At the IE Group’s Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) Innovation Summit last month, several of the speakers, including some representing software vendors, said that people and process were far more important than technology in achieving S&OP excellence. But interestingly, the companies profiled in the case studies as having the most robust and mature S&OP processes all used advanced Supply Chain Planning tools.
I don’t disagree that managing culture… Continue reading
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
Supply 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
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