Director’s Blog
Proactive supplier communication is critical in this pandemic
As the coronavirus epidemic shuts down the global economy, supply chain executives should be taking steps now to ensure that their supply base remains intact in the face of massive disruption. This was certainly the case in the 2008 Great […]
Where are all the N95 Masks? A Supply Chain Dilemma
An interviewer asked a FEMA representative on CNN this evening a simple question: How many N95 masks will be delivered to hospitals, and when will they arrive? The representative managed to pivot and dodge the question, with a common response […]
Supply Chain Issues Impacting the Country’s Recovery from the Coronavirus
The current pandemic is beginning to create panic in the general population, and in some cases, it is misplaced. For example, grocery stores have seen massive stock-outs of common items that people are beginning to hoard as a result of […]
USDA releases Biobased Economy report: A collaborative effort between NC State, Wichita State, and Duke University
I am proud to share the most recent study published by the USDA on biobased products and their growth in the United States. This report was released this past week by the USDA, and is the latest in a series […]
Steps for industry and government to prepare for the Coronavirus
As I noted in an earlier blog, the issue of global epidemics is something that we have seen in the past with the SARS epidemic. People sometimes think these come around once every ten years – but the reality is, […]
Addressing Labor Shortages in Warehouse and DC Operations
This article was originally published on March 4th, 2019. UPDATE: The SCRC has partnered with FHI to produce a white paper based on the insights from the 2019 workshop on addressing labor shortages in warehouse and DC operations. To view […]
Coronavirus reminds us to review supply chain continuity plans
The rapid escalation of the Corona virus has now devastated China and other regions, resulting in more than 800 deaths and more than 37,000 cases worldwide. The most critical outcome of this issue is the tragic loss of life, but […]
American Red Cross Uses Amazon to Manage Tail Spend
“Tail spend” – the dreaded word that strikes fear into every procurement executive’s heart..for the uninitiated, this refers to the long “tail” in a Pareto chart, that includes the large number of suppliers that are small volume purchases, often for […]
Supply Chain Financing: Liquid Inventory That Keeps Things Moving
I had an opportunity to interview Craig Weeks, one of our faculty advisors for the Supply Chain Resource Cooperative this week, at the NC State Football Stadium recording studio. Craig is a wealth of information on this topic, and we […]
Clay Christensen – A Great Academic and a Good Guy
This week we lost a great operations management scholar, Clay Christensen, who passed away in a battle with leukemia. Christensen was a respected scholar at the Harvard Business School, and was well known for his work “The Innovator’s Dilemna”. Christensen […]