SCM Archives - Page 2 of 16 - Supply Chain Game Changer™

Are We Facing the End of Supply Chain Management?

Imagining the Supply Chain of the Future!

A new article in Harvard Business Review has been generating some automation-related controversy in the Supply Chain Community, as well as lots of buzz and interesting conversation. Naturally, we want to weigh in and the end of Supply Chain Management.

Titled, “The Death of Supply Chain Management,” the article discusses the way that automation, AI and big data are transforming the industry.

It raises the alarm that the function will soon cease to exist, only to – as these “X is dead“ articles often end up doing – assert that it will still exist, just in a very different form.

Our 2018 Top 10 List!

It’s been a tremendous start to our second year at Supply Chain Game Changer. Our goal has always been to share experiences and expertise, including our 2018 Top 10 list. In the first half of 2018 our readership continued to grow substantially over our first year, 2017. And we were selected as one of the Top 25 Procurement blogs in the world.

In 2018 we added video content and introduced our “Seasoned Leadership in Action” Interview series. For the purpose of this Top 10 List we have excluded all “Seasoned Leadership in Action” articles as we are not trying to promote a popularity contest amongst individuals. That being said the response to the Interview series has been absolutely outstanding.

We also continued to add more and more Guest posts provided by industry leaders. We have 17 new Guest contributors so far in 2018 on top of the outstanding roster of contributors who started with us in 2017.

As we end the first 6 months of 2018 we wanted to publish our Top 10 List, so far.

Thank you for your tremendous, ongoing support. If you haven’t subscribed yet please sign up! Subscribe Here!

So here is our 1st Top 10 List of 2018…

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

How Artificial Intelligence (AI) Will Change Decision Making!

There’s no other way to describe it: Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing the world of logistics. That may seem like a cliché, or hype, or buzz, but it is true.

The tech is fundamentally changing the way packages move around the world, from predictive analytics to autonomous vehicles and robotics. Here are the top five ways in which Artificial Intelligence is transforming the logistics industry as we know it:

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

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™.

Procurement Experiences and Trends!

What is Virtual Procurement and Why Should You Care?

Where is procurement, outsourcing, sourcing, supply chain, and purchasing going? What is happening in the marketplace? What are companies thinking at the executive level and what type of actions are they taking?

First off, we will outline a few of our observations about what we are seeing first hand. Secondarily, we will include information from other procurement professionals and procurement firms about their experiences, what they forecast, and what they are seeing.

Inspirational Supply Chain Quotes

What Exactly Is Supply Chain Management? 10 Different Definitions!

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Here we present a series of thought provoking and inspirational Supply Chain quotes.

“If you think of standardization as the best that you know today, but which is to be improved tomorrow; you get somewhere.” ~ Henry Ford, founder Ford Motor Company

“Eighty-five percent of the reasons for failure are deficiencies in the systems and process rather than the employee. The role of management is to change the process rather than badgering individuals to do better.” ~ W. Edwards Deming

Truck Drivers – Unsung Heroes of the Supply Chain! (Infographic)

Truck Drivers are a Vital Part of the Supply Chain!

Anywhere you go anywhere in the world you will find truck drivers delivering goods. Roads and highways are filled with trucks of all shapes sizes. Tractor trailers of all configurations are everywhere on the roads.

If you are driving a car you may be annoyed by all of these trucks. Or if you are an environmentalist you may be concerned by the fuel consumption of these behemoths.

But the reality is that these truck drivers are the backbone of our societies and our economies. They deliver the goods that we need to live the lives that we enjoy. Without them the economy would stop and life as we know it would not be the same.

Truck drivers are truly the unsung heroes of the Supply Chain!

Additive Manufacturing and 3D Printing!

The Guinness Book of World Records for 3D Printing!

Although additive manufacturing and 3D Printing for both plastic and metal materials has been around for years, the investment, developments, breadth of applications, adoption rate, and beneficial case studies are expanding at an extremely rapid rate.

New processes, materials, devices, design applications, are emerging every day. Now, there are cloud sites that store portfolios of designs, much like Pandora does for music. All of this is creating an amazing amount of opportunity creating more efficient supply chains, new product types, de-centralized manufacturing schemes, and easier approaches to mass-customization.

10 Signs You Should Reboot Your Lean Program!

Lean in the Back Office … Why is it so difficult?

How many people make a New Year’s resolution to adopt a Lean program and “Lean” yourself out only to abandon it shortly thereafter?

One of the top New Year’s resolutions is to start exercising. In January the local gyms are filled. But by February those gyms are much emptier and many of those well meaning people are still at home.

What do you do when your Lean program at work suffers the same fate? How do you know when your improvement program needs to be improved?

What’s the Difference Between Blockchain and Supply Chain?

The 5 Levels of Supply Chain Transparency!

The phrase “Supply Chain Management” was first coined in 1982. The idea of a “Blockchain” was conceived in 2008 although the concept of a chain of blocks began as early as 1991, and use of the word Blockchain itself has only become popular in the last few years.

Blockchain has rapidly become a very widely used term, at first intended to describe the enabling technology platform behind Bitcoin. However as awareness and knowledge of the technology has been increasingly understood the words Blockchain and Supply Chain are more often used together.

As people become more familiar with Blockchain, and consider it’s applicability in their strategic Supply Chain plans, we thought it important to clarify how Blockchain and Supply Chain are different yet mutually supportive.

Has Walmart Beat Amazon Using an Omnichannel Returns Strategy?

Customer Returns State … And What to Do Next! (Infographic)

Amazon has reigned supreme in e-commerce for years, but Walmart is well on its way to making the e-commerce giant a little nervous. Amazon acquired Whole Foods and dropped the price of Prime Pantry through Prime Perks. Amazon began looking into brick-and-mortar storefronts, hoping to capture a new slice of the omnichannel pie.

Walmart has a different approach, and in several ways, Walmart is positioning itself to best Amazon in e-commerce through an innovative, omnichannel return strategy. To understand the true scope of this accomplishment, supply chain leaders need to understand the precursor steps Walmart has taken.

22 Tips for Offering Profitable Free Shipping! (Infographic)

Free shipping is an effective but sometimes costly sales tool. Is it possible for companies to achieve profitable free shipping?

Case studies show that free shipping increases sales, order volume, and conversion rate. Since 60% of shoppers prioritize free shipping and 81% research multiple websites before purchasing, this perk can be the determining factor between someone buying from you or your competitor.

Brick and Mortar Stores: Stand Up and Unite!

International Expansion in Retail (Infographic)

It’s time for the Retail Brick and Mortar Store to stand up and be counted! All of the talk about the demise of Brick and Mortar stores is premature.

In this age of E-Commerce the vast majority of retail sales are still conducted face to face in a physical store. Even Millennials shop in a physical store 50% of the time.

The phenomenal growth of E-Commerce is undeniable. But more importantly we must remember that customers want an OMNICHANNEL experience, NOT a Single Channel experience.

At the intersection of what the Customer wants and what the Retailer wants is the Brick and Mortar store! This is where the Brick and Mortar Store is uniquely positioned to leverage its significant advantages!

Supply Chain Impacts of a Protectionist World!

Disaster Strikes!!! Is Your Supply Chain Ready To Recover?

A strong political sentiment these days seems to be more about protectionist behaviour and protecting one’s own national territory and interests rather than those of the Global community.

Yet we have for a long time been a global economy with unprecedented levels of international trade and commerce. Virtually every company and country relies on goods and/or services from countries all around the world.

So how do we manage the Supply Chain in the face of this political myopia?

IKEA’s IWAY Lessons For Procurement!

Differentiate With Supplier Relationship Management (SRM)!

My girlfriend and I have a dog, named Charlie.

He’s only one and a half years old and is already, now, rather well trained. Sure, he has an occasional hiccup and puts his paws on a friend from over excitement, or pulls on the leash a bit too much as we approach the lake. But, all in all, my girlfriend and I (mainly her) have done a pretty solid job raising him.

Then again, we didn’t approach this whole dog ownership business with a ‘wilyl-nilly’ mindset.