Strategy Archives - Supply Chain Game Changer™

The Best Ways to Make Sure Your Customers Are Loyal!

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How to Build Customer Loyalty!

Any business owner will tell you that keeping an existing customer is far easier than acquiring a new one. It costs five times as much to attract a new customer than to keep an existing one, and yet most businesses focus most of their marketing efforts on acquiring new customers.

This is where customer loyalty comes in. Customer loyalty – or customer retention – is defined as the likelihood of customers to continue doing business with you in the future. And while acquiring new customers should still be a part of your marketing strategy, retaining your existing ones should be your number one priority.

Here are just some of the reasons why customer loyalty is so important for your business and some of the best ways you can make sure your customers are loyal.

Our 2020 Top 10 List!

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As we continue on in our 4th year here at Supply Chain Game Changer we have realized some exciting milestones.

We have exceeded 3 million views across the Website, LinkedIn and Twitter. We have had over 100 guest contributors to our site supporting our goal of sharing experiences and expertise. And we have now published over 500 articles since our inception.

Continuing in our tradition of years past we present here our Top 10 articles for the first half of 2020. As everyone knows the globe has been immersed in all things related to and impacted by the Coronavirus pandemic. We’ve written several articles with respect to the pandemic and the associated impacts on the Supply Chain, some of which are reproduced here.

Thank you for your ongoing support.

Here’s our list of our Top 10 articles of 2020, so far:

The Digital Supply Chain Journey : Step 1 – The Vision!

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What is the Digital Supply Chain?

The Digital Supply Chain is the future. The end to end electronic connectivity of all elements of the Supply Chain, as enabled by an extensive array of exciting new technologies, will define all progression over the next few decades. But how does this Digital Supply Chain journey begin?

Simply, this journey begins with a vision. A vision of the objectives, of the end state, and even a vision that is fuzzy but is emboldened by a certainty that digitalization in any and all of its forms is the right direction.

This is Not a Supply Chain Storm to Weather!

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Defining the New Normal in Supply Chain! What’s Normal Anyways?

While most business cycles ebb and flow, two or three times in a generation we encounter an earth-shattering change or Supply Chain storm that fundamentally reshapes the way we do business.

We’re in the eye of the storm – and it’s not one to wait out.

Many refer to the ‘new normal’ as a future reality, yet COVID-19 has had structural impacts since its earliest protocols surrounding hygiene and social distancing. They have already transformed the way we do business and it’s only the beginning of a series of ongoing and disruptive changes.

So, how are you preparing for the reckoning?

10 Aspects Companies Should Consider to Enter European & UK Markets Successfully!

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Signs Your Business Should Go International!

Do you have a business in America and are satisfied with its regional growth? If yes, what are your next steps? Have you considered exploring and entering the European & UK markets now and expanding your services further?

Europe and the United Kingdom have an attractive market with lots of growth potential. However, you will also require the best and most accredited translation service providers to get it right. This is why, as a US company, you should consider some of these essential factors before entering most European regions.

How Does Supply Chain Forecasting Plan for Expected and Unexpected Disruptions?

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How to Minimize Supply Chain Disruptions!

The supply chain is the manufacturing and e-commerce circulation system. It transports products from suppliers to fulfillment centers and finally to a customer’s front door.

Because there are so many moving parts, even a minor disruption can devastate the system. Disruption is any sudden change or crisis that harms any part of the supply chain.

Is Your Social Media Marketing Strategy Working? A Short Guide!

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Simple Ways to Expand Your Social Media Reach!

Social media is significant in connecting with customers in this digital age. It has become a powerful marketing tool businesses use to reach potential customers. Using social media for your business is about more than posting updates and links on your page.

Your social media platforms should be treated like any other digital marketing channel, if not better. With the number of social media users, any negative or positive action toward your business can significantly impact you.

The Supply Chain Renaissance Readiness Poll!

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The Supply Chain Renaissance Has Begun!

We believe that we are on the verge of a Supply Chain Renaissance. A period of time in which people, technologies, cultural demands and amenability, and motivation will all conspire to launch a long period of rebirth in Supply Chain.

While we discuss what this means in our article “The Supply Chain Renaissance Has Begun“, we thought we would conduct a poll amongst our readers to understand their readiness for this period of renewal.

Here we present, and interpret, the results of our polling.

What Business Structure Should You Choose For Your Startup?

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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.

The Digital Supply Chain Journey: Step 4 – Supplier Onboarding!

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The Digital Supply Chain Journey: Step 3 – Electronic Connectivity!

The foundations of any Digital Supply Chain is the real time, end-to-end electronic connectivity of every node and aspect of your Supply Chain. Unless your company is entirely self-sufficient this connectivity requires extensive and exhaustive Supplier Onboarding.

And this onboarding is not restricted to the first tier suppliers with whom you have direct contact. You must connect with second, third, and fourth tier suppliers, many of which you will often never have even heard of before.

And that is an enormous challenge, to say the very least.

Is Single Sourcing, or Sole Sourcing, Dead?

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10 Vital Supply Chain Lessons from the Coronavirus Pandemic!

The Coronavirus Pandemic has quickly and severely disrupted Supply Chains of every kind around the world. Lockdowns have resulted in the temporary closure of Manufacturing and Distribution facilities and discontinuation of Logistics and transportation modes.

Additionally dramatically higher demand for household supplies (eg. toilet paper) and medical personal protective equipment have resulted in stockouts and shortages.

In many cases the use of single sourcing, or sole sourcing, Procurement strategies has limited the ability for Supply Chains to access alternate sources of supply and more rapidly support higher than normal demand levels.

As we progress through and past the pandemic, is it time for Procurement to adopt parallel Supply Chain strategies, such as dual sourcing, and limit or abandon single sourcing and sole sourcing?

Report Card: Most Executives Think Procurement Isn’t Strategic Enough!

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Could the CPO Be Replaced by the Chief Value Officer?

As we’ve chronicled on the Argentus Blog, it’s no secret that the world of Procurement is changing and fast. With automation, big data and burgeoning AI systems removing more and more of the profession’s “tactical” or “clerical” tasks, the Procurement report card is that companies are calling on their Procurement teams to be more strategic, more nimble, and more innovative.

They’re expecting their Procurement functions to deliver not just bottom-line cost-savings, but other sorts of value, adding to organizations’ overall competitiveness.

Procurement, you’ve come a long way, baby!

But a new survey of 200 C-Suite executives from a variety of industries and functions presents a rather dispiriting picture of the Procurement function today – or at least how it’s perceived.

Is Just In Time Past Its Time?

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Featuring Our 10 Best Inventory Management Articles!

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The prospect of having a Just In Time (JIT) Supply Chain system has been the goal of innumerable businesses and industries for decades. And for those who have implemented Just In Time processes it has been the backbone of their entire operating structure.

But the global pandemic exposed the fragility of the Supply Chain in virtually every industry. We quickly ran out of healthcare supplies, toilet paper, and more. The extent of disruption has spread to lumber, steel, computer chips, automobiles, furnaces, and any number of additional products.

The fundamental principle of just in time delivery based on real time demand, combined with the unrelenting focus on inventory levels and faster inventory turnover, has created an operating paradigm that is great when things are going well, but which has proven to be ill-equipped to handle disruption the likes of which the pandemic has created.

Does that mean that a Just In Time philosophy has outlived its usefulness? Is JIT past its time?

Global Process Excellence™: Defining the Roadmap for Best In Class Results

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Global Process Excellence ™ : A Journey From Disarray To Best In Class!

“Global Process Excellence™” was to be the platform on which we would propel the company’s Operations upward toward Best In Class status. Our Call To Action objectives were clear:

We had a clear requirement to improve our profitability
We needed to respond to customer expectations for increased value and a consistent, exceptional customer experience in all Distribution Centres
We needed to lean out the operations and improve our productivity
We needed to create Best in Class capabilities
We needed to enable profitable growth on the back of an enhanced Operating model, capacity and capabilities
And we needed to unleash the tremendous experience and expertise that resided within our employees

Now we needed to formulate our Roadmap: the Approach, the Mandate, a set of Ground rules, and a process of Governance to bring together everything that would now be called Global Process Excellence™.

Our 2019 Top 10 List! (Part 2)

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Our 2019 Top 10 List!

As we come to the end of our 3rd year here at Supply Chain Game Changer it is time to publish our semi-annual 2019 Top 10 List.

First we want to thank our readers. Our audience and reach continues to expand with Supply Changer now being ranked as one of the Top 20 Supply Chain blogs in the world and one of the Top 15 Procurement blogs in the world. Both are record achievements for us.

Second we want to thank our guest contributors. With dozens of writers and articles we continue to fulfill our vision of sharing expertise and experience from all over the world.

We thank you for your ongoing support and ask you to continue to spread the word about Supply Chain Game Changer. There is truly something of value for everyone no matter what challenge you are facing each and every day.

Here we present our Top 10 list for the second half of 2019. Enjoy!