Share This on Linked InIn supply management, front end loading is the coming together of all stakeholders in a multi-disciplinary team to insure that the concept, value, and strategy of a proposed product are worked out well before the design is finalized and production begins. It focusses on front-end planning, and insures that required [...]
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August 4th, 2009 | Posted in Manufacturing, Product Management
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 [...]
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July 3rd, 2009 | Posted in Global Trade, Product Management, Supply Chain, inventory
Share This on Linked In A recent article in Industry Week on portfolio management in a down economy did a great job of summarizing all the mistakes dumb companies make in a down economy in blind efforts to conserve cash. As I have said before, and as the author [...]
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June 25th, 2009 | Posted in Product Management, Technology
A recent Industry Week article, that noted that adoption of product lifecycle management (PLM) technology is reaching record levels and that the PLM market experienced a stronger-than-expected 13.5% growth rate to reach an estimated 24.3 Billion in 2007, also reported that implementations can quickly develop returns on investment of 100% to 300%. Considering the [...]
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November 8th, 2008 | Posted in Manufacturing, Product Management, Technology
Today’s guest post is from Bernard Gunther of Lexington Analytics. He can be reached at bgunther <at> lexingtonanalytics <dot> com.Over the last 15 years, I have had hundreds of discussions about commodity structures with CPOs. Invariably, I am asked, “What is the right commodity structure to use?” Or, “Use the UNSPSC structure. It’s an [...]
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October 27th, 2008 | Posted in Guest Author, Miscellaneous, Product Management
A month or so ago, on a busy day, I came across this ZDNet article on the Top 5 issues your IT staff wants to address but is afraid to tell you that I think everyone should read — twice — before embarking on any system modernization that will require the involvement of IT. [...]
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October 17th, 2008 | Posted in Product Management, Technology
Are we in a recession? Unknown. However, you do know whether or not you believe we are in one, and if you do believe we are in one, you’re likely to go overboard on belt-tightening and cost-cutting. That’s why I want to point out a great article that appeared on Business Week last [...]
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February 25th, 2008 | Posted in Product Management, Sourcing Innovation
In Part I of our review of Succeeding in a Dynamic World: Supply Management in the Decade Ahead, we overviewed the various external forces that will impact a company’s supply chain as identified by CAPs, AT Kearney, and the survey respondents. We then concluded with the eight major forces that were identified specifically by [...]
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November 30th, 2007 | Posted in Product Management, Sourcing Future, Sourcing Innovation, sustainability
The EE Times ran a great article by Romit Dey and Manoj K. Singh last month on Demand Shaping and how it aligns customer trends with supply. But I have to ask, is it really “demand shaping” or is it more “demand sensing”. Is not “demand shaping” what marketing and advertising does? [...]
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November 15th, 2007 | Posted in Forecasts, Lean, Market Intelligence, Product Management, Services, Strategy, Supply Chain, Technology
In yesterday’s blogologue I told you that your brand was a terrible thing to waste – and that the strength of your company’s brand ultimately lay in its supply chain, and not the latest fad dreamt up by your company’s marketing mogul. This means that, unfortunately, it’s up to you to protect the brand, [...]
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November 14th, 2007 | Posted in Product Management, Risk Management, Supplier Management, Supply Chain