‘Chain of custody’ for materials The approach when mapping your organisation’s supply chains is to typically start with relationships between your business and its Tier 1 suppliers; then, as data and information become available, map suppliers at Tier 2 and below. But, if organisations that provide the raw materials map their supply chains the process is reversed. Using the apparel … Read More
Drivers to change trade lanes that serve Supply Chains
Is the current reality just transitory? Forecasting is a worthy activity, because it requires people to think about the future. However, be careful about accepting forecasts until you know how the forecast is structured and source of the data used. For supply chains, which are geopolitical in structure, the forecasts say that changes will happen, but the unknown is where … Read More
Supply Chains types and structure for better Planning
Suitable solutions in Planning Because an organisation’s relationships within its supply chains differ to those of other businesses, it is not advisable to promote a single solution for a situation in supply chains. However, there are various approaches that supply chain professionals should have that enables the most suitable solution to be identified. To provide some background to the selection … Read More
CoV links Supply Chain Class and Demand Amplification
‘Bullwhip’ effect The ‘Bullwhip’ effect is Demand Amplification, where a change in demand at a Node in a supply chain has a more substantial change in demands further upstream in the chain. Orders placed on suppliers tend to have a higher variability than sales made to buyers. Retail stores place orders on warehouses (owned or at wholesalers) can reflect ‘just in … Read More
AI built into future supply chain software applications
AI deliverables By mid-2023, there were at least 50 start-up companies in the US, rated by Forbes magazine as the most promising in development of AI technologies. There are also several promising AI start-ups in other countries. If there are promising start-ups, there must also be those that are less promising, so watch out for dubious ‘blue sky’ promises about … Read More