Business Process Optimization Archives - Supply Chain Game Changer™

Outsourcing Sourcing! 5 Lessons from Around the Globe!

Subscribe Here!

What is Virtual Procurement and Why Should You Care?

Doing business with suppliers located overseas or in another country can be an overwhelming and daunting task even for expert Sourcing professionals. But what if you considered Outsourcing Sourcing?

Recently a friend of mine asked me to have lunch with him and one of his associates. The other gentleman had invented a new product. He had a marketing plan. He knew what his cost point had to be on the product which meant that he had to have the product manufactured overseas.

But beyond that he had no idea on where to start to source his product.

6 Essential Provisions in a Supply Chain Contract!

Subscribe Here!

Effective Sales Contract Lifecycle Management Best Practices!

Maintaining quality and brand image in a supply chain can pose a business risk if you’re a manufacturer. You have authorized dealers whose core operations you don’t fully control. In addition, you may also use brand ambassadors who help promote your company. Therefore a supply chain contract or sponsorship agreement would be best in such instances.

Introducing Lean In Retail … Start in the Backroom!

Subscribe Here!

The Agile Supply Chain! Why Agility is Trumping Lean!

The Retail company I had just joined was undergoing a massive transformation. Fundamentally the new merchandising strategy was to curate a dramatically different set of products from that which was carried historically, but in addition to what was carried historically. What did this mean for the backroom in every store?

This meant that an enormous number of the business processes had to be transformed to support the new product set because management of the new merchandise required much different capabilities in all aspects of running a retail company. Not only did this transformation require new capabilities but it also required improvements to productivity and efficiency throughout the company. And overall this meant a need for cultural change.

I decided that I would introduce Lean process improvement techniques to this company.

Supply Chain Optimization Techniques to Achieve Your ECommerce Goals!

Subscribe Here!

How to Invest to Make Your Supply Chain More Efficient!

Supply chains are central to optimal eCommerce results. The supply chain includes everything from ordering raw materials from suppliers to ensuring products are delivered to consumers in the best condition. Needless to say, any issues in these intricate processes and lack of Supply Chain optimization leads to customer dissatisfaction and a poor reputation.

Supply chains are an intricate collection of processes. Issues in one portion of the chain will disrupt every downstream process. As a business owner, optimizing your supply chain for efficiency will reduce these issues and help you build strong customer and vendor relationships.

In short, if building a robust eCommerce business is your goal, you must optimize your supply chain.

Here are 3 ways to achieve Supply Chain optimization.

From Click to Ship in 4 Minutes! Ultimate Principles for World Class Fulfillment!

Subscribe Here!

Disruptive Warehouse Technologies for Any Company!

The capability we had in E-Commerce order fulfillment was rather basic. We had employees manually pushing carts up and down standard warehouse racking aisles picking goods off of shelves. And when they had completed an order or a set of orders they would then push the entire cart back to a centralized order packing station.

As a Supply Chain Services company we needed a dramatically better capability if we were wanted to have customers trust their growing E-Commerce business with us. Pushing carts around a warehouse is both inefficient and lacks innovation.

We had to go back to the drawing board. But in doing so we would end up with a World Class solution!

How Near-Field Communication Technology Improves Your Business Performance!

Subscribe Here!

5 Benefits of a POS System!

Near-field communication technology (NFC) is an increasingly popular solution offering wireless connectivity, enabling seamless communication and data exchange between NFC-enabled tags or devices.

It’s a type of radio communication that allows for two-way interactions, wherein one device transmits an electromagnetic field to another nearby.

Make Your Manufacturing Business More Efficient!

Subscribe Here!

8 Ways to Improve Your Warehouse Fulfillment Efficiency!

Is your manufacturing business not operating to the levels you’re expecting? Are you looking for ways to increase your returns and profits? The secret lies with one dictionary word; efficiency.

Efficiency will ensure that you’ll achieve high production figures while minimizing costs. As a manufacturing company, how will you ensure you attain efficiency?

This post will discuss tips you can adopt to attain manufacturing business efficiency. Continue reading to learn more.

Common Photocopier Problems and How to Fix Them!

Subscribe Here!

How to Maintain a Photocopier!

There is no doubt regarding the obvious necessity of a photocopier – you just cannot do without them! Buying a photocopy machine is a big job, like it rightfully should be! As a heavily used, busy machine, it can sometimes encounter a few recurrent common photocopier problems that might take it a tad difficult.

However, the good news is, most of them can be easily resolved, sometimes in minutes, and some you can steer clear of with the help of regular maintenance. Servicing is a mandate if you want a perfectly, well-oiled machine that does its work efficiently.

It will be wise to remember that a photocopier is almost constantly in use, hence is heavily stressed and can do with all the help it can muster for seamless functioning.

Future of Energy for Manufacturing!

Subscribe Here!

The Top 5 Impacts of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Logistics!

Today manufacturers must continually look for waste reduction, process improvement and supply chain efficiency to meet competitive pressures and their customers’ cost reduction requirements for the future of energy. Programs such as Lean have become a popular means to develop a culture of simplification and constant improvement.

Although Lean principles provide an excellent basis for managing energy costs, such costs are often left out of an efficiency drive…

Why is that?

To Infinity and Beyond! Ultimate Principles for Creating a World Class Team!

Subscribe Here!

GET EBOOK

The Supply Chain team was generally viewed as lacking in skill and capability by those outside the organization. Customers and other internal functions viewed Supply Chain as a dysfunctional organization as evidenced by the poor Supply Chain performance metrics. And external benchmarking placed our Supply Chain last amongst our competitors. Going to infinity and beyond was a tall task to say the least.

Inside the Supply Chain organization there were a lot of very smart people. But there was no trust, teamwork or synergy. The culture was one more of complacency than of trend setting. And there was a lack of inspired leadership.

Something had to change!

The Supply Chain Detective™ and the Mystery of the S&OP Phantoms!

Subscribe Here!

4 Challenges in Starting and Sustaining a SIOP (S&OP) Business Process!

The company had no formal S&OP (Sales and Operations Planning), or SIOP (Sales, Inventory and Operations Planning) process. The ability to forecast or track performance was sporadic and haphazard.

The CEO had mandated the implementation of a new S&OP process. An expert in S&OP implementation and operation had been hired to get this process in place.

But month after month the progress in getting a S&OP process in place was reported as either slow or stalled. Yet everyone on the Executive team voiced their support for S&OP. Still nothing happened.

What was really going on? What phantom was getting in the way of forward progress on getting S&OP in place?

This was another case for The Supply Chain Detective™.

What Business Structure Should You Choose For Your Startup?

Subscribe Here!

6 Ways to Attract Investors to Your Startup Business!

One important thing you need to decide when setting up your startup is what type of business structure to choose. There’s no right or wrong answer. The structure you pick will very much be determined by your specific business and your goals.

Get started by looking at the following overviews of the most commonly used business structures. You can then weigh up the pros and cons of each to decide which structure is best for your startup.

World Class E-Commerce Fulfillment Principles! (Infographic)

Subscribe Here!

Keys to Success in Warehouse Management/Order Fulfillment! (Video)

E-Commerce is the fastest growing avenue for doing business anywhere. It has been for many years and it will be for many years to come. In support of this your operations need to be World Class.

It is certainly a challenge to establish the sales, marketing, merchandising and transactional infrastructure to offer an efficient and effective E-Commerce solution to your customers.

At the core of the Supply Chain an enormous challenge is to have a highly competitive and compelling E-Commerce Fulfillment solution. So what are the key principles that you must have in place to design, construct and deliver a leading E-Commerce Fulfillment solution?

Optimize Supply Chain to Grow Your Business!

Subscribe Here!

Imagining the Supply Chain of the Future!

Supply chains are what keep businesses alive in today’s modern age and as such we must optimize Supply Chain. Without materials or tools that you need to run your business then you’re going to be in trouble.

So it makes sense to make your supply chains as best as they can be.

But how exactly do you optimize your supply chains without causing problems?

How to Invest to Make Your Supply Chain More Efficient!

Subscribe Here!

Supply Chain Investment Challenges – Real and Imagined!

With the advent of Amazon Prime’s free two-day and one-day delivery, customers have come to expect faster, free shipping from online sellers. How do you make your Supply Chain more efficient?

A PayPal study shows that 43% of shoppers will abandon their carts if hit with high shipping costs, while 84% won’t purchase from a brand again after a single negative delivery experience.

To compete favorably with their grown-up brothers like Amazon, small businesses in the eCommerce sector should know how to invest in keeping their supply chain running like a well-oiled machine. That way, they can dwarf shipping times and delivery costs to meet customers’ expectations.

Of course, a supply chain upgrade is a major investment that may require you to obtain a working capital loan from reliable lenders. But the resulting time and cost savings are so huge that the loan pays for itself in a few years.