Supply chain excellence. It is easier to say than define. Getting it clear is important. Why? The answer makes or breaks a supply chain leader’s career and defines corporate value. Let’s take an example. When we look at the relative progress of industries within the Technology Value Networks in Table 1, you see a lot of red. The first number in a cell represents the average value for a specific…
Imagine driving down a dusty road for years. One without any towns, road signs, billboards, or rest stops. Sounds boring, right? I agree. This is the world of the supply chain leader driving process improvement. The road to supply chain excellence takes time and patience. There are no clear landmarks or directional signage. Today, in organizations, there is a large gap between technology and process effectiveness. Here we examine some…
Timeless: not affected by the passage of time or changes in fashion. Last week I was on vacation in the Caribbean. I moved on island time. It is a slower, more relaxed pace. In the process, I thought a lot about the concept of time and how it affects our daily lives. Supply chains are anything but timeless. At a company, individuals define supply chain excellence based upon their own purview…
BASF creates chemistry. Over the last two decades the company successfully leveraged global scale to define supply chain leadership. With 12,000 supply chain employees operating in 80 countries with 2400 storage facilities, supply chain excellence and innovation are the foundation of corporate performance. The work of the BASF leadership team is a success story in managing global complexity. For this case study we interviewed Ralf Busche, Senior Vice President of…
This morning E2open announced the acquisition of Steelwedge for an undisclosed sum of money. Founded in 2000, Steelwedge was an innovator in Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) and was an early provider of cloud solutions for supply chain. I estimate that the company had annual sales of 30M$. Clients include Canon, Pfizer, HP Inc, Jaguar Land Rover, Lenovo, Nissan and Monsanto. When E2open called to tell me of the acquisition, they…
I spent my summers as a lifeguard. To certify, I had to tread water for what seemed like an incessant period of time. In reality it was only two minutes, but as a teenager it seemed like a very looooooong time. To tread water a swimmer uses their arms and legs to keep their body in a vertical position and maintain the status quo. While there are many ways to…
Hyperledger. Blockchain. New concepts? Yes. Get used to it. They are here to stay. I think defining the future of Supply Chain technology means that we, as supply chain leaders, need to take a hard left. We are moving at a steady pace down a road that is well-known and safe, but is not sufficient. What do I mean? Let me explain. Today’s supply chains use closed and proprietary technologies. I…
The streets below me today are icy and wet. It is a dark and dismal day. However, not for long. The gloomy streets will soon be alive with Mummers to ring in the New Year in Philadelphia. The Mummers Parade is a Philadelphia tradition. I love the string bands, and I will be standing at the corner of Broad and City Hall celebrating the New Year. New Year’s Eve is a…
In the 1980s commercial internet providers evolved. In 2001 Steve Jobs put 1000 songs in our pocket. And steadily, over the last three decades, mobile phones changed the pace of business. In the process, the banks got bigger and business networks grew more complex. In the last decade social networks and new business models evolved. eCommerce and electronic shopping carts drove new forms of commerce. It lifted all boats in…
Holiday travel. Packed airports and the children screaming in unison. Today as I sit scrunched into a coach seat in 26C, working on this blog post and hoping to not spill my coffee on my neighbor, I dutifully type to complete my weekly post. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. I give thanks for our clients and the ability to do what we do. Here I share insights on the work…
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