that 40% of procurement professionals believed they offered “Little to no value” to their organization’s IT department. Contrary to the thoughts of these 40% polled, strategic sourcing’s role in IT departments allows the maximum value achieved from IT budgets. With the often unclear software packages and complex maintenance terms, IT experts can inform Sourcing of the intricacies of technical portions of buying decisions while Sourcing can use that information to best analyze agreements and pricing structure.

    http://www.strategicsourceror.com/2015/01/get-rid-of-departmental-clashing-once.html