Articles
Supply Chain Management
How to Make Supply Chains “Antifragile”
Cost savings has been the number one priority for heads of procurement and finance across industries. Unfortunately, there is a common misconception that this must be achieved through lean, just-in-time processes and a focus on limited inventory. COVID-19 exposed just how quickly this can create shortages in critical industries like food and manufacturing — in […]
Read MoreYard Automation Addresses Three Weak Spots to Build Supply Chain Resilience
While there aren’t many quick fixes when it comes to mitigating global supply chain disruption, supply chain leaders will turn to solutions that directly address the biggest weaknesses throughout the supply chain that have been highlighted as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak: demand, labor, and energy. Automation brings resiliency and velocity to areas of […]
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How Will the Future Unfold?
As the coronavirus continues to disrupt global supply chains, Gartner developed three scenarios to help chief supply chain officers (CSCOs) prepare for recovery and make preemptive decisions to set up their organizations for success. Gartner polled 833 IT and IT/business professionals and found that 84% of organizations are facing varying forms of disruption—from slight disruptions […]
Read MoreMore Companies Seek Sustainability Data
An uptick of 24% more companies are asking their suppliers to report environmental data in 2020 through nonprofit CDP Global, with a 34% surge of growth in North America. Suppliers report data on their impacts, risks, opportunities, and strategies related to climate change, deforestation, and/or water security through CDP’s platform. Companies then use the data […]
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Make a New Plan, Stan
More than half of surveyed industry professionals say their supply chain planning process is only “somewhat effective,” regardless of the technology used, finds new research by AIMMS. A combined 28% state that their planning process is “very effective” or “extremely effective,” while 15% say their process is “not so effective,” and 2% say it is […]
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What COVID-19 supply chain pivot impressed you the most? Why?
One Million Masks, founded by Shafqat Islam, which has built a digital supply chain. Powered by UPS, they have secured hundreds of thousands of PPE units for hospitals. Furthermore, it demonstrates a supply chain that was built in months that otherwise would have taken years. Over the coming months, we will continue to see this type of rapid innovation from savvy organizations.
Read MoreThe True Value of Supply Chain Transformation
Lyndsi Lee is senior vice president of supply chain with True Value Company, a leading hardware and home improvement wholesaler. Responsibilities: Drive end-to-end supply chain optimization, develop integrated planning and logistics strategies, and build best-in-class sourcing programs. Experience: Division vice president, inventory management and global sourcing, also with True Value; principal, project leader, Boston Consulting […]
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In Defense of You
You’ve failed at logistics. So says David Segal in his recent article entitled "What Happened to the Great American Logistics Machine?" in The New York Times. Here are the article’s punchlines: The virus is "winning at the logistics game," and "let us acknowledge the obvious: The country is flunking a curriculum that it basically wrote." […]
Read MoreWhat’s the most unexpectedly good advice you’ve received about the supply chain?
Speed is not always the solution. Breaking shipments into inventory replenishment and just-in-time SKUs allows price and transit time optimization. Asia-to-U.S.-East-Coast transit through the Panama Canal versus the Suez Canal differs by 7 to 13 days. Pushing inventory cargo to the slower/lower-cost options provides free warehousing on the water while reducing overall landed cost. —Alan […]
Read MoreHow Mobile IoT Brings End-to-End Supply Chain Visibility to Life
End-to-end supply chain transparency has proven a difficult-to-attain gold standard, not only by transportation and logistics companies, but by any company that depends on the movement of goods to propel business forward. In the thick of the COVID-19 era and its ripple effects, this need has become even more critical across nearly every sector. The […]
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