Articles

Apr 17, 2003

Estimating the Costs of Iraq’s Reconstruction

Now that the war is over, what will it cost to rebuild the war-torn nation? Analysts have differing estimates for the cost. While the United Nations Development Program estimates the…

Apr 14, 2003

Iraq and the U.S. Economy

The uncertainty concerning war in Iraq has recently left the U.S. economy stuck in neutral. Many economists have begun to paint a gloomy picture for the rest of the year…

Apr 7, 2003

Managing Alliances in the EPC Industry

p. In the engineering project and construction (EPC) industry, a different market environment exists from many other industries. EPC’s are responsible for designing, constructing, and managing all issues associated with…

Apr 3, 2003

Taming the Bullwhip Effect

What is the bullwhip effect The bullwhip effect can be described as a series of events that leads to supplier demand variability up the supply chain. Trigger events include the…

Mar 31, 2003

Longer Warranties: Jacking up sales or costs?

In 2000, the Big Three automakers’ annual warranty costs were around $6 billion, or averaged roughly $500 per unit in North America (1) 90% of automotive suppliers say they believe…

Mar 19, 2003

Global Sourcing: Levels and risks

Global sourcing is an issue that executive management needs to be cognizant of these days because the repercussions of ignoring global sourcing could be devastating to the future health of…

Mar 11, 2003

The Profit-Leverage Effect in Supply Chains

One of the biggest opportunities for improving your financial performance is reducing the amount of inventory in the supply chain. How much would you guess the average company spends on…

Mar 5, 2003

Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI): Three Steps in Making It Work

The goal of Vendor Managed Inventory is to provide a mutually beneficial relationship where both sides will be able to more smoothly and accurately control the availability and flow of…

Mar 1, 2003

Ten Reasons Why You Can’t Automate Human Relationships – A Guide for Supply Chain Managers, Part 2

We continue the discussion in the previous column on SCM on why human relationships are so important to management supply chains. 6. Data Mean Different Things to Different People In…

Feb 24, 2003

How Mature Is Your Supply Chain?

Recent economic events have forced many managers to confront an important message: the old model of managing supply chains is broken and simply doesn’t work anymore. Industries from automotive to…