A recent article in Supply Chain Digest on Measuring Inventory Accuracy started off by nothing that the experts are saying that there’s no clear answer because there are so many ways to calculate inventory. WTF? Did I read that right?The article then went on to say that the editorial staff at Supply Chain Digest did some informal networking and found that the answers were all over the map. Really? Who did they ask? Cave Trolls? We’re not in the supply chain dark ages anymore or, at least, we shouldn’t be. So what did the …
Read the rest » Sourcing Innovation
December 15th, 2009 | Posted in Technology, inventory, retail
A recent New York Times article on iPhone’s app store identifies its key differentiator as the ease of submitting games and content (lowering barriers to potential developers) and the ease of downloading games and content (lowering barriers to potential customers).
Read the rest » High Performance Organisations
December 7th, 2009 | Posted in Process management, SMED, Social technology, Uncategorized, economies of scale, iPhone, inventory
B2B Connex provides a web-based sourcing and procurement document management solution that is a great fit for all types of small and mid-size manufacturing organizations that need simple e-Sourcing and e-Procurement functionality at a low price tag. It’s basic portal solution, that plugs in to your existing ERP & MRP solution, can be acquired for as little as $30,000 (plus 20% annual maintenance) for a small operation. Mid-size operations are generally priced by the number of locations and users, but even their larger customers don’t pay much more than 100K. (Pure SaaS configurations and pricing are also available, …
Read the rest » Sourcing Innovation
December 1st, 2009 | Posted in Lean, Manufacturing, Procurement Innovation, Technology, inventory
I was thrilled to see this article in Logistics Management about Dell’s inventory optimization pilot which saved them 55% in its initial application. In a mere 90 days, a pilot, rolled out to two suppliers, that was primarily focused on managing suppliers and replenishment processes via a consistent inventory policy reduced inventory, and associated costs, by 55% (from $6M to $2.7M). Imagine the savings Dell is going to realize when it rolls the new system out to the majority of its supplier base (that constitutes the top 80% of its spend), cleans, and analyzes its historical data. …
Read the rest » Sourcing Innovation
November 30th, 2009 | Posted in Decision Optimization, inventory
Share This on Linked In Recent articles on cargo theft from eSide Supply Management and S&DC Executive highlighted a 2008 study from LoJack Supply Chain Integrity that uncovered 299 cargo thefts in 2008 (in the US) at truck stops, parking lots (including drop yards), facilities, warehouses, store locations, vehicles parked on [...]
Read the rest » Sourcing Innovation
August 21st, 2009 | Posted in Fraud, Logistics, inventory
Share This on Linked In Last year, Oracle sponsored the Economist Intelligence Unit to produce a report on the demand-driven supply chain: a holistic approach which was released early this year. The report, which noted that businesses must improve the efficiency of their supply chains in order to maintain competitive advantage, that [...]
Read the rest » Sourcing Innovation
August 18th, 2009 | Posted in Supply Chain, inventory
Share This on Linked In A recent article on CFO.com on imperfect futures, which discussed the great deal of uncertainty in today’s economy and how hard forecasting has become, contained a novel and often overlooked idea for creating more accurate forecasts (on average). See how much your people will bet on [...]
Read the rest » Sourcing Innovation
August 17th, 2009 | Posted in Forecasts, inventory
Share This on Linked In I couldn’t help but notice this recent article in Intelligent Enterprise that noted that SAP offered 91M for SAF. Now, good inventory management software is extremely valuable because it can significantly reduce the 30%+ overhead (on product cost) that many organizations lose in inventory each year, but SAF [...]
Read the rest » Sourcing Innovation
July 30th, 2009 | Posted in Miscellaneous, Technology, inventory, rants
Share This on Linked In A recent article in Supply Chain Digest listed the seven timeless challenges of supply chain management, as described by Dr. J. Paul Dittmann, the Director of the Office of Corporate Partnership at the University of Tennessee. While I have to agree that these challenges are “timeless” in that [...]
Read the rest » Sourcing Innovation
July 3rd, 2009 | Posted in Global Trade, Product Management, Supply Chain, inventory
Share This on Linked In As noted in a recent Industry Week article on Inventory Optimization that noted how it’s all about uncertainty, these days, volatility and uncertainty pummel the network of suppliers, producers, wholesalers, distributors, and retailers that convert raw material to finished products for our homes and offices. That supplier in [...]
Read the rest » Sourcing Innovation
June 2nd, 2009 | Posted in Decision Optimization, inventory
