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supplychain is the tag associated with every aspect of Supply Chain Management, Planning, Technology, Logistics, Procurement, and more.
Gartner recently announced their Top 25 Supply Chains List. I always find it interesting to see the list, to see who came out on top, and to hear what their views are on prevailing trends.
But as I review the list, compare it to prior years, and consider the scoring methodology I do wonder whether the list in its current form continues to be relevant for identifying the best of the Supply Chain.
Continue reading “Gartner Top 25 Supply Chain List! Is it Relevant?”The Division I had just joined was enjoying great success in Sales and Development. They had created a modular building block design for their products. Simply there were over two dozen different building block designs which could be configured in innumerable combinations to create the end product.
Each building block was designed to be a low-cost item. Based on the customer requirements and specifications the building blocks could be combined in varying quantities. Then a custom outer case, with the appropriate inputs and outputs, would be created to house all of the building blocks, interconnected on a master mother board.
It sounded great on paper and on Powerpoint slides. But what came next was an absolute nightmare.
Continue reading “Design in Quality First!”Early in my career I worked in a department that was responsible for the design,testing, sourcing and procurement of packaging materials. It was a great experience and introduction to so many aspects of the Supply Chain.
But one day one of my peers was fired. He was responsible for negotiating with the packaging suppliers. As it turns out he was taking kickbacks. When that was discovered and verified he was summarily dismissed. He went over to the dark side.
I never got the precise details but I don’t believe he could have got more than a few thousand dollars for his illicit efforts. More importantly he got a black mark on his resume, and in his life, that he could never erase.
That was my first lesson on the do’s and don’t of Supplier Relationships.
Continue reading “Procurement Don’t go to the Dark Side!”Lots of things are happening in Supply Chain Management! Is Supply Chain immune from fake news?
The field is becoming more digital, with end-to-end planning and blockchain technologies transforming the way products are coming to market. It’s becoming more strategic, as companies integrate their Supply Chains and use them as a source of competitive advantage – instead of just a back-office function.
Larger societal changes are affecting the way companies are planning their Supply Chains of the future – everything from the looming arrival of driverless cars, to consumers’ demands that companies be more socially responsible. And the prevailing use of the term “Fake News“.
Continue reading “Fake News or Supply Chain Fallacies?”As explained by Brian Barry of Multichannel Merchant, millennials make a growing cross-section of the American labor force. Ignoring this generation is impossible and attracting millennials in the supply chain is an even bigger hurdle.
Since e-commerce has flooded the industry with more orders and stringent delivery expectations, supply chain leaders must think outside the box to attract and retain the next generation.
In fact, millennials will make up more than 75 percent of the workforce by 2025, so it is time for supply chain executives and leaders to enact the changes necessary to guarantee success in both the current and future supply chain.
Continue reading “Attracting Millennials Gets Your Digital Supply Chain in Order!”At Supply Chain Game Changer we believe in sharing experiences and expertise from people in every industry and from across the globe. As such we have introduced our “Seasoned Leadership in Action™” Interview series. The first in our Interview series is with Skip Boothby, a colleague and good friend for many years.
Skip Boothby is a tremendous Leader and Executive with phenomenal experience in running businesses and operations through every stage of their evolution. Skip’s background and insights are valuable for all of us to learn from and share.
Continue reading “Seasoned Leadership in Action™! An Interview with Skip Boothby!”E-commerce has changed the game of how parcels are transported and delivered to customers with the expectations of same day vs next day delivery.
With the help of advanced technology, the days have become shorter. We no longer have to wait for the sun to rise and set a few times before we receive that box of meat pie that’s probably not safe to eat anymore.
What once felt as if a pack mule was used to deliver a package, now seems like a teleportation device is involved in the delivery.
Continue reading “Same Day vs Next Day Delivery … What’s the Difference? (Infographic)”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?
Continue reading “World Class E-Commerce Fulfillment Principles! (Infographic)”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.
Continue reading “Report Card: Most Executives Think Procurement Isn’t Strategic Enough!”Both Logistics and the wider Supply Chain are vital to how companies run today, but the two are still so often confused. We put together an Infographic outlining some of the key differences and points of overlap between them.
While it may be an obvious distinction to many pros across the field, there’s still a lot of ambiguity – sometimes within companies, as well – about what constitutes Logistic Management, and what constitutes Supply Chain Management. As a recruitment firm with over a decade of experience specialized in this area, we figure we’d weigh in!
Continue reading “What’s The Difference Between Logistics and Supply Chain?”Amazon is an online marketplace used by millions of people globally. From clothing to electronics to toiletries, you can find almost anything on Amazon.Wondering how you can get in on the action and how to sell on Amazon? All you need is a small monetary investment to get started and the knowledge of how to run a successful listing.
Anyone can sell on Amazon if they can choose a product, set up a profile and find a fulfillment provider. The benefits of selling on Amazon range from access to millions of customers to the ease of their platform.
Here we’ll walk you through each step of the selling process from setting up your account to expanding globally. Learn how to sell on Amazon.
Continue reading “How to Sell on Amazon! The Complete Guide!”The trading industry has grown over the years in different areas of the business world, especially in how it affected the online community’s ability to market different products. The importing and exporting business is still the most lucrative industry anyone could venture into.
Aside from the full range of goods to choose from, playing a critical role as an importer/exporter can help you generate anywhere from a few thousand to millions of dollars monthly in revenue.
Continue reading “Common Mistakes in Importing and Exporting! (Infographic)”Procurement professionals have the same question looming over their head on a daily basis about Digital Procurement:
“How do you plan on dealing with digitalization?”
Continue reading “The 3 Pillars of Digital Procurement!”Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that in 2017 total spending on logistics in the US rose to a record $1.5 trillion, up 6.2% from the year before. What’s more, the costs of warehousing, fulfillment and delivery are expected to keep rising in the upcoming year. This is why the biggest players in the market are investing in cutting edge warehouses and technology.
Here are 4 amazing examples of beautiful warehouse operations in which the latest technologies are helping ecommerce giants handle record volumes of parcels faster and more efficiently than ever before.
Continue reading “Cutting Edge Warehouses! (Video)”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.
Continue reading “Are We Facing the End of Supply Chain Management?”
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