Strategic Cost Management

Jan 13, 2016

Driving Supply Chain Engagement in Oil and Gas: NOW is the Time!

I recently participated in a workshop of oil and gas leaders in Calgary Alberta. With the announcement of $30/bbl oil, the long-term view of the oil and gas industry is…

Dec 9, 2015

Becoming a Valued Business Partner: Procurement Analytics SCRC Meeting Insights

The December 2015 SCRC meeting was held this week in the brand spanking new Talley Student Center, and was a resounding success. We had over 200 people attend the student…

Nov 6, 2015

SIG Webinar on Procurement Analytics and Innovative Data Leveraging

I will be leading a webinar with the Sourcing Interest Group next Nov. 12 at 2 PM, based on a study I have been working on with some folks at…

Oct 14, 2015

The View from Houston: DHL Global Energy Conference 2015

I had the opportunity to speak to a group of oil and gas executives at the DHL Global Energy conference this week, held in the Petroleum Club. I was joined…

Jun 30, 2015

The State of Strategic Supply Management in the Canadian Oil Industry

I visited Calgary, Alberta this week, and found it to be an odd environment indeed! Oil has leveled off at $60/bbl, major companies have all gone through major budget cuts, have cut headcount…

Jun 4, 2015

Newly minted MBA from NC State heads off to Apple's Supply Chain Organization

One of my recent students from last year, Gaurav Chhabra, just graduated this semester, and landed a job in Apple’s supply chain organization. I had a chance to catch up with Guarav…

Apr 10, 2015

Post Award Contract Management with $40 Oil: Insights from Big Oil

I had the opportunity to host a good colleague of mine in my supply chain relationships class this week. We worked together years ago to help define the a baseline framework…

Apr 1, 2015

Supply Chain Metrics: Make Sure They Are Aligned with Your Strategy!

Many people are talking about Key Performance Indicators, Metrics, Analytics, and other indicators of performance. The importance of selecting the right metrics or “measures” as I prefer to call them,…

Mar 18, 2015

Is Procurement Being Too Aggressive in Negotiations?

A recent post by my colleage Kate Vitasek (author of the “Vest Outsourcing” model) in Forbes magazine argues that procurement is taking too aggressive a stance in negotiations with major logistics…

Jan 13, 2015

What's New in 2015 for the supply chain world? See 2014's predictions..

Last year around this time I made a lot of predictions about what 2014 would hold in store…Let’s revisit some of these, and see what has happened (or what hasn’t!)…