SCM Features

May 22, 2003

Response to a Proponent of Reverse Auctions

A recent reader of the results of our study published in Inside Supply Management took issue with our results, and noted the following: “As an experienced sourcing professional and current…

May 15, 2003

Procurement Technology and Trust

For the average company, purchased products and services account for more than 60% of their total costs (1). That makes procurement a likely candidate for cost reduction efforts. Procurement technology…

May 6, 2003

Implementing a Data Warehouse: Results of Dr. Payton’s Action Research with Solectron

In a 2001 project with Solectron, Dr. Fay Payton and a handful of students tracked data warehouse implementation for 8 months. During the last months (March-May 2002), the authors conducted…

Apr 29, 2003

The IT Strategic Sourcing Four-Step

“An overwhelming majority of CIOs say their enterprises cannot handle their IT services alone and are willing to create partnerships with service providers. But few CIOs have strategies to work…

Apr 22, 2003

IT’s Contribution: Information Visibility and Systems Implementation

One of the biggest areas of opportunity for CIOs is in the area of information visibility, the process of sharing critical data required to manage the flow of products, services,…

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…