It started as simple sales reporting. It is no longer simple. In 2005, there were five consumer product leaders actively using downstream data (retail inventory and sales data). Today, over 80% of consumer products companies greater than 1 billion in revenue are redefining work processes to use it. The space is murky. It is not easy, and it is evolving. However, the deeper teams explore the usage of the data, the…
Kodak owned the original patents for the digital camera, but did not create the market. Why? They were afraid of killing the profitable FILM market. The rest is history. Blockbuster could have easily created Redbox; but they were too tied to the conventional definition of the STORE. A simple redefinition of delivery created NEW value. Software as a Service (SaaS) is growing in popularity with the Line-of-Business (LOB) buyer; yet, only…
I am a gardener. I love to spend Saturday afternoons with my shovel and trowel. Having a neighbor stop by to comment on its beauty, gives me pleasure. To get the accolades, I need to have the right mix of annuals and perennials. Annuals have bigger, brighter flowers, but they only last a season. Perennials have less flair, but are the dependable contributors season after season. It dawned on me this week, that my garden has some parallels…
We have a black hole in the center of supply chain applications. A black hole you say? Yes, a black hole has developed between transactional systems focused on order-to-cash and procure-to-pay processes and supply chain optimization technologies. It is not there by design. It has evolved because the design of supply chain technologies were insufficient to meet today’s requirements. Understanding the Black Hole What is a black hole? In quantum…
It was late November 2008. Factories were idle, demand was uncertain, and supply chain leaders were navigating new waters in uncertain times. I met with economists, strategists and operating officers to discuss which letter of the alphabet (L, U, V, or W) best described the recession. However, the burning question, and the one that they REALLY wanted answered to know was “how do I best manage my supply chain through the…
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