Supply Chain View from the Field

Category Archives: Supply chain Relationships

1. Random thoughts on “close-to-home-shoring” based on my travels last week…

   April 27, 2013
   by: handfield
   categories: BRIC Supply Chain, Contract Management, Global Supply Chain, Supplier Relationship Management, Supply Chain Management, Supply chain Relationships

   Last week I had the opportunity to travel first to New York and then Monterrey, Mexico, and speak with a number of people to explore perspectives on the current economic situation we find ourselves in. Early in the week I sat in on a lecture given by Clay Christenson (from Harvard Business School) to a [...]

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2. Do We Need More Lawyers in Procurement? Or Do Lawyers Need More Procurement Managers?

   March 29, 2013
   by: handfield
   categories: Contract Management, MBA Supply Chain Programs, Supply chain Relationships, Supply Chain Risk, Supply Chain Talent

   As I’ve continued with my research on the future faces of procurement, a consistent theme that has come up again and again is the need for increased interaction between the legal and procurement groups in organizations.  Today, this interaction is often poorly handled, with clumsy templates being exchanged between the two groups, and in some [...]

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3. Growing the logistics network means building partnerships with the right people

   February 17, 2013
   by: handfield
   categories: Global Supply Chain, Logistics, Retail Logistics, Supply chain Relationships

   Growth of the global logistics network is fraught with increasing difficulty.  Large BRIC country governments have recognized their power in the channel, and have raised the stakes for import and export requirements and regulation.  There is also considerable debate among experts as to the path this will take.  Some believe India will continue to grow, [...]

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4. Controlling the extended supply chain: Horse Bolognese, anyone?

   February 10, 2013
   by: handfield
   categories: Global Distribution, Global Supply Chain, Retail Logistics, Supply Chain Management, Supply Chain Quality, Supply chain Relationships, Supply Market Intelligence

   A recent article in the Guardian shows how uncontrollable supply chains can be.  Managing tier 2 suppliers, in this case, became problematic when supermarkets found that the beef they were selling was not what they thought it was….. Several supermarkets in the UK announced that what they thought was beef in the food they were [...]

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5. Bangladesh Working Conditions: A Human Rights Issue? Or a Supplier Capacity Issue?

   January 30, 2013
   by: handfield
   categories: BRIC Supply Chain, Global Distribution, Global Supply Chain, Procurement Sustainability, Sales and Operations Planning, Supply Chain Management, Supply chain Relationships, Supply Chain Strategy, Sustainability

   The recent press in the Wall Street Journal and other papers on Walmart’s fire in Bangladesh is raising the ire of corporate responsibility groups and human rights groups alike.   How can retailers like Walmart support buying clothing in factories that are treating workers with such disregard, not to mention exposing them to working conditions [...]

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6. Newest Partners to Join the SCRC: Avaya, John Deere, and Stop Hunger Now

   December 13, 2012
   by: handfield
   categories: Supply chain Relationships, Supply Chain Talent

   Today the SCRC office received confirmation from Avaya that they will be joining the SCRC effective January 2013. Our staff will be meeting with their representative early next week to work out the details of their partnership agreement. In addition, John Deere has joined and will bring with them projects that will focus initially with [...]

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7. 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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8. The Power of Bloomberg in Creating Supply Chain Intelligence and Risk Alerts

   August 27, 2012
   by: handfield
   categories: Strategic Sourcing, Supply chain analytics, Supply Chain Innovation, Supply chain Relationships, Supply Chain Risk, Supply Market Intelligence

   Supply chains are difficult to study.  People do not want analysts knowing about their supply chains.  So creating market intelligence around supply chains is extremely challenging.  Yet analysts rely on supply chain information.  They study market reports, and they react to announcements.  Research by Hendricks and Singhal shows that stocks can drop by as much [...]

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9. Key Forces to Consider that will Impact the Future Global Logistics Environment

   August 7, 2012
   by: handfield
   categories: Global Supply Chain, Logistics, Supply Chain Innovation, Supply Chain Management, Supply chain Relationships, Supply Chain Strategy, Supply Chain Systems, Sustainability

   Today’s global logistics environment is characterized by increasing complexity and a much greater number of parameters shaping the logistics environment. The speed of trends is breathtaking and increasingly complicated – and there is a need for the public sector to provide greater levels of support to facilitate economic growth. One of the immediate implications is [...]

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10. Random Thoughts on the Impact of Frugal Innovation on the Supply Chain

    April 4, 2012
    by: handfield
    categories: Category Management, Global Supply Chain, Strategic Cost Management, Strategic Sourcing, Supply Chain Innovation, Supply Chain Management, Supply chain Relationships, Supply Chain Strategy

    In this week’s Economist, an article by Schumpeter provides some interesting views on the emerging concept of “frugal innovation”.  He cites the example of the Tata Nano, a $2,000 car  developed in India, which makes a new car within reach of ordinary Indians and Chinese.  He also cites a new book, Jugaad Innovation” by Navi [...]

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11. What Will the Role of the CIO Look Like In the Next Five Years?

    April 3, 2012
    by: handfield
    categories: Category Management, Contract Management, Strategic Sourcing, Supplier Relationship Management, Supply chain Relationships, Supply Chain Systems

    I recently spoke with Todd Taylor from Apptivo, who is writing a book on IT technology management.  Apptivo provides IT business technology management, and is focused on transparency of IT application usage.  Todd is also affiliated with the CIO Technology Council, and is writing  book on current trends in IT.  He notes that CIO’s are [...]

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12. Category management begins and ends with stakeholders

    February 29, 2012
    by: handfield
    categories: Category Management, Strategic Sourcing, Supplier Relationship Management, Supply Chain Management, Supply chain Relationships

    While not always the case, companies often use category teams to develop supply management strategies. Supply management strategies often apply to categories—general families of purchased products or services. Examples of major category classifications might include castings, electronics, motors, or wiring harnesses. These are some of the big, complex categories that are ripe for strategic sourcing [...]

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13. 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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14. The Future Role of the Chief Procurement Officer

    February 9, 2012
    by: handfield
    categories: Supply Chain Management, Supply chain Relationships, Supply Chain Risk, Supply Chain Strategy, Supply Chain Talent

    I had an interesting discussion with Stephen Hall from the Procurement Leaders Group this morning. Stephen is putting together a feature for Procurement Leaders Magazine on ‘The End of the CPO’ and we had a quick chat about this idea. Stephen is essentially looking at where the procurement chief role is heading in mature functions. [...]

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15. Applying supply chain thinking to the supply chain talent problem

    February 1, 2012
    by: handfield
    categories: Global Supply Chain, MBA Supply Chain Programs, Supply Chain Management, Supply chain Relationships, Supply Chain Talent

    In a recent white paper published in October 2010, Jim Rice from MIT argues that there is a potential crisis for supply chain talent brewing.  A speaker from a large global manufacturing company spoke in my MBA Supply Chain Relationships class today, and shared his views on if this talent shortage really exists, and if [...]

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16. Are you really a customer’s of choice?

    January 15, 2012
    by: handfield
    categories: Category Management, Contract Management, Customer Relationship Management, Supplier Relationship Management, Supply chain analytics, Supply Chain Management, Supply chain Relationships, Supply Market Intelligence

    Within the context of the current financial crisis, the importance of sustaining critical supply chain relationships has received more attention than ever. Despite the return to a “buyer’s market” in some sectors, the need to build and sustain supplier relationships is not obviated. Indeed, in an environment of heightened supply chain financial risks, supplier performance [...]

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17. Small and Medium Suppliers as a Source of Innovation (and of Risk!)

    January 9, 2012
    by: handfield
    categories: Supplier Relationship Management, Supply chain analytics, Supply Chain Management, Supply chain Relationships, Supply Chain Systems

    I recently did a webinar on the topic of “Supplier Management: The Need of the Hour”, for a number of supply chain executives through the Zycus spend management series they have been sponsoring. The webinar discussed some of the challenges that exist for small and medium sized companies who are seeking to develop relationships with [...]

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18. Planning for Uncertainty in 2012

    December 14, 2011
    by: handfield
    categories: Category Management, Commodities forecasting, Contract Management, Supply Chain Management, Supply chain Relationships, Supply Chain Risk, Supply Market Intelligence

    As I look back on 2011, I’m reminded of the success stories and disruptions that occurred, but am also thinking about who is going to win in the year ahead. On the economic front, 2011 was really about another year of uncertainty. A global economic recovery remains underway, although it is alarmingly long and slower [...]

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19. Lenovo Relies on Agile Communications in a Disruptive Environment

    December 6, 2011
    by: handfield
    categories: Global Supply Chain, Supplier Relationship Management, Supply Chain Management, Supply chain Relationships, Supply Chain Risk

    One of the highlights of our SCRC meeting was a presentation by John Zapko, VP of Global Procurement at Lenovo. In his presentation to the group, John discussed some of the critical enablers that have led to Lenovo’s incredible success, and current position as the number 3 top PC manufacturer in the world. Lenovo has [...]

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20. Gaps In Relationships and Contracts in Eastern and Western Cultures

    December 5, 2011
    by: handfield
    categories: Contract Management, Global Supply Chain, Supply Chain Management, Supply chain Relationships, Supply Chain Risk

    In this second post, I summarize additional insights that several of our speakers put forward at our recent SCRC meeting on Dec 1-2, 2011. We were lucky to have Tim Cummins, CEO of IACCM, speak on the subject of relational contracts in a complex global environment. Tim made a very good point that Western companies [...]

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21. Darwinism, Ignatius of Loyala, and SAP in Mongolia: Insights from the SCRC Meeting on Supply Chain Agility

    
    by: handfield
    categories: Contract Management, Global Supply Chain, Supply Chain Management, Supply chain Relationships, Supply Chain Risk

    The SCRC meeting on “Creating Agility in a Globally Volatile Environment” provided a broad variety of speakers who shared a number of different perspectives on the approaches that supply chain executives need to consider when building strategies for navigating difficult economic and disruptive minefields. I began with a brief overview of the multiple forms of [...]

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22. $30B of Waste in Iraq….We’re not in TCE Anymore Oliver…

    September 1, 2011
    by: handfield
    categories: Contract Management, Supply chain analytics, Supply Chain Management, Supply chain Relationships, Supply Chain Risk, Supply Market Intelligence

    The Wartime Contracting Report came out today and announced $30B in waste in Iraq, and focused on the fact that there was a lot of graft and corruption taking place. Is this a surprise? A chat with Tim Cummins at IACCM leads me to think not….In military contracting environments, there is often a lot of [...]

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