Supply Chain View from the Field

Category Archives: Supply Chain Systems

1. 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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2. 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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3. 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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4. The Paperless Office: Pipe Dream, Procurement Mandate, or Sustainability Boondoggle?

   May 17, 2012
   by: handfield
   categories: Category Management, Procurement Sustainability, Strategic Cost Management, Strategic Sourcing, Supply Chain Systems, Sustainability

   In today’s cost-cutting environment, many procurement and category management teams are sharpening their pencils and looking at ways to reduce indirect spend in areas such as printing, document management, and paper.  In addition, the push to become more sustainable is also driving people to think about printing less, and saving trees.  These two distinct elements [...]

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5. 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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6. 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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7. Facing the Quagmire of Accountable Care and Comparative Effectiveness

   September 13, 2011
   by: handfield
   categories: Healthcare Supply Management, Supply chain analytics, Supply Chain Management, Supply Chain Systems

   Attending the IDN Summit in Phoenix today, one wouldn’t know by the relaxed atmosphere at the beautiful Arizona Biltmore that there is significant tension in the air….until you sit down and talk to a few of the supply chain executives attending. There are several big themes that are dominating the conversation, and number one on [...]

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8. HJ Soft: the emerging Chinese competitor to SAP and Oracle….

   July 9, 2011
   by: handfield
   categories: Supply Chain Management, Supply Chain Systems, Supply Market Intelligence

   As part of our recent study, we also studied a large Chinese government-owned manufacturing entity that has begun moving into the construction industry space . Obtained detailed information on this company (we’ll call it “Company C”) is challenging, even though we had a Chinese scholar working at the SCRC who interviewed managers at their location [...]

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9. Is IT strategic spending aligned with Corporate strategy ?

   
   by: handfield
   categories: Supply chain analytics, Supply Chain Management, Supply Chain Systems

   The SCRC team recently conducted a benchmarking study focused on IT spending in the manufacturing sector. In our opinion, the current roadmap for IT in many companies is NOT aligned well with the competitive capabilities that are being required to grow. Specifically, there is a need for IT to build competitive capabilities that will ensure [...]

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10. Marching to the ERP “Death March”

    May 26, 2011
    by: handfield
    categories: Supply chain analytics, Supply Chain Management, Supply Chain Systems

    I coined this phrase from Pierre Mitchell from The Hackett Group – I think it’s probably one of his favorite terms when discussing the on-going SAP/Oracle/”fill in the blank” ERP system implementation that many companies are going through. Anyone who has survived and is in recovery following an ERP implementation can testify with tremors to [...]

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