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…
Volatility. Demand redefined. Economic markets plummeting. Daily we see the financial charts roll across the news. “It’s partly about growth, partly about trade, and partly about psychology.” CNN Money – August 12, 2015 On Tuesday and Wednesday, the Chinese restated and devalued the Yuan. The new valuation and its impact is swinging the global stock markets. The water cooler is buzzing. The discussions on 401K losses of 10-13% permeate the…
I hate long flights, but here I am somewhere over Kansas wishing that I could click my heels and be home. I am on my way back from California–without a first class upgrade–flying to Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) sitting elbow to elbow with new “friends” thinking about my week. So many people wrote me questions on the presentation that I presented at the S&OP IE event and posted…
“I am sorry, we do not have that item on our menu tonight. The truck did not show up….” I heard this statement twice this week while on vacation. Are you also hearing it? I believe logistics matters. In my opinion, it matters now more than ever. The logistics community is insular, the ecosystem is fragile, and I believe that the health of the system is at a tipping point that requires a…
It is a new world. We have always assumed that supply chains can keep on trucking, but has all this changed? Supply chain applications matured based on the assumption that manufacturing was a constraint and transportation was abundant. Transportation is now anything BUT abundant. It is the number one top of mind issue. I am encountering it everywhere I travel. At a Logility executive session last month in Orlando, transportation was cited by…
Last week, I spoke at the S&OP IE event in Boston (http://www.theiegroup.com/SOP/Overview.html). There were 29 speakers. In the course of two days, 80% of the speakers stated “for a successful S&OP implementation, start with process, then follow with technology.” I sat on the back row, and I wanted to raise my hand and shout, “STOP! You are missing the obvious.” The largest problem with S&OP is change management. Companies that…
It is the longest recession of the last four decades; and economists are gathering to discuss the possibility of a double-dip recession. It will not go away anytime too soon. All that is known is the unknown. As 2010 winds to a close, three things are certain for supply chain professionals: The links of the supply chain are weaker Demand is more uncertain Supply is more volatile These three factors make horizontal processes like S&OP more…
In the movie Snow White, the Queen possesses a magical mirror that answers any question, to which she often asks: “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who in the land is fairest of all?” …to which the mirror always replies “You, my queen, are fairest of all.” _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Companies want to know “who has the best supply chain?” Unfortunately, there is no supply chain magic mirror; however, each June we can…
The shift happened. Haiti crumbled. Chile did far better. The difference was substantial. The contrast offers lessons on how to shelter cities from future devastating earthquakes. In a similar vein, the Great Recession shook the core of value chains. Some supply chains crumbled and some weathered the storm. What made the difference? It is this story that I want to tell. The Great Recession In my lifetime, there has never been one quite like it. October 2008 shook the foundations…
As we climb out of the recession, expect speed bumps. You know, those brightly painted yellow concrete bumps that rock your bones, but make you slow down? As the wheels of the extended supply chain start to turn at a higher gear, expect to navigate over a lot of these speed bumps <ouch> and navigate many troubled waters. To help readers, I will publish a monthly post on this blog to…
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