Articles
A Brief History of the Founding of the Supply Chain Resource Cooperative (SCRC)
The following is a transcript of the speech I gave to individuals who attended our SCRC 20th Anniversary Event this past April 2019. It covers a bit about what motivates our team and how this organization evolved to what it […]
Warehouses are the next HOT investment triggered by the digital transformation of the supply chain
A recent article in Bloomberg suggests that warehouses are now becoming one of the hottest investments in the market, based on recent moves by the Blackstone Group LP, who are betting $18.7 billion on the shift towards e-commerce. This is a perfect […]
The Strange Relationship Between Oil Prices, Tariffs and Biobased Innovation
Oil prices have been rather volatile as of late, and are hovering around $58/bbl, down from an average of $65/bbl in 2018. Oil prices impact a lot of things, one of which is the drive to innovate new biobased products […]
First NCSU Procurement Leadership Program a Great Success!
We held our first ever Procurement Leadership workshop this week, hosting a group of executives from Altria, American Red Cross, Cheniere Energy, Smith & Nephew, RSCS (YUM! Brands) and the US Air Force. The mix of executives from both the […]
Are US-Chinese Tariffs Part of the New Normal?
Today’s blog post is a guest post by my former student, Krunal Sonpal. The topic is a timely one: the on-going US-Chinese tariffs and what it means for supply chain executives. This is an issue that should cause every supply […]
Is Blockchain Living up to Its Promise? Thoughts on How Companies Need to Begin Exploring Blockchain
A recent Gartner survey predicted that by 2023, 90% of blockchain-based supply chain initiatives will slow down. These results may sound like the thud of falling bricks in terms of the expectations and hype that has been surrounding blockchain in […]
Closing the Gap Between Buyers and Sellers: “Everything is Changed, Nothing is Different”
We hosted an extremely successful set of speakers at our SCRC meeting this past week. One of my core beliefs, that I’ve espoused over the 30 years that I’ve been working in this field, is that working together for mutually […]
Guest Post: An MBA student’s perspective on the ISM Meeting 2019
This week’s guest post is from my MBA student, Nikhil Singh, who accompanied me to the recent Institute for Supply Management conference in Houston. I enjoyed hearing his perspectives on the sessions, and invited him to post to my blog. […]
Leveraging Technology in the Retail Supply Chain
Companies in the retail sector are looking to automation, artificial intelligence, and other technological advancements to augment various sectors of their business. Savvy businesses are deploying new technology solutions everywhere from their supply chains to their storefronts. Technology is assisting […]
Can Technology Improve Contract Renewal Processes? Paper 4 in the Series on Contract Management
Our fourth paper in our series on contract management features a great summary by Sara Sonderman, who pulls together some great information on the application of technology in contract management and renewals. Lots to think about here… and also a […]