Articles
Supply Chain Technology
VMI: Managing Supply Based on Demand
Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) is not a new application, but its role in today’s supply chain is attracting more and more interest. Driven by a need for greater competence in supply chain processes, the roles some supply chain partners play are shifting away from traditional inventory management. Now, the vendor tracks the quantity of products […]
Read MoreInventory Trendspotting: Qualifying Suppliers Online
One common way to identify emerging technology trends is to follow the trails of strategic partnerships between companies. While these agreements often result in the implementation of a new technology, at the very least they can enhance a technology that in turn augments a service to some customer within the supply chain. One such partnership […]
Read MoreSCM Software: An Intelligent Response to a Complex Need
Our current set of ERP applications grew out of an array of MRP and MRP II applications and their extensions. ERP took its cast from MRP and therefore was created first and foremost for transaction processing, data collection, and reporting of that data. Its motivation and structure came out of the financial world and naturally […]
Read MoreSCEM: Managing Problems Before They Happen
The recent advent of trading communities, trading partners, and the resulting issue of collaboration strategies has placed a new emphasis on supply chain web applications. As if the supply chain market needs additional heat, the economics of the time call for increased monitoring of business processes. Supply chain managers want that monitoring to anticipate problems […]
Read MoreDSC Logistics: Focusing on the Process
Over the years, many fine voices—W. Edwards Deming, Eliyahu Goldratt, Taguchi, Michael Hammer and James Champy—have emphasized examining and improving business management processes. The reason they, and others, place such importance on process is to counter some companies’ tendencies to fixate on disparate details, personalities, or other matters peripheral to their essential business interests. That’s […]
Read MoreSimple Collaboration: The Focus is Transportation
Reduced to its base element, supply chain management is the transportation of goods from Point A to Point B. At this core, the fundamental players are shippers, receivers, and transport providers. How well they perform together is the basis for creating wealth in companies and nations. Goods efficiently sourced and manufactured, but not shipped, have […]
Read MoreLeading Logistics to the Fourth Dimension
This past year has brought growth, mergers, and a steady move toward collaboration among supply chain suppliers and users. The supply chain community is growing up—and boldly—in a not-so-confident e-commerce world. There is a big difference between B2B supply chain organizations and standard fly-by-the-seat-of-the-pants e-commerce companies. The strong will survive and the poorly thought through […]
Read MoreNew Logistics Portal Saves Money on Every Shipment
Supply chain portals are growing in number, uniqueness, and breadth of service to all partners. They will continue to grow, given the ever-increasing usefulness of conducting supply chain management on the web and the constant growth of new technologies in this area. One new portal, which went live in November 2000, is worth noting. LTLNET.com, […]
Read MoreAutomatic Information: The Supply Chain Goes Live
As the pressure for speed and accuracy increases within the supply chain, companies constantly search for technology to deliver goods quickly and reliably. To meet that demand, an ever-increasing number of end user communication solutions—such as RF devices, subtle bar-code readers, cell phones, and personal digital assistants—have been developed and marketed in the past 10 […]
Read MoreDelivering B2B Supply Chain Flexibility
The stakes continue to rise in the online business-to-business world. Despite the still rapid entry of new dot.com players—1,000 new sites since the beginning of the year—Forrester Research predicts that within three years, less than 200 will remain. While there are many reasons for the falloff, the main reason is that many sites do not […]
Read MoreLeveraging the Power of XML for Supply Chain Integration
Using the Internet to automate the supply chain process is a growing worldwide trend. While many players from diverse backgrounds have entered the field, that does not mean they all have the right stuff to make it in this market. These players—whether providers or users—have to keep in mind the need for new and robust […]
Read MoreUnderstand the Net, Don’t Get Caught In It
This past year has seen an unprecedented move toward consolidation of the supply chain and the Internet. It also has seen a major push toward integrated trading exchanges. These trends are keeping consultants such as Advanced Manufacturing Research (AMR), The Gartner Group, Dataquest, and Aberdeen Group pretty busy. Here’s a look at what these analysts […]
Read MoreGlobal e-Logistics Comes of Age
The technologies available through the Internet, combined with ongoing advances in logistics software development, have given supply chain management an enormous boost—far greater than those who first promulgated the supply chain could have anticipated. The scale of solutions has increased while the volume of transactions has grown at a staggering rate. This is a time […]
Read MoreThe e-Enabling of Hub Group
The advantages of collaborative partnerships in the emerging world of e-business logistics are numerous. As portals, application service providers, and other services burst forth into this arena, it is important to understand that no enterprise is large enough to do it all alone. Hub Group Inc., Lombard, Ill., a non-asset-based transportation management company specializing in […]
Read MoreStaying Up to Speed with Non-Stop Demand
The demand side of the supply chain continues to undergo major changes in strategies and technologies. The scale of consumer demand—and the need for both accurate forecasting and a fast response to demand—acts as the driving force. Fast response time is king of the market. While the Internet has been given a lot of credit […]
Read MoreCapturing a ‘Supply Chain Moment’
A “Kodak moment” can be the moment that grandma sees the new baby or Aunt Helen gives the proud graduate a check. What is a “supply chain moment”? The supply chain deals with a very complex set of technologies and issues. Technologies are stacked over the supply chain like planes over O’Hare on Thanksgiving. Any […]
Read MoreReaching the Pinnacle of SCM Success
Leading supply chain software developers are taking a more creative and inventive view of intelligent practice in applying their solutions. The idea of one company doing it all is usually dismissed; many SCM providers are now carving out niches of specialization. But one company is taking a different approach—many companies under one parent offering an […]
Read MorePositioning the Supply Chain in a Volatile Market
The supply chain and its attendant technology is a warp-speed moving target that responds to enterprise strategy changes, the intelligent moves and vagaries of the Big Six accounting firms, the latest acronyms of the supply chain consulting community, and the shifting forces of the marketplace. The need for faster response time alone has ushered in […]
Read MoreRichter’s Model for Success
The merging of global sourcing and transportation with industry-specific manufacturing creates a golden opportunity for software providers. The apparel and fashion business in particular is prime territory. Staking its claim to this territory is Richter Systems Inc., based in Montreal, Canada. Founded in 1968, Richter focuses its software applications on the apparel industry. “The apparel […]
Read MoreQUALCOMM: Managing Information in Motion
While many technologies have been brought to bear on the supply chain, none have exceeded the importance of the advances in communication. It is all right and good to get products resourced, manufactured and distributed, but if the level of communication to accomplish these tasks is not of the highest order, business is not being […]
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