supplychainmanagement Archives - Supply Chain Game Changer™

The Supply Chain Detective™ and The Case of the Missing Cash!

The Preeminent Role of Supply Chain in Cash Cycle Management!

We were tremendously excited!

We had just completed the acquisition of a company that had great, complementary technical capabilities, a broader geographic footprint, new customers, and accretive profitability.

The CFO and I took over day to day management of the acquired company. A few weeks after the excitement of the acquisition had died down the CFO called me into his office.

“We are out of cash. Next week we have to decide to either pay the employees or pay our suppliers. We don’t have enough cash to do both.” How could we be missing cash?

We were in trouble.

What happened to the cash? How were we going to become solvent again and keep the business afloat for the long term?

It was another case for the Supply Chain Detective™!

Attracting Millennials Gets Your Digital Supply Chain in Order!

6 Reasons Supply Chain Employees Look For New Jobs!

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.

Same Day vs Next Day Delivery … What’s the Difference? (Infographic)

Last Mile Delivery! What is your Strategy?

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.

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:

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

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.

Seasoned Leadership in Action™ – An Interview with Bronwen Hann, President at Argentus

6 Reasons Supply Chain Employees Look For New Jobs!

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. This interview is with Bronwen Hann, President at Argentus.

The Negotiation Before the Negotiation!

What Exactly Is Procurement? And What is Purchasing?

When preparing for a negotiation, it is common to identify the issues to be negotiated, decide on negotiating tactics to use on your supplier, think through what your supplier may say and practice saying the words you’ll use during the negotiation.

Those are all necessary components of negotiation preparation.

But, they are not enough. To truly reach your potential in a negotiation you need to understand some key things about your supplier. This article will focus on three major things you need to know about your supplier before beginning a negotiation.

How do you get to know them? You can research your supplier and/or you could – get this – ask your supplier contact!

When the Elephant in the Room is Your Supplier!

Procurement (and Purchasing) Job Interview Questions & Answers

Unless your company is amongst the very largest companies in the world then chances are your Procurement team will, at some point, be dealing with Suppliers that are larger than your company. They are the Elephant in the room.

In a function such as Procurement where negotiating is a central part of the role, leverage is a critical element in those negotiations. And in many cases size translates to leverage.

So how do you negotiate with a Supplier that is larger than your company and has greater perceived leverage?

How do you negotiate when your Supplier is the Elephant in the room?

The Humble Label – Too Many Are Used!

The Green Supply Chain: True Sustainability or Just One Big Marketing Stunt?

We need to move away from the printed label!

I retired from a multi-national supply chain management company to become a co-owner of a label manufacturing company, which was a real culture change for me.

In the past discussions were held with a Director or Vice President of Supply Chain or Procurement or even the Chief Operations Officer about the design or re-design of the Supply Chain. In my new position, I get to meet the buyers or an executive in charge or procuring labels. In some companies they are categorized as “Consumables”.

There is very little high level attention paid to labels due to the low cost of the labels which can be a few cents to less than a cent. Many buyers feel that the labels are such insignificant parts of the product and place very little time and attention in the sourcing and procurement of the labels.

The Thanksgiving Turkey Supply Chain!

Food Waste and World Hunger – The Food Supply Chain is Broken!

Recently we were driving on some back roads and in the distance we saw something on the road. As we got closer we saw that there were a bunch of wild turkeys about to cross the road. Was this Thanksgiving turkey?

The turkeys, hearing us coming, immediately turned around and quickly went back down the side road that they had come from. Apparently they knew that being close to humans was not a good idea, particularly at this time of year.

With this in mind, and with Thanksgiving around the corner, I got to thinking about what the Supply Chain was that brought the Thanksgiving Turkey to the dinner table.

Are you a Game Changer? Tell us your Story!

Every day there are individuals and teams all around the world who are making a difference. They are driving transformational change in their jobs, in their Departments, in the Organization and in their Companies. And they are achieving amazing results that defy what they previously thought possible.

We want to hear your stories and we invite you to share those stories on https://supplychaingamechanger.com so that we can all applaud, and learn from, your tremendous efforts.

Could the CPO Be Replaced by the Chief Value Officer?

Enable Spend Aggregation in Procurement!

What is the role of the Chief Procurement Officer? And what is the role, and difference, of the CPO as compared to the Chief Value Officer?

Procurement is the process of translating customer requirements into the selection of highly capable suppliers, to timely, accurately, cost-effectively deliver high quality, mission-critical inputs and raw materials to internal customers. As well as assuring the accurate receipt and timely payment of all accrued invoices.

How to Safely Handle Chemicals!

A Comprehensive Warehouse Safety Guide!

Every time I am asked about how to handle and transport chemicals I answer that it is all about being well-informed.

Indeed, there are various elements that one has to know when it comes to the storage and handling of chemical products.

Create Collaborative Innovation with Suppliers!

Supply Chain Collaboration – The New Way to Drive Value!

Previous CIO of General Motors (GM), Tony Scott, was once quoted saying,“GM is a highly collaborative organization; we rely on a whole tier of suppliers for everything that we do.” They rely on collaborative innovation.

Our organization’s products, customers, and profit, are ultimately a byproduct of the global supply chain networks that operate on a daily basis to add value through collaboration. The complexity of global supply chains – especially in organizations like GM, often the elephant in the room – require hands-on relationship management of suppliers to ensure that supplier collaboration will lead to added value, and innovation.

It’s nice to see that their previous Chief Information Officer had enough perspective to recognize their suppliers’ importance.