Global Logistics Blog

Buyer power tested in court. Business relationships are not about ‘partnership’ but about exercising power to gain commercial advantage. This has again been shown in a current court case in Australia, where a major retailer is charged with ‘unconscionable conduct’. That conduct was to ‘ask’ tier B suppliers to provide cash (up to $1.4m each, with four days to pay), … Read More

Placing the order decoupling point. Being flexible and agile does not mean ‘free for all’. There must be control at that point which separates satisfying customer orders from planning operations. This is where customer orders are accepted and reserved; final product specifications are defined and the last point from which inventory is released. The objective is to provide flexibility for … Read More

Blockchains as a disruptor. Start-up businesses become disruptors when entrepreneurs can see a business opportunity caused by failings in the current business model or complexity that can be reduced; but it requires availability of suitable technologies . This could happen to financing within supply chains, through the adoption of Blockchain technology. A recent report by Bloomberg describes a trial that is … Read More

Justify Supply Chain applications. Justifying expenditure on software for Supply Chains is a tough sell – there are other functions with equal demands for money. It requires a careful definition of requirements, commencing with answers to a few basic questions. What are the business reasons for needing the application(s)? What are the criteria for evaluating and buying the software? What methodologies … Read More

Risks with commodity services. Many people work in or are affected by the volatility of markets for commodities and commoditised services. The challenge for Procurement professionals and Logisticians is to understand (and plan for) the state of a supply market at a point in time in the future, recognise the associated risks and attempt to mitigate them. Supply markets and … Read More