Archive for Supply Chain Planning
According to an article in today’s Wall Street Journal, Whirlpool plans to build a new factory in Tennessee, which will be “the centerpiece of a $300 million upgrade of domestic manufacturing facilities” for the company. The article goes on to say: “The move highlights a shift by even export-driven U.S. manufacturers away from low-cost overseas locales in favor of rationalizing domestic operations to boost productivity.” In Whirlpool’s case, the… Continue reading
Stuffing the Channel
· CommentsSupply chain organizations are often forced to work harder because sales force targets and bonuses are not well thought out. And when the CEO pressures the sales force to meet the quarterly revenue number he has promised Wall Street, watch out! In these scenarios, the CEO often gives the sales force the power to provide unusually deep discounts to customers. The result is increased overtime in factories and warehouses; machines… Continue reading
Gob was a self-educated turkey. He studied statistics for fun. His quarters were a bit tight at the farm, but the upside was that for 140 days straight he had been fed a nice grain meal. And as he got older, the meals got bigger. Based on this history and his statistical models, Gob had very high expectations of receiving another nice meal tomorrow from Farmer Joe, who obviously had… Continue reading
Last summer, I wrote a posting highlighting the “white spaces” of transportation management—i.e., existing opportunities for companies and software vendors to innovate the way transportation is planned and executed. In many cases, these opportunities are not new, but either the technology hasn’t existed to enable them very well or companies have simply chosen to focus on other priorities.
One positive effect of the recession is that it has… Continue reading
$5 Million in Annual Supply Chain Savings
· CommentsI received a press release earlier this month from AspenTech (an ARC client) claiming that its customer Samsung Total Petrochemicals expects more than $5 million in annual savings after implementing one of its solutions. This claim caught my eye not only because of the size of the savings, but also because it’s rare for supply chain software vendors to make specific savings claims in their press releases… Continue reading
The Unbiased Forecast
· CommentsI’ve been interviewing supply chain executives at consumer goods manufacturers to learn how they are using downstream data. A key focus area for these executives is using this data to improve the accuracy of their demand forecasts.
A couple of the executives I interviewed raised an interesting point about forecasting that I don’t remember coming across before: the importance of having an unbiased forecast. Forecasts, by their very nature… Continue reading
A few weeks ago, I had a face-to-face conversation with an executive from a consumer electronics accessories manufacturer. Since January 2007 this company has implemented five Oracle supply chain solutions: Demantra Demand Management, Oracle Advanced Supply Chain Planning (ASCP), Global Order Promising, Oracle Inventory Optimization (IO), and the Oracle iSupplier Portal (note: Oracle is an ARC client). Considering the size of this company and the scope of its implementation… Continue reading
A Missed Opportunity: Linking Demand with Transportation Planning and Execution
Posted on Mar 02 2010 | By Greg Brady · Comments (0)Supply chain best practices preach the benefits of end-to-end, integrated business processes. We regularly hear analysts and industry experts tell companies, “Your supply chain is fragmented and you must connect it.” And while some traditionally silo-based groups are doing better at sharing information and connecting their supply chain, most organizations are not planning and executing across functional domains to create a truly interconnected and collaborative supply chain.
Demand planning… Continue reading