SCRC Articles Library: SCM Features
SCM Features Articles
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The World of Global Procurement Q&A with John Zapko, VP of Global Procurement, Lenovo
Questions and Answers on Global Procurement with John Zapko, VP of Global Procurement, Lenovo Questions and Answers on Global Procurement with John Zapko, VP of Global Procurement, Lenovo from scrc…
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Beyond Procurement Survey
We are working with a team of global researchers conducting a study called ““Beyond Procurement”:https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/bpsusa”, which focuses on how organizations are moving to create the next level of procurement excellence. Please consider taking this survey if you have any duties relevant to purchasing or supply management. The survey should take no more than 10 minutes maximum.
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Labor & Human Rights Supply Chain: Market Research Aerospace & Defense Sustainability Report
Introduction & Key Issues Aerospace & Defense is an industry dependent on high dollar contracts to deliver high end products such as airplanes, fighter jets, tanks and other high dollar…
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Industrial Manufacturing Industry Sustainability Report
Key Sustainability Issues in the Industrial Manufacturing Industry (Construction, Industrial, Automotive, Farm, and Miscellaneous Manufacturing) Green is “popular” right now; therefore, finding more information about environmental sustainability on the company…
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Key Sustainability Issues in the Electronics Industry: Sustainability Industry Report
Executive Summary In general we learned sustainability is not as simple as recycling or ‘being green’. To be sustainable is to look after the environment, the people living and working…
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Energy (Utilities) Sustainability Report
Key Sustainability Issues in the Energy Industry Reliance on coal (especially on the east coast) Limited suppliers Expense of constructing new Nuclear Plants Issues with current plants – Florida’s Crystal…
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Food and Beverages Sustainability Industry Report
Introduction Today Food and Beverages industry is more competitive than ever. As the companies in the various sectors compete and grow sustainability becomes a very important concern. Sustainability issues in…
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Consumer Products Sustainability Report
The apparel toys/games, and general merchandise industries have a wide range of variability in their sustainability efforts. Overall, the literature review showed a high level of effort on the part…
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Demand Forecasting: A Cross Discipline Perspective Part II: Probabilistic and Ensemble Forecasting
In forecasting for demand there are two predominant methods of modeling available: deterministic and probabilistic. Normally just saying the names of these techniques is enough to turn someone off from…
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Demand Forecasting: A Cross Discipline Perspective Part I: Model Output Statistics (MOS)
This paper will highlight some of the numerical modeling techniques used in weather forecasting that can be applied to improve business forecasting. Demand and weather forecasting are comparable in so…
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The Supply Chain IT Investment Enigma: Companies are Rethinking IT Investments
After a period of significant downsizing and reduction in IT, supply chain executives need to re-think their IT investment strategies, particularly given the dominance of the Web, social media and…
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A Quick Primer on BPM: Business Process Management
The concept of business process management (BPM for short) has been around for a number of years now, but just what does it entail? What are the major activities and…
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References: An Analysis of Supplier Evaluation
References 1 Barlas, D. August 2001. When EDI is mandatory. www.line56.com. 2 Browing, J. September 2000. Developing “fast track” policies and procedures. CAPS Research. 4(1): 7-13. 3 Carr, A. &…
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A Brief History of China: Democracy or Communist Bureaucracy?
Just recently, the Wall Street Journal published an article stating the incredible growth in automotive component manufacturing in China, as well as other industries. Many people are mystified by the…
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The Transportation Crunch
Related site link: A Brief History of the Highway Transportation System in the U.S. The transportation infrastructure is exploding. This was the subject of debate at the Consumer Healthcare Products…
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A Brief History of the Highway Transportation System in the U.S.
Related site link: The Transportation Crunch The highway infrastructure as we know it today began expanding rapidly after President Dwight Eisenhower, 50 years ago this month, signed the Federal Aid…
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Current Trends in Production Labor Sourcing: Conclusion
PART 1: Findings 1-3 PART 2: Findings 4-7 PART 3: Findings 8-10 PART 4: Conclusion PLS is a fast emerging trend in the management of semi-skilled production labor. It is…
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Current Trends in Production Labor Sourcing: Findings 8-10
PART 1: Findings 1-3 PART 2: Findings 4-7 PART 3: Findings 8-10 PART 4: Conclusion PLS is a fast emerging trend in the management of semi-skilled production labor. It is…
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Current Trends in Production Labor Sourcing: Findings 4-7
PART 1: Findings 1-3 PART 2: Findings 4-7 PART 3: Findings 8-10 PART 4: Conclusion PLS is a fast emerging trend in the management of semi-skilled production labor. It is…
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Current Trends in Production Labor Sourcing: Findings 1-3
PART 1: Findings 1-3 PART 2: Findings 4-7 PART 3: Findings 8-10 PART 4: Conclusion PLS is a fast emerging trend in the management of semi-skilled production labor. It is…
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Current Strategies and Tactics in Staffing
The following report is introductory to Dr Handfield’s research on Current Trends in Production Labor Sourcing. Contingent work force Call it downsizing, rightsizing or a layoff. Companies throughout the 90’s…
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A Brief History of Outsourcing
The following report is introductory to Dr Handfield’s research on Current Trends in Production Labor Sourcing. Since the Industrial Revolution, companies have grappled with how they can exploit their competitive…
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Outsourcing Production Labor: A New Breed of Lean Manufacturing
The following report is introductory to Dr Handfield’s research on “ Current Trends in Production Labor Sourcing" Manufacturing companies are beginning to examine the business case for outsourcing production tasks…
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Strategic Information Systems Planning (SISP) - An IS Strategy for ERP Implementation
The following is based on Dr. Bozarth’s research on “ERP Implementation Efforts at Three Firms: Applying lessons from the SISP and IT-enabled change literature” which is scheduled to appear in…
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IT-Enabled Change
The following is based on Dr. Bozarth’s research on “ERP Implementation Efforts at Three Firms: Applying lessons from the SISP and IT-enabled change literature” which is scheduled to appear in…
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Best Practices in Procure to Pay Cycle: Reduce Complexity in Catalogs and Buying Channels - Part 8
PART 1 PART 2 PART 3 PART 4 PART 5 PART 6 PART 7 PART 8 PART 9 PART 10 Many of the experts also emphasized the need to reduce…
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Best Practices in Procure to Pay Cycle: Conclusions and Observations - Part 10
Virtually all of the hypotheses identified at the beginning of the research project were validated by the suppliers and subject matter experts interviewed in the study. A confluence of respondents…
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Best Practices in Procure to Pay Cycle: Secure Top Management Support - Part 9
Having a champion in senior management to send the signal that compliance to the redesigned P2P process is critical. Ideally, a policy of “zero tolerance” should be established, with consequences…
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Best Practices in Procure to Pay Cycle: On-Site Relationship Managers - Part 5
PART 1 PART 2 PART 3 PART 4 PART 5 PART 6 PART 7 PART 8 PART 9 PART 10 An important point that many respondents noted was the need…
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Best Practices in Procure to Pay Cycle: Develop a Robust Technology w/a Portal to Minimize Touch P6
A number of SME’s described the need to eliminate the manual intervention of multiple untrained individuals in entering information into systems such as SAP. Many ERP systems have modules for…
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Smart and Secure Tradelanes (SST)
Abstract: An industry initiative, SST, was established in October of 2002. The purpose is to identify the tampering of containers while in transit using automated tracking, detection and security technologies.…
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Overview of US Government Security Initiatives
Even before the events of 9/11, security was a priority for the United States Customs and Border Patrol (CBP). The following initiatives are in place to ensure the highest security…
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Best Practices in Procure to Pay Cycle: Subject matter expert insights into the P2P process - Part 4
PART 1 PART 2 PART 3 PART 4 PART 5 PART 6 PART 7 PART 8 PART 9 PART 10 A number of senior executives from a variety of different…
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Best Practices in Procure to Pay Cycle: Perspectives from suppliers - Part 2
PART 1 PART 2 PART 3 PART 4 PART 5 PART 6 PART 7 PART 8 PART 9 PART 10 We first interviewed eight suppliers who were known to have…
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Strategic Purchasing: Lessons for Purchasing Managers - Part 5
PART 1: Introducing New Research on Relational Rents PART 2: Strategic Purchasing and Supply Management Practices PART 3: The Nature of Strategic Purchasing PART 4: Supplier Relationship Performance Outcomes PART…
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Strategic Purchasing: Supplier Relationship Performance Outcomes - Part 4
PART 1: Introducing New Research on Relational Rents PART 2: Strategic Purchasing and Supply Management Practices PART 3: The Nature of Strategic Purchasing PART 4: Supplier Relationship Performance Outcomes PART…
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Strategic Purchasing: The Nature of Strategic Purchasing - Part 3
PART 1: Introducing New Research on Relational Rents PART 2: Strategic Purchasing and Supply Management Practices PART 3: The Nature of Strategic Purchasing PART 4: Supplier Relationship Performance Outcomes PART…
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Strategic Purchasing: Strategic Purchasing and Supply Management Practices - Part 2
PART 1: Introducing New Research on Relational Rents PART 2: Strategic Purchasing and Supply Management Practices PART 3: The Nature of Strategic Purchasing PART 4: Supplier Relationship Performance Outcomes PART…
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Strategic Purchasing: Introducing New Research on Relational Rents - Part 1
PART 1: Introducing New Research on Relational Rents PART 2: Strategic Purchasing and Supply Management Practices PART 3: The Nature of Strategic Purchasing PART 4: Supplier Relationship Performance Outcomes PART…
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Digital Business Transformation [DBT): The Journey Must Begin Now -Part 3
True supply chain excellence will only come from making a digital business transformation [DBT]. It's a transformation that exploits all that technology has to offer, facilitates supply chain collaboration, and leads to new levels of operational excellence. More than a one-time project, the transformation is a journey, and the time to start that journey is now.
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Digital Business Transformation [DBT): The Journey Must Begin Now - Part 2
True supply chain excellence will only come from making a digital business transformation [DBT]. It's a transformation that exploits all that technology has to offer, facilitates supply chain collaboration, and leads to new levels of operational excellence. More than a one-time project, the transformation is a journey, and the time to start that journey is now.
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Digital Business Transformation [DBT): the Journey Must Begin Now - Part 1
True supply chain excellence will only come from making a digital business transformation [DBT]. It's a transformation that exploits all that technology has to offer, facilitates supply chain collaboration, and leads to new levels of operational excellence. More than a one-time project, the transformation is a journey, and the time to start that journey is now.
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In the Wake of Hurricane Katrina: The Recovery Lag - Part 2
In the previous article, we discussed the need to quickly respond to a disruption, and the need to move quickly. The response by the National Guard and the federal and…
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In the Wake of Hurricane Katrina: Lessons Learned through the Lens of Supply Chain Disruptions - Pa
As we read daily about the death toll and destruction in New Orleans and Biloxi, the same questions echo through everyone’s mind: How did we let this happen? Why wasn’t…
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Lean Resource Centers
An important step in fostering lean learning in a company is to support continuous lean training. Employees must stay up to date with the latest aspects of lean. In order…
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Important U.S. Trade Legislation
Abstract: Trade agreements have a clear impact on Supply Chain security as they determine the countries with whom we trade. NAFTA and GATT are two important trade arrangements the U.S.…
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Logistics in China (DELIVER) - China Series Part 5
The majority of the growth that has occurred in China is in the Pearl River Delta. Transformed from a rural backwater into the world’s workshop through Deng Xiaoping’s economic reforms…
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Mastering Complexity and Seeking Simplicity in Your Information Supply Chain - Part 2
Like the old adage about not seeing the forest for the trees, companies must understand what is and what need not be complex in their data management processes. Modern Enterprise Resource Planning [ERP] Systems offer the opportunity to centralize data, provide information to the entire Integrated Supply Chain, and manage interactions with Supply Chain Partners. The challenge faced by many companies is to simply provide the needed information, without unnecessary data to distract the user
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Manufacturing in China (MAKE) - China Series Part 4
When selecting a supplier / partner in China, it is critical to be aware of the working and economic conditions. None is more important then an understanding of the labor…
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Manufacturing Labor Statistics for the Peoples Republic of China
As China provides an increasing amount of manufacturing power for the United States and other countries, companies and the government like to understand the associated costs of establishing operations in…
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Mastering Complexity and Seeking Simplicity in Your Information Supply Chain - Part 1
Consolidation of a company’s data in a single place is the most helpful action that a firm can take to extract maximum benefit from the data available. By creating a…
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Identifying and Negotiating with Chinese Suppliers (SOURCE) - China Series Part 3
An interview with a US expert who worked closely with Chinese business people for many years reveals the unexpected difficulties that may exist when attempting to negotiate and establish a…
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Negotiations, Contracts and the Chinese Culture
As manufacturing operations are relocated to China, it is becoming imperative that executives understand how to negotiate and develop contracts in China. Business travelers must realize and accept cultural differences…
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Planning and Control Systems in China (PLAN) - China Part 2
Planning is one of the most important, yet one of the most high risk areas of growth in China. One of the biggest challenges for Chinese companies is capacity planning.…
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Partnering for Lean Manufacturing
“Arm’s length” and “partnering” are two terms that are commonly used to describe the nature of contractual relationships between customers and suppliers. The former is considered to be a more…
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RFID Container Pilot Project
Abstract: During the first quarter of 2005, the next step in using RFID as a means of identifying and tracking merchandise at a higher level of aggregation will be tested.…
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Global Sourcing from China: Insights from a Recent Visit - China Part 1
Not so long ago, a strong American market nationalism and anti-communist sentiment made it socially sensitive for US companies to purchase goods from China. These days, purchasing Chinese goods may…
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Cultural Affects on the Global Supply Chain
As manufacturing operations are relocated around the world, the efficient movement of goods is becoming more and more important. Logistics providers are responsible for the movement of goods and face…
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Check Border Wait Times to Ensure On-Time Delivery
Borders between the United States and Canada and the United States and Mexico have been strongly secured since the events of September 11, 2001. The increased security will cause wait…
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Supply Planning - Federal Express and Tires
Tires. Let’s face it – they are everywhere. Tires are one of the biggest eyesores at many major projects. One energy company buys them new from two suppliers, who are…
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Sarbanes-Oxley: How It Is Actually Affecting Businesses
With some time to evaluate the real cost of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, businesses are realizing the direct and indirect cost of this legislation to their businesses. They must comply with…
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Driving Logistics Change in the Pharmaceutical Industry
A number of challenges continue to exist in the pharmaceutical industry. These challenges were discussed by a senior pharmaceutical executive recently. Little Incentive for Reducing Inventory First, pharma must continue…
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Managing the Cold Chain
Cold chain management is vital in many industries, but particularly in the transportation of vaccines, insulin and blood. Managing the cold chain requires keeping a product within a particular temperature…
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The Challenges of Partnerships
In today’s global supply chain environment, working to create mutual benefit among partners is a key element for success. Cross-functional teams must work together to align business strategies. Teams are…
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RFID … A larger audience of believers
Powerful and influential retailers like Wal-Mart, Target, Tesco, and Metro who began the implementation of the revolution, now insist that their business partners get on board with radio frequency identification…
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The Critical Role of the Cross-Functional Team
A cross-functional team (XFT) is generally created by a business unit Executive Vice President – who assigns professionals to participate. A XFT is formed in response to a very specific…
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The Logistics of the Relief Supply Chain: Help for Tsunami Victims
The recent tragedy suffered by the coastal nations along the Indian Ocean has realigned priorities and helped many of us to understand how lucky we are, even facing our worst…
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Supply Chain Disruptions: Minimize the Effects
The Christmas Tsunami, in the Indian Ocean, gave the world another glimpse of supply chain disruption. Natural disasters, wars, and political upheavals occur regularly around the globe, playing havoc with…
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Establishing a Foundation for Supply Chain Success in the Field
Management of supply chains is a key element for enterprise success by ensuring that your company achieves a sustainable competitive advantage. A framework has been developed which represents the building…
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Supply Chain Metrics
What are supply chain metrics and how are they most useful? Beginner Readers: Do you know what it means to have a Perfect Order Measure of 94%? How about an…
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Supply Chain Metrics
What are supply chain metrics and how are they most useful? Beginner Readers: Do you know what it means to have a Perfect Order Measure of 94%? How about an…
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Supply Chain Management During the Holidays
Gift giving and receiving is a big part of the holiday season. Supply chain and logistics processes must be efficient to handle the increased gift giving. Gifts must be available…
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C-TPAT Membership Facts
Improving the security at the nation’s borders became a priority following the events of September 11, 2001. Greater scrutiny was placed on the shipments into the U.S., resulting in longer…
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Getting your arms around your spend
An area of increasing importance by different companies is the need to establish a clear picture of their spend analysis. The “as-is” assessment is three-fold. First, a local spend analysis…
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Benefits and Risks of Single Sourcing
For many companies, sourcing decisions can be some of the most strategic in the organization. Single sourcing has become increasingly practiced today. The decision to sole source an item, particularly…
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Collaboration in the Energy Industry: A Case Study of Suncor Energy
A successful exploration and development drilling program requires strong performance from a multi-disciplinary team as well as active participation and support from many suppliers and contractors. The Suncor Foothills Drilling-Asset…
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The SCOR Model for Supply Chain Strategic Decisions
The supply chain operations reference model (SCOR) is a management tool used to address, improve, and communicate supply chain management decisions within a company and with suppliers and customers of…
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What is Evaluated Receipt Settlement?
Evaluated Receipt Settlement (ERS) is a procedure for the automatic settlement of goods receipts. It was pioneered by General Motors (GM) to save the company time and money (1). Major…
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The Evolving World of E-Sourcing
A recent white paper by the Gartner Group provides an assessment of e-procurement and strategic sourcing software providers. The authors of this article note that “Strategic sourcing applications have traditionally…
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Supply Chain Disruptions
Weather causes many disruptions and disasters around the world. Hurricanes, floods, heat waves, and earthquakes cause large scale disasters where people need assistance. An efficient, planned supply chain is critical…
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Ethics and Supply Management in a Global Environment
Many executives I speak with today discuss the challenges associated with global sourcing, particularly in areas where customs and ethical issues differ. One story related to me recently by an…
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Trends and Services Offered in the 3PL Industry
The third party logistics (3PL) provider industry is expanding as global companies are realizing the cost savings of outsourcing their logistics services (1). The 3PL market grew by 6.9 percent…
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Supply Market Intelligence: The Key to Strategic Sourcing
“In the Tom Cruise film, Minority Report, the Department of Crime Prevention collected data in various fashions about crimes and murders that were going to happen. They pieced this together,…
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Growing Emphasis on Product Lifecycle Management
To improve the communication between suppliers, customers, vendors, and distributors, companies are beginning to invest in product lifecycle management (PLM) software. Product lifecycle management is “an integrated, information-driven approach to…
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The Role of Organizational Design
More organizations are seeking new approaches to compete through a competitive supply chain strategy. Many of these strategies involve the following elements: Development of a centrally led supply chain organization…
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Success in Diversity Supplier Programs
Many organizations are striving either to establish or to improve diversity supplier initiatives. These plans aim to increase corporate purchasing from companies that are at least 51% owned, operated, and…
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Conflict of Interest – A Hot Topic!
With the increased focus on ethical behavior, more and more companies are examining their conflict of interest policies, especially as they relate to procurement. When an individual is hired by…
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Effects of Weather on the Supply Chain
Weather plays a big role in what consumers buy at the store or what customers buy from their suppliers. Producers must pay attention to this information because having the wrong…
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Managing Complexity in the Supply Chain: Motorola’s War on Supply Chain Complexity - Part 2
In the last column, I shared an example of how Motorola is reducing complexity in their supply chain. This initiative was started by Theresa Metty, senior VP of procurement at…
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The Key Ingredient For Success: Competent People
One of the most important drivers for success in deploying supply chain initiatives today is people. A high priority for supply chain executives is to understand what the key skills…
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The Antonov: Fast Shipping for Large Items
While not a household name, Russian-built Antonov aircrafts have played an important role in transportation and logistics. The Antonov 124 was initially built to move Russian military cargo, but its…
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Managing Complexity in the Supply Chain - Part I
I recently sat on a panel of supply chain executives in Las Vegas, at the Better Management Live! Meeting sponsored by SAS. The theme of this panel was to have…
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The Key Ingredient For Success: Competent People
One of the most important drivers for success in deploying supply chain initiatives today is people. A high priority for supply chain executives is to understand what the key skills…
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The Benefits of Going Vertical
Managers in many industries are discovering the advantages of going vertical in warehouse and production floor storage. Vertical Lift Modules (VLMs) can be used on production floors to store, locate…
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The Increasing Necessity for Reverse Logistics
Due to environmental regulations and consumer pressures to increase customer service, companies are focusing on reverse logistics. Reverse logistics can lead to improved relationships with supply chain partners, improved profits…
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Aligning Demand and Supply Management
Supply chain managers are increasingly being relied on to deliver greater returns to shareholders – and are also being held responsible for “supply chain glitches” that negatively impact a company’s…
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Leading Change in Supply Chain Management
Any company that has undertaken the mission of implementing an integrated supply chain management strategy knows that one of the greatest challenges it faces is the significant change in internal…
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Cost Reduction Measures
According to a study by the Center for Applied Purchasing Studies (CAPS) Research, the primary goal of most purchasing executives is to reduce total costs (1). Supply managers in general…
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Want to Improve Your Supply Chain Performance? Start with Your Suppliers!
Companies now know that suppliers of critical goods and services can provide major competitive benefits, in the form of lower costs, improved quality, on-time delivery, technological innovation, and customer service.…
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Lean Implementation Is Tough!
Lean Business Solutions publishes free e-newsletter discussing applications of lean thinking in the workplace. Recently a reader by the name of Marty Laurent who has a lot of experience in…
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