Decisions about imports and inventory. Holding inventory is one approach to reducing the sales risk of not satisfying customer demands. In most situations, inventory management (policy, planning and control) is based on internal organisation guidelines, but what about an external decision that could influence your inventory decisions? The blog Supply Chains can change but not for your reasons illustrates that … Read More
Know the promise of new technologies for supply chains
Perceptions and actual situations. If you were asked whether investment in Information and Communications technologies (ICT) was good for your country’s economy, it is likely the answer would be yes; but would you be correct? A recent evaluation of 59 econometric studies of developed and developing countries, by academics from Deakin University in Melbourne, identified that although ICT was in … Read More
Supply Chain data and information held in the Cloud
Is Cloud Computing the way? Accurate and timely data and information is the lifeblood of supply chains. Many articles and commentaries concerning current and future IT scenarios appear to assume that Cloud Computing will be the predominant storage and delivery technology. But is this assumption valid? Cloud Computing is the cloud-like squiggle that network designers use to denote internet based … Read More
Supply chains can change but not for your reasons
A new trade agreement. Your business is satisfied with its current arrangements with suppliers and service providers through each supply chain. But, due to external events, the equilibrium that has existed between your organisation and the parties in your supply network will change. As the equilibrium changes, then change may need to be imposed on the structure and contracts within … Read More
Supply Chains for management of intermediate products
An intermediate product. In commercial supply chains, supply chains can take different forms in response to the needs of particular markets. It is a role of logisticians to evaluate the supply chains and structure them to best meet the needs of their markets. The previous blog discussed the situation of a franchise based fresh food services business and the need … Read More