Supply Chain View from the Field

Category Archives: Forecasting

1. Managing supply chains in a fragile environment

   April 19, 2013
   by: handfield
   categories: Forecasting, Strategic Sourcing, Supplier Relationship Management, Supply Chain Management

   Gerard Chick and I had a good chat over skype this morning, and we both started jotting down a few facts…. Banks are buying up gold and moving currency out since 2009.  A friend suggests that the banks feel it is very unstable out there, and are hoping for some stability.  But the dollar, the [...]

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2. Handfield’s Supply Chain Predictions for 2013

   January 1, 2013
   by: handfield
   categories: Forecasting, Logistics, Retail Logistics, Supply Chain Management, Supply Chain Strategy, Supply Market Intelligence

   Well we made it through 2012, and it actually turned out to be a reasonably good year, in terms of supply chain news and events.  There were a few disasters of course, but this now seems to be a commonplace theme for global supply chain planners  (the world’s logisics network are impacted at least once [...]

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3. The Global Economic Outlook: Jason Schenker’s Soothsayings…

   December 4, 2012
   by: handfield
   categories: BRIC Supply Chain, Category Management, China Supply Chain, Forecasting, Supply Chain Management

   Jason Schenker spoke at the SCRC conference today and spoke about his forecasts for the global economy. The global economy is expanding, albeit at a modest pace. US GDP and the US labor markets are showing modest improvements. Chinese GDP will grow, but central bank monetary policy at home and abroad is likely to remain [...]

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4. The Fiscal Cliff’s Impact on Global Supply Chains

   November 24, 2012
   by: handfield
   categories: Forecasting, Global Supply Chain, Sales and Operations Planning, Supply Chain Management, Supply Chain Strategy

   It’s the day after Thanksgiving, and we’re still talking about the fiscal cliff….and the days are ticking away. For those of us who study and work in supply chains, the impending decision (or lack thereof) has a few implications worth thinking about. First, let’s talk about the likelihood that it can be averted…The fiscal cliff [...]

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5. A Sustainable Energy Platform for the EU and the World

   October 25, 2012
   by: handfield
   categories: BRIC Supply Chain, Commodities forecasting, Forecasting, Global Supply Chain, Supply Chain Management, Supply Chain Strategy, Supply Chain Systems

   At the BVL conference, I had the opportunity to speak to the group, and provide them with an overview of the insights and trends from the global logistics study that is currently underway. I also had the opportunity to introduce Dr. Michael Seuss, CEO of the Energy Sector for Siemens AG, and Member of their [...]

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6. News from the UK: Coffee with Gerard Chick

   June 10, 2012
   by: handfield
   categories: Forecasting, Strategic Sourcing, Supply Chain Strategy

   Had coffee with my friend Gerard Chick while in London this week, who is on the research team at CIPS (the Chartered Institute of Professional Supply Management).  Gerard and I have done a good bit of work in the past, in particular holding an executive summit with British CPO’s, on the status of the supply [...]

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7. A new way of looking at the biopharma industry

   June 1, 2012
   by: handfield
   categories: Biopharmaceutical Supply Chain, Forecasting, Healthcare Supply Management, Pharmaceutical Supply Chain, Supply Chain Management, Supply Chain Risk, Supply Chain Strategy

   My new book comes out this month, which focuses on the biopharma supply chain and the numerous trends and challenges that exist today, and which will continue to occur down the road.. Titled “Distribution, Regulatory, Systems, and Structural Changes in Biopharmaceutical Supply Chain”, the book covers the major themes and changes in the biopharmaceutical supply [...]

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8. SCM Talent Management: Creating the Next Generation of Superheroes!

   April 25, 2012
   by: handfield
   categories: Category Management, Forecasting, MBA Supply Chain Programs, Supply Chain Management, Supply Chain Talent

   Our upcoming SCRC meeting  (April 30-May 1 in Raleigh, NC) is one that I am sure will peak a lot of interest in today’s supply chain professional.  The theme of this meeting focuses a topic that is at the top of almost every company I speak with today – supply chain talent management.  As organizations [...]

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9. 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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10. 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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11. Senator Raymond Burr Shares His Thoughts

    February 25, 2012
    by: handfield
    categories: China Supply Chain, Forecasting, Global Supply Chain, Supply Chain Management

    I sat on a panel this week in Charlotte on “Strategic Transactions – Planning for 2012 & Beyond”, hosted by Moore & Van Allen.  One of the first speakers was U.S. Senator Richard  Burr, who gave an incredible speech outlining the current global landscape, the political climate in Washington, and what lies ahead. Senator Burr [...]

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12. Just when you thought the global economy was stabilizing…

    February 15, 2012
    by: handfield
    categories: Forecasting, Global Supply Chain, Supply Chain Management, Supply Market Intelligence

    Many economic forecasters have a certain number of “givens” in their economic projections, including the fact that the economies of Brazil, China, and India will remain stable….let’s take a look at some of these “given assumptions”…. As noted in earlier blogs, there is significant doubt about the challenges associated with economic growth in China. The [...]

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13. The Lowly UNSPSC Is Moving up in the Supply Chain World!

    January 27, 2012
    by: handfield
    categories: Category Management, Forecasting, Global Supply Chain, Healthcare Supply Management, Supply chain analytics, Supply Chain Management

    The inauspicious UNSPSC (United Nations) code began as a historical marriage between the UN code set and a code set with a commercial concern (Dunn & Bradstreet).  The focus initially was to begin to drive some standardization in the way that products were coded, and overcome the challenges with the many different proprietary coding systems [...]

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14. Time for Creative Thinking on the Economic Front

    December 5, 2011
    by: handfield
    categories: China Supply Chain, Forecasting, Global Supply Chain, Supply Chain Management, Supply Market Intelligence

    Steve Allen, Professor of Economics and Associate Dean of the Graduate Program in the Poole College of Management spoke about the current state of the economy at the SCRC meeting on December 1-2, 2011. In this lecture, he outlined some key thoughts for executives to consider in a glum market, and provide some thoughtful statistics [...]

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15. Don’t blame Obama for the malaise of healthcare…

    October 5, 2011
    by: handfield
    categories: Biopharmaceutical Supply Chain, Forecasting, Healthcare Supply Management, Pharmaceutical Supply Chain, Supply Chain Management

    Over the last eight years, I’ve had the opportunity to meet with many different participants in the healthcare supply chain: drug manufacturers, Group Purchasing Organizations, retail pharmacies, hospital pharmacies, physicians, consultants, academics, clinical researchers, third party logistics providers, pharmacy benefits managers, and others. Over this period, the level of anxiety has been mounting considerably, culminating [...]

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16. Insights from the ISM Meeting…..Inflation is on the rise (despite our Fed Chairman’s views otherwise)…

    May 17, 2011
    by: handfield
    categories: Forecasting, Supply Chain Management

    I attended a session led by four procurement leaders at Alcoa, Manpower, Merck and Kraft who spent time discussing some of the current challenges on the environment, including most notably the rise of increasing commodity prices. These companies are focused on how to offset pricing increases through long-term relationships, using substitutes, or using less of [...]

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17. Jason Schenker’s Economic Forecasts for the Year: “Dude, Where’s My Gas?”

    May 3, 2011
    by: handfield
    categories: Commodities forecasting, Forecasting, Supply Chain Risk

    Jason Schenker of Prestige Economics had some great insights into some of the challenges that lie ahead for the US economy, which are listed below. 1. Growth is going up. Markets responded with decreases as US growth rates are lower but rates for 2012 are raised for US and Japan. The things to keep in [...]

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18. Jason Busch’s Predictions for 2010

    May 7, 2010
    by: handfield
    categories: Forecasting

    Jason Busch is a leading expert in supply chain who is truly “plugged in” to what is going to happen in procurement in 2010.

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19. SCRC Event April 29-30: What’s the Deal with Black Swans?

    April 11, 2010
    by: handfield
    categories: Forecasting, Supply Chain Risk

    What do Black Swans have to do with supply chains?

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