Working within complex systems. Supply chain planners should be able to access more than transaction data from company IT systems. There is streaming data from instruments and unstructured data from the Internet. These are in increasing amounts; but can your current ERP system turn this additional data into information that is of value to planners? The selection and implementation of ERP … Read More
Speed the flow of money in your supply chains
Know more about your money flow. Aiming to be ‘excellent’ through the supply chains in which your business operates, requires that you address the three flows of each supply chain. A logistics professional is expected to know a lot about the flow of items, be they materials, components or finished products. Increasingly there is an expectation that knowledge of information … Read More
What is best – cut costs or improve your supply chains?
Cut costs to get a better business I read this week of more businesses cutting costs – a copy of what so many businesses do when the going gets tough. This may gain favourable articles in the business media and shows shareholders that management is doing something. In addition to retrenching employees, favourite cost reduction actions are to: outsource non-core activities … Read More
Mixing up a value chain and a supply chain
Using the right term. If you are telling a story about climbing a mountain, you would not use the term ‘descending the mountain’ when talking about going up the mountain. But when it comes to logistics we are not so sure about the terms to use. I have read articles this past week where the authors talk about value chains. … Read More
Think about Supply Chains and Logistics as Strategic
Innovation in your supply chains. You cannot cut your business to glory. There comes a time when being smarter is the better option. After some seven years of hearing and reading about re-organisation and retrenchment as a solution to business challenges, is it the right time to invest in smarter supply chains? This thought was triggered by a recent report … Read More