Using logic and imagination as a logistician. I noted an insightful message this week in an advertisement for a product I cannot remember. The message said “Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere”. It was written by Albert Einstein, who knew a thing or two about logic and imagination. As logisticians, how are logic … Read More
Implementing a supply chain application costs money
Blame the software. I was chatting with a colleague who told me some of his experiences when recently implementing an application at a client business. The application had been installed and was working when he received a call that the inventory control module was not working. The planner had checked that a grade of cellophane required for a packing run … Read More
Forecasts can mess with your logistics
Forecasting helps you to be less wrong. In our personal lives we would be reluctant to identify what we will be doing in three month’s time, over the period of a week. Yet, we are quite willing to identify a single point figure as the sales for an item over that same week in three month’s time. Why is it … Read More
Competitive countries may change your supply chains
Identifying competitive manufacturing countries. I recently read about the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) report on global manufacturing cost competitiveness, which identified how the list of competitive countries has changed over the past decade. This report is important because many executives still consider that China is low cost, while western Europe and other developed countries are expensive. Based on this consideration, … Read More
Good logistics thinking – customers investing in better trucks
Trucks are worth money to your business. Transport can represent the single largest component of materials movement costs within your supply chains. Many businesses have outsourced all their transport operations, with the danger of a ‘set and forget’ attitude, where all they need to do is negotiate lower priced contracts. But if transport is a high cost element in your … Read More