Supply Chain Management Article Library

Sep 28, 2004

Supply Chain Disruptions

Weather causes many disruptions and disasters around the world. Hurricanes, floods, heat waves, and earthquakes cause large scale disasters where people need assistance. An efficient, planned supply chain is critical…

Sep 22, 2004

Ethics and Supply Management in a Global Environment

Many executives I speak with today discuss the challenges associated with global sourcing, particularly in areas where customs and ethical issues differ. One story related to me recently by an…

Sep 1, 2004

Trends and Services Offered in the 3PL Industry

The third party logistics (3PL) provider industry is expanding as global companies are realizing the cost savings of outsourcing their logistics services (1). The 3PL market grew by 6.9 percent…

Aug 25, 2004

Supply Market Intelligence: The Key to Strategic Sourcing

“In the Tom Cruise film, Minority Report, the Department of Crime Prevention collected data in various fashions about crimes and murders that were going to happen. They pieced this together,…

Aug 18, 2004

Growing Emphasis on Product Lifecycle Management

To improve the communication between suppliers, customers, vendors, and distributors, companies are beginning to invest in product lifecycle management (PLM) software. Product lifecycle management is “an integrated, information-driven approach to…

Aug 4, 2004

The Role of Organizational Design

More organizations are seeking new approaches to compete through a competitive supply chain strategy. Many of these strategies involve the following elements: Development of a centrally led supply chain organization…

Jul 29, 2004

Success in Diversity Supplier Programs

Many organizations are striving either to establish or to improve diversity supplier initiatives. These plans aim to increase corporate purchasing from companies that are at least 51% owned, operated, and…

Jul 21, 2004

Conflict of Interest – A Hot Topic!

With the increased focus on ethical behavior, more and more companies are examining their conflict of interest policies, especially as they relate to procurement. When an individual is hired by…

Jul 13, 2004

Effects of Weather on the Supply Chain

Weather plays a big role in what consumers buy at the store or what customers buy from their suppliers. Producers must pay attention to this information because having the wrong…

Jul 7, 2004

Managing Complexity in the Supply Chain: Motorola’s War on Supply Chain Complexity – Part 2

In the last column, I shared an example of how Motorola is reducing complexity in their supply chain. This initiative was started by Theresa Metty, senior VP of procurement at…