Daily Insights, Trends and Solutions for Professionals, Experts, Students and Society
Technology has phenomenal applicability in advancing Supply Chain. The Digital Supply Chain is enabled by exciting new technologies.
The application of blockchain in the supply chain is among the greatest innovations to take root in the shipping industry.
The application of blockchain holds promises to increase visibility, renew viability, reduce inconsistency, increase payment processing accuracy, and eliminate compliance problems.
Even though the technology is still new, its potential cannot be ignored, and supply chain executives need to know why.
Continue reading “Blockchain in the Supply Chain is a Game Changer!”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 at Supply Chain Game Changer. This interview is with David Cefai, CIO at IMax.
Continue reading “Seasoned Leadership in Action™! An Interview with David Cefai, CIO at IMax!”Machine learning, a branch of artificial intelligence, has already been used across many industries to improve efficiency and productivity.
The technology has been in development for some time, with the uptake being slowed down by some industry’s reluctance to adopt it.
However, machine learning development companies are now helping many businesses, including logistics companies and retailers seeking help for warehouse management.
Continue reading “Machine Learning in Warehouse Management!”Modern transportation and trucking is currently experiencing major changes thanks to transformative transportation technologies. Although we’ve become accustomed to long international flights, jam-packed public transportation and diesel trucks that only get 20 mpg, the future of transportation promises to change all of that and much more — and it’s closer than many people realize.
Let’s take a look at 6 transportation technologies sure to impact the trucking and transportation industries forever.
Continue reading “6 Technologies that will Change Transportation and Trucking Forever!”Customer expectations are changing as new sales outlets are being used. With the application of social media, omni-channel and e-commerce customers now have more price options, selections, delivery methods and shopping experiences. The ability of a business to keep the customer satisfied greatly depends on fulfillment capabilities, such as with the use of warehouse robots.
Progressive businesses have realized the critical nature an operations strategy has on designing a working supply chain. Combining distribution and fulfillment operations into a single facility has become the base of the supply chain network, as they allow a single location to stock a vast number of products and service multiple channels.
Continue reading “Rise of the Warehouse Robots!”Growing global complexity in supply chain management has forced organizations to look towards technology as their silver bullet; serving as the missing link between people (supply chain actors) and the ability to collaborate at scale. As such we have Blockchain technology reshaping SCM.
Blockchain technology is one of the most hyped amongst the currently developing technologies, hypothesized to make one of the greatest impacts in supply chain management — especially procurement and logistics — in the coming years. If SCM tech were a summer reading list, Blockchain would be the Twilight trilogy.
Continue reading “Blockchain Technology Reshaping SCM !”There are thousands of supply chain technology vendors in the market today, and many companies claim their system is the best-of-the-best.
How do you truly know which systems are the best, and what can you do to ensure the selected supply chain technology does not become a money pit for your organization?
The answers to these questions lie in understanding the top pitfalls to avoid when selecting systems and new technologies for use in your organization.
Continue reading “4 Pitfalls to Avoid When Selecting Supply Chain Technology!”In a recent article on CIO Dive, The state of AI across 5 industries, I read that “retailers now have a call to action to use AI. They want to improve middle and back-office functions, including improved financial forecasting and supply chain management.”
This article resonated with me quite well, as it coincided with my recent panel at last week’s BGSA Supply chain conference. The panel “Managing Technology in This Era of Disruption” covered how to leverage new technologies like artificial intelligence and advanced analytics so companies can enable customer success strategies.
Fascinating topic on its own.
Continue reading “Creating a Smart Supply Chain in the Era of Disruption!”
Most of us create, use, present and work with at least one spreadsheet each and every day. Spreadsheets have proven invaluable. And many businesses even observe, and complain, that they are run on spreadsheets.
Yet there was a time not that long ago when most people didn’t even know what a spreadsheet was. In the early 1980s I was given one the first IBM Personal Computers to use, along with the spreadsheet software Visicalc. Spreadsheets forever transformed my productivity and skill set.
Continue reading “Spreadsheets – A History and a Future!”
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 at Supply Chain Game Changer. This interview is with Scott Cleaver, Chief Operations Officer at ecobee.
Continue reading “Seasoned Leadership in Action™ – An Interview with Scott Cleaver, COO at ecobee!”Believe it or not, Industry 4.0 — the latest specialization for modern factories and manufacturing plants — does factor into design and and help optimize your factory layout. That is because digitization, or the current movement to connect and bring all equipment into modern times, absolutely influences design.
In essence, that is the heart of Industry 4.0, a complete synergy between operations, equipment, properties and, of course, the people who spend their time there. If 3.0 was about automation and boosting efficiency, this generation is about injecting the human touch back into the work environment, and that means accommodating such things from a design standpoint.
Continue reading “How to Optimize Your Factory for Industry 4.0!”From The Terminator to Blade Runner, pop culture has always leaned towards a chilling depiction of artificial intelligence (AI) and our future with AI at the helm. Recent headlines about Facebook panicking because their AI bots developed a language of their own have us hitting the alarm button once again. Should we really feel unsettled with an AI future?
News flash: that future is here. If you ask Siri, the helpful assistant who magically lives inside your phone, to read text messages and emails to you, find the nearest pizza place or call your mother for you, then you’ve made AI a part of your everyday life.
Continue reading “How Artificial Intelligence (AI) Will Change Decision Making!”How many screens do you have? And is your screen time?
You likely have a Cell phone or a Smart phone. You may have a Desktop computer monitor or a Laptop, or both, between your home and your place of work. You may have a wearable device like a Fitbit or an Apple Watch. You may have an iPad or other type of tablet. And your TV may even have Internet connectivity.
We are surrounded by screens and the amount of time that we spend on them is truly remarkable.
But for those who are learning about Supply Chain, or any other profession for that matter, is it best to acquire that learning and gain that experience just by watching screens? Or is it better in Supply Chain to learn based on actual physical experiences and interactions?
Continue reading “Screen Time! Is That Enough To Be Good In Supply Chain?”One could argue Supply Chain transparency — at it’s origin — is a byproduct of consumer concerns, materialized within poor production, social and/or environmental quality.
As the story goes, the meatpacking districts of Chicago were one of the first recorded drivers, towards the need, for supply chain transparency. The Jungle, authored by Upton Sinclair, outraged the American public in 1904, after Sinclair’s depiction of the harsh realities of the meat industry at the turn of the 20th century. The book sparked consumer concern, which prompted the Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act (Linich 2016).
Continue reading “The 5 Levels of Supply Chain Transparency!”
The company I had just joined was nearing the finish line on the implementation of a new WMS system. They had been working on the system change for a few years. Now implementation was only a few months away. There were going to be lessons from the edge of this experience.
As the implementation date drew closer one of the key Warehouse management leaders, heading the project from the beginning, left the company. We forged ahead and implemented the system on April 1st. That’s right, April 1st!
And that’s when the “fun” began!
Continue reading “Lessons from the Edge of the Abyss! Surviving a System Implementation!”
