Supply Chain View from the Field

Category Archives: Inventory Management

1. Why margin management is the ‘talk of the town’ in fast moving consumer product supply chains…

   May 23, 2013
   by: handfield
   categories: Inventory Management, Logistics, Retail Logistics, Strategic Cost Management, Supply Chain Management

   Recent discussions with consumer goods companies reveals that margin management is becoming an imperative that goes far beyond just taking out cost of goods sold, or using full truck loads on shipment. CPG companies are seeking to continuously drive profit margins on the products they sell in retail stores – and the world of retail [...]

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2. Ralph Lauren’s Supply Chain: A Lot More Complex Then You Think!

   October 11, 2012
   by: handfield
   categories: BRIC Supply Chain, Global Distribution, Global Supply Chain, Inventory Management, Logistics, MBA Supply Chain Programs, Supply Chain Management, Supply chain Relationships

   Jeff Holcomb, Senior Vice President of Customer Operations and US Transportation at Ralph Lauren’s offices in Greensboro, NC spoke in my MBA supply chain class last week.  He told the story of when Ralph Lauren came to visit the Greensboro offices, and shared his previous experiences.  Apparently, Lauren once had an idea about creating a [...]

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3. Three Key Trends in the Brazilian Logistics Market

   September 19, 2012
   by: handfield
   categories: BRIC Supply Chain, Global Supply Chain, Inventory Management, Logistics, Supply Chain Management, Supply Chain Strategy

   I recently interviewed a senior logistics executive at one of the top three largest logistics service provider firms in Brazil.  This gentleman provided a very cogent and insightful set  of ideas about what is happening in the logistics environment in Brazil.  Brazil is one of the four largest growth market in the world, and with [...]

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4. Five “Not so Easy” Pieces: Globalizing the Industrial Supply Chain

   July 17, 2012
   by: handfield
   categories: Global Supply Chain, Inventory Management, Supply Chain Management, Supply Chain Risk, Supply Chain Strategy, Supply Chain Systems

   This summer we kicked off a new research project being sponsored by for BVL International entitled “Trends and Strategies in SCM/Logistics”.  BVL International is a non-profit neutral platform to promote an awareness logistics and supply chain management in industry, science and the public sphere, to systematically document logistical problem definitions, and to develop methods and [...]

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5. Emphasizing PEOPLE and PROCESS in Beiersdorf’s global supply chains

   June 20, 2012
   by: handfield
   categories: Global Supply Chain, Inventory Management, Logistics, Supply Chain Management, Supply Chain Strategy

   I sat in on a panel debate today at the World Trade Group meeting for Supply Chain and Logistics Europe in Berlin.  During the panel, I had an opportunity to speak with Clemens Woerhle, Head of Beiersdorf’s global end to end supply chain operations, including manufacturing, logistics procurement, and S&OP. Most of you have probably [...]

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6. Building the Integrated Delivery System at Honeywell Aerospace

   April 18, 2012
   by: handfield
   categories: Aerospace Supply Chain, Inventory Management, Sales and Operations Planning, Supply Chain Strategy

   I had an opportunity to meet with the executive team at Honeywell Aerospace in Phoenix this week, and learned a great deal about the interesting challenges that exist in the aerospace supply chain.  As can be expected, Honeywell has only a few major customers (Boeing, Airbus, Embraer, etc.) in commercial, and a slightly larger amount [...]

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7. How to Read the Inventory Tea Leaves…

   April 10, 2012
   by: handfield
   categories: Commodities forecasting, Forecasting, Inventory Management, Supply Chain Management, Supply Chain Strategy

   An article in the WSJ provides an interesting set of perspectives on what increasing or shrinking inventory numbers might mean in terms of an organization’s supply chain performance.  As I noted in an earlier blog, inventory is often an indicator used to measure how efficient supply chains are, as is considered a key component in [...]

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8. Lean Aerospace Supply Management Developments

   April 2, 2012
   by: handfield
   categories: Aerospace Supply Chain, Business Process Outsourcing, Contract Management, Forecasting, Global Supply Chain, Inventory Management, Logistics, Supplier Relationship Management, Supply Chain Management, Supply Chain Strategy

   In a recent set of interviews, I had an opportunity to learn about some of the recent developments in the aerospace industry, that is happening in both commercial and defense sectors.  As organizations seek to drive inventory out of the supply chain and improve working capital, while simultaneously reducing leadtimes and customer responsiveness, they are [...]

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9. Reverse Logistics: What happens to all of those product returns you’ve been making, anyway?

   February 16, 2012
   by: handfield
   categories: Inventory Management, Logistics, Supply Chain Management, Supply chain Relationships, Sustainability

   David Theleman, Vice President of Business Development at Genco Lifecycle Logistics presented in my MBA class today, and gave a fantastic overview of the emerging area of reverse logistics. Once viewed as a necessary evil associated with being in retail, some companies are partnering with third party logistics like Genco to render RL more of [...]

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