Last week’s Amazon Prime Day kicked off what will surely be a wild 2020 holiday season. While the numbers are not official yet, most estimates have Prime Day raking in nearly $10.5 billion in worldwide sales. Not to be outdone, Walmart and Target launched their own online deals to coincide with Prime Day. Black Friday is till 5 ½ weeks away, and by all accounts, it will be the biggest Black Friday ever. In fact, […]
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Companies have been whiplashed by the combination of a long running pandemic and the recession it kicked off. Better planning can help companies mitigate the effects of this crisis. Sandy Evett, the vice president of distribution and supply chain at Dawn Foods, gave a presentation on how her company has responded.
Read More →As Boston sports fans, we have become accustomed to duck boat parades. Since 2000, the city has hosted 12 rolling rallies for major sports championships, including 6 for the Patriots, 4 for the Red Sox, and 1 each for the Celtics and Bruins. And if not for a few heartbreaks along the way, that number could easily be 15 or more. This year, unless the Patriots are able to pull off some magic, we will […]
Read More →Note: Today’s post is part of our “Editor’s Choice” series where we highlight recent posts published by our sponsors that provide supply chain insights and advice. Today’s article is from Kinaxis. Outdated software isn’t just a headache to manage. It’s a business blocker. In a moment when unpredictable shifts in the flow of goods to consumers has dominated headlines, supply chains have become a driver of competitive differentiation for companies, with 65 percent believing their […]
Read More →The Oracle Live: Cloud Applications event highlighted the supply chain function due in part to the extensive supply chain disruptions caused by the global coronavirus pandemic. A key premise, global supply chains have depended on a certain level of predictability that is no longer available. This requires a multidimensional value framework that places increased emphasis on supply alternatives, risk exposure, tariffs, and channel complexity.
Read More →Many companies have a sales & operations planning process. If S&OP could be adhered to, it would maximize profitability. But it can’t. Hexion is implementing a sale & operations EXECUTION process to improve agility while preserving profitability.
Read More →Earlier this week, guitar legend Eddie Van Halen died after a decade-long battle with cancer. He was often referred to as a guitar god, playing with blistering speed and bringing the tapping technique to the mainstream. One of the coolest stories I have heard about him this week was how he came to play the solo on Michael Jackson’s Beat It. Apparently, he had a deal with his bandmates that they would never do any […]
Read More →The exponential growth of e-commerce in 2020 has brought peak-like levels of order volume for many retailers since as early as March. Looking to the quickly approaching actual peak season, volumes are predicted to hit unprecedented levels, and carriers have been warning shippers for months to expect capacity crunches, increased surcharges/fees and other challenges. Shippers must overcome these challenges without sacrificing customer service, competitive pricing or margins to be successful and satisfy consumers, who still expect […]
Read More →Omni-channel retailing is one of the hottest trend in supply chain management right now. With e-commerce continuing to grow, there is more focus on Web commerce than brick and mortar. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has pushed e-commerce to levels that would not have been believed just six months ago. For example, in the US, May alone eclipsed the entire 2019 holiday shopping season and $82.5 billion was spent online. This is a trend that will […]
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Supply Chain Brief
5 Challenges Retailers Face This Holiday Shopping Season
My to-do list has included one incomplete item since mid-September, one glaring blank spot where a big green checkmark belongs. That to-do item is “Start Christmas shopping.” Typically, my efforts toward buying holiday gifts for friends and family begin near the end of November, coinciding with the American Thanksgiving holiday. Rarely have I attended a Black Friday event on the day, but the commercials and promotions really get me into the holiday shopping mood. This […]
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