Analyst Insight: The greatest gap between performance and satisfaction of supply chain applications is in the area of demand planning. The reasons are many, but many are rooted in organizational and processes issues causing many people to throw in the towel too early. – Lora Cecere, Founder of Supply Chain Insights
Analyst Insight: Collaboration is widely identified by supply chain analysts as a critical trend for supply chain execution. But it is one thing to "say" collaboration and quite another thing to get it right and garner real results from your efforts. For the best results, think of collaboration and integration together. And don't be afraid to contract for collaboration. - Kate Vitasek is a faculty member of the University of Tennessee's Graduate Center for Executive Education.
Retail demand planning is, to a great extent, a game of numbers. But the store that relies entirely on hard statistics is likely to be in for an unpleasant surprise.
Analyst Insight: Optimization. It sounds simple enough, but when was the last time you thoroughly reviewed your supply chain, and more specifically, the transportation network and associated cost structure for complete optimization? Optimization has many spokes, yet the goal is to improve service and reduce costs. For many companies this awareness is event-driven, occurring only when something negatively impacts the supply chain such as congestion at ports or anywhere along the transportation network, supplier issues, or an imbalance in inventory. – John Haber, President & CEO, Spend Management Experts
Analyst Insight: Companies spent over $400bn on external management consultants in 2013 with a majority on strategy development and implementation. This figure shows companies struggle to develop and retain strategy as a skill in the talent toolbox. As a pioneer of process engineering and continuous improvement, supply chain has already proven to be an organization that can break complex problems down into simple, repeatable steps. It's now our turn to do the same with strategy. – Matt Davis, SVP Research at SCM World
At current fuel sulfur levels, pollutant emissions from ships in part of the Arctic region could increase 150 to 600 percent by 2025, according to a report from the International Council of Clean Transportation.
Demand planners are coping with the growing complexity of consumer-goods supply chains. Most of all, they have to do a better job of getting the numbers right, says Robert F. Byrne, chief executive officer of Terra Technology.
A mentor often repeated this: "If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten." Product designers who are working with 3D printing design, development and manufacturing should take heed. Design the way you've always designed, and you won't get anything out of 3D printing that's different from what you've always gotten before 3D printing.
Recently, McDonald's, the world's iconic largest food service provider, has been (forgive the cliché) through the grinder. Poor performance has led to the departure of its CEO and plenty of critical attention in the business pages. Part of this story relates to the provenance, or origins, of its products: Chains that provide more upmarket "fast casual" dining such as Panera, Chipotle, and Shake Shack have brands that speak of freshness, health and trustworthy sourcing.
