Woolly descriptions. Fuzzy definitions. Over-arching superlatives. Last week as I spoke at an European event, I struggled to gain clarity in a world of increased confusion. If I struggled, I am sure that others face the same challenges. Together, we walk in a fog. Let’s reflect. Supply chain innovation is slowly simmering in the face of radical disruption. The supply chain visionary wants novel and new. I find technology providers…
Case study of Clorox’s implementation of value chain segmentation. A decade of focus progress improving business results.
For the past five years, the team at Supply Chain Insights identified Supply Chains to Admire Award Winners by analyzing performance by peer group on the key metrics of growth, operating margin, inventory turns and Return on Invested Capital (ROIC). In 2018, Rockwell Automation won the Supply Chains to Admire Award. To understand the journey, we interviewed Ernest Nicolas, head of the global supply chain at Rockwell to gain insights. In…
François-Régis Le Tourneau leads the efforts at L’Oreal for Standards & Prospective Process Improvement. At the Supply Chain Global Summit 2018, Francois discussed the impact of digitalization, Industry 4.0, and L’Oréal’s approach to business that has allowed the company to continuously rank as a Supply Chains to Admire winner for four consecutive years. The award, based on beating the industry peer group on rate of improvement on the key metrics of…
Yowza: Excitement or approval Get a cup of coffee. This is a long post. <Bear with me….> Here I share a nine-step process in an attempt to help companies unravel the process for buying supply chain planning software. The genesis for this post stems from frustration. I get the same questions over-and-over again, and see companies making the same mistakes. Let’s face a hard fact: the supply chain planning market…
It was not my goal; but by accident, it became my mission. At Supply Chain Insights, as we combed through over 9000 quantitative responses on supply chain management from business leaders to understand what drives supply chain excellence in preparation for the Supply Chain Insights Global Summit. In the process, we proved Hau Lee’s theorem in the Famous Harvard Business Review Article, “Triple A Supply Chains.” Here is an excerpt…
This week, after ten years, I am test-driving cars. I have not owned a car for a decade. City living has come to an end and it is time for me to get some wheels. Buying a car is overwhelming. I just want one that works. I find the process of negotiation, and comparison shopping tiring. My goal is safety and comfortability. It is hard to sort through the options. As…
In Greek mythology, there is a difference between a Titan and a God. A Titan was a primordial god born of Uranus and Gaea and ruled the earth until overthrown by the next generation, younger Olympian gods. The evolution sprung from chaos. Titans were born through brute strength and Gods drove more refined outcomes. Supply chain leaders are competitive. The field of supply chain management—combining source, make and deliver into…
Ten calls. They are all starting to sound the same. Here is the storyline: “We implemented SAP APO, and we now know its limitations. We have tried SAP IBP and are not impressed. Since SAP is not investing in improving the depth of their solutions for planning, we are looking for a new solution. Can you help us select a new approach? Which of these vendors do you suggest?” They…
This week I spoke at an SAS Global Analytics Summit on the connected supply chain. In my view, the connected supply chain is very, very different from the integrated supply chain. Here, in this blog post, I want to provoke teams to think through the differences, and really question what they are asking for. Some History In 2002 I worked for Gartner Group in the business applications practice. This was in…
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