February, 2015

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Supply Chain Analytics: The Times They Are A-Changin’

Supply Chain Shaman

'The Times They Are A-Changin’ Come gather ’round people. Wherever you roam. And admit that the waters. Around you have grown. And accept it that soon. You’ll be drenched to the bone. If your time to you. Is worth savin’ Then you better start swimmin’ Or you’ll sink like a stone. For the times they are a-changing.

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How can you prepare your supply chain for disruptions?

DELMIA Quintiq

'The butterfly effect. The “butterfly effect” was a term coined by mathematician, meteorologist and chaos theory expert Edward Lorenz around 1960. It refers to how one small incident can have a huge impact later on down the line. The recent West Coast ports cargo-handling disruption is an example of the butterfly effect. The labor dispute caused freight bottlenecks.

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Lora Cecere on Supply Chain Metrics that Matter

AIMMS

Interview with Lora Cecere, Founder and CEO of Supply Chain Insights and Author of Supply Chain Metrics that Matter ( published December 2014 ). Lora Cecere is the founder and CEO of the research firm Supply Chain Insights. She is the author of the enterprise software blog Supply Chain Shaman , which attracts 5,000 readers weekly. She also writes a blog for Forbes and is a LinkedIn Influencer.

Metrics 232
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Want a Better Supply Chain? Here Are 4 Reasons to Outsource Your Transportation Management

Talking Logistics

'Now more so than ever, corporations understand the tremendous impact logistics and transportation can have on their overall business performance and are taking meaningful strides to optimize their supply chain operations. While some organizations have the human capital, industry depth and expertise, and IT infrastructure to manage their transportation on an insourced basis, a majority do not.

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The 2025 Annual ProcureCon CPO Report

Procurement leaders are at a pivotal moment. With CPOs playing an increasingly strategic role, it’s time to leverage innovation and technology to drive resilience and efficiency. Download The 2025 Annual ProcureCon CPO Report to uncover key insights to thrive in a dynamic procurement landscape. What’s Inside: How CPOs are driving strategic decision-making and technology adoption The top priorities and challenges for procurement in 2025 Why AI, sustainability, and data analytics are essential for

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What is the Hyperconnected Era & “The Internet Of Things” and What does it Have to Do with Manufacturing & Logistics?

GlobalTranz

'Editor’s Note: This is our second post in a collaborative blog post series about mobility in manufacturing & logistics along with Catavolt, who helps manufacturing organizations drive operational excellence with mobile apps. We encourage our audience to visit The Catavolt Blog for more relevant posts about mobility in manufacturing for best practices, tips, and great industry insights.

More Trending

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Renegade Riposte

Supply Chain Shaman

'In the supply chain, the questions do not change; but the answers do. Quote from a Supply Chain Leader at a Conference in Europe. Yesterday, Peter Bolstorff, Executive Director, APICS Supply Chain Council, called to discuss the use of the Supply Chain Index by APICS to measure supply chain improvement. Peter is one of the nicest guys that I know, and I am glad to see him at the council.

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What If You Could Take The Guesswork Out Of Forecast Planning? Guest Post from Osgood Vogler

Kinaxis

'by Melissa Clow Our partner Celestica recently published the following article, ‘What If You Could Take The Guesswork Out Of Forecast Planning?’. The author, Osgood Vogler, Director, Analytics, Celestica Supply Chain Managed Services, describes an insight-based demand management process: So, how do you take the guesswork out of forecast planning? Let’s find out.

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arviem's CEO Talks About Becoming the "Google of Trade"

Supply Chains Rock

'I first met Stefan Reidy, CEO and founder, of arviem several years ago when he was in NY City to speak with Forbes magazine for an article on his ideas for tracking freight containers using a variety of wireless technologies. During the interview Reidy was incredibly enthusiastic about what this could mean for the future of supply chains.

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Ready For the Next Port Crisis?

Talking Logistics

'The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) reached a tentative new 5-year agreement late on Friday, so the West Coast ports resumed full operations this past weekend. But there’s little time to celebrate. It will take two to six months for supply chains to get back to normal, and some industries will suffer permanent losses, especially farmers.

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Enterprise ABM Marketing Tools: A Marketers Guide

Savvy B2B marketers know that a great account-based marketing (ABM) strategy leads to higher ROI and sustainable growth. In this guide, we’ll cover: What makes for a successful ABM strategy? What are the key elements and capabilities of ABM that can make a real difference? How is AI changing workflows and driving functionality? This Martech Intelligence Report on Enterprise Account-Based Marketing examines the state of ABM in 2024 and what to consider when implementing ABM software.

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Mobile Technology in Transportation Management & The Future Impact on the Supply Chain

GlobalTranz

'Editor’s Note: This is the first post in a series produced in partnership with Catavolt, who helps manufacturing organizations drive operational excellence with mobile apps. We encourage our audience to visit The Catavolt Blog for more relevant posts about mobility in manufacturing for best practices, tips, and great industry insights. It’s no secret that anything “mobile” is all the rage today.

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The Role 3PLs and Value-Added Services Play in an Omni-Channel Retail Supply Chain

Logistics Viewpoints

'In our world of technological innovation, the pressure to provide consumers with faster and more efficient levels of service is mounting, and retail manufacturers are feeling the impact. Gone are the days when consumers’ only options were limited to visiting brick-and-mortar stores to shop. Today, if they still choose to shop at a physical store, […].

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The Story Continues…. Let’s Don’t Sugar Coat the Real Issue

Supply Chain Shaman

'This morning, my mailbox was bombarded with the news of tentative agreement of the settlement of the nine-month labor conflict between the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU). The people on the ground–my contacts in the 3PL, freight forwarding and transportation industry–know that the labor strife is only a part of the larger story.

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The Challenges of Master Scheduling: Hug Your Master Scheduler Part One

Kinaxis

'by John Westerveld I’ve had the opportunity over the past few weeks to investigate how many companies perform their Master Planning practices, and in the process do a pile of thinking about the Master Scheduling role. My conclusion is that if your company is running smoothly, you need to stop what you are doing right now and hug your Master Scheduler.

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The Evolving Retailers Fulfillment Strategy: Meeting Demands with Agility

Speaker: Becky Parisotto and John Vurdelja

Fulfillment is no longer just about getting products from point A to point B – it's about crafting seamless, scalable, customer first experiences. Flexible fulfillment strategies are more important than ever for those aiming to stay ahead and build resilience as retail enters a new era in 2025. Learn how to optimize fulfillment processes, tackle complex, multi-vendor orders, and create seamless customer experiences – from white-glove delivery for high-value items to quick-ship solutions for ever

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Is there a compelling reason to implement analytics & optimization? STEP 1 – Prove the bridge is on fire

AIMMS

Cambie Bridge, foggy by colink. on Flickr: https://flic.kr/p/gSz4iw. A European department store, very well-known and led by one of the most iconic figures in the retail industry was undergoing a major shift. The business had recently pivoted towards a younger, more frequent buyer with the emphasis on dynamic, on-trend fashion. Retail analytics are typically fruitful due to the availability of granular EPOS sales data and the ability to predict how products will move through their lifecycle due

Modeling 180
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The Financial Dimension of Supply Chain Visibility [Episode Highlights]

Talking Logistics

'Supply chain visibility and big data are hot topics and everyone is trying to figure out how to extract and analyze the data they have for better visibility and decision making. Financial data and visibility into the costs associated with shipping are critical to improving corporate financial performance. To find out how having supply chain financial visibility can improve contract negotiations, and to learn how technology can help shippers gain financial visibility across global supply chains,

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Kinks in Your Supply Ch?ain? Dealing with Port Congestions & Shutdowns

GlobalTranz

'Editor’s Note: This is a blog by one of our affiliate partners, Global Vision Group , a Federal Maritime Commission licensed Non Vessel Operating Common Carrier (NVOCC) and Ocean Freight Forwarder (OFF). The Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) and the International Longshoremen Warehouse Union (ILWU) have been operating without a contract since the end of June, 2014.

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Is Your Supply Chain Weatherproof?

Logistics Viewpoints

'Individuals living in the higher latitudes will tell you that ice dams on your roof are an omen of bad things to come. I learned this first-hand last week after record snowfall in the Boston area. To minimize future damage, I set out to purchase a roof rake to clear the snow off of my […].

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4 Ways To Drive Supply Chain Excellence in the Food Industry

The Supplier Relationship Management Playbook is your guide to building effective supplier partnerships that drive supply chain excellence. This playbook equips supply chain professionals with strategies for managing compliance, tracking performance, and fostering collaboration to reduce supply chain risks. Inside, you’ll find: Strategies for Compliance: Best practices to help meet regulatory standards.

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Ranking SCM Journals: VHB-JOURQUAL 3

SCM Research

'The German Academic Association for Business Research (VHB) is about to publish JOURQUAL 3 , a journal ranking based on the ratings of more than 1,100 VHB members. A-graded SCM journals are: Production and Operations Management and Journal of Operations Management. Several SCM journals received the grade B, including: International Journal of Production Economics , International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management , Journal of Supply Chain Management , Journal of Busines

Journal 164
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A perfect supply chain?

Kinaxis

'by Matt Benson If your 3PL supply chain problem was to deliver 400,000 items daily from supplier to customer and your on-time in full metric was a six-sigma target standard of 1 failure per million, how would you do it? What If I was to also constrain the resources you had at your disposal and said you only had 5000 transportation vehicles and your delivery slot was just 1 hour and that your delivery window was always 12pm until 1pm?

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This is the invisible network that keeps the world running

The Network Effect

'Yantian Port in China/BBC. As a nice follow-up to last week’s post on the world’s largest container ship , the BBC has an in depth article on an “invisible network that keeps the world running” Just what is this network, you ask? The answer is the global supply chain. The article provides a counterargument to those who think that technological progress has stagnated , and that we’re out of big ideas: The global supply chain that brings us those tablets and phones

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Talking Logistics YOUniversity: Our First Course

Talking Logistics

'Talking Logistics was launched as a live, online video talk show focused on supply chain and logistics topics. A year after launching, however, a supply chain executive said to me, “ Talking Logistics is like an online Executive MBA course, with live lectures and guest speakers every week discussing timely and important topics.” That perspective resonated with me because for years I’ve been advocating the need for new models of supply chain learning , how we need to think beyond traditional pat

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Freight Procurement Simplified: Bids from Hours to Minutes

Speaker: Eric Berdinis, Ran Sun, & Chris Chmielewski

Procuring freight can be cumbersome, time-consuming, and error-prone. If you’re frustrated with the complex and manual processes for obtaining bids for your contract and spot freight, you’re not alone. In today’s fast-moving supply chain environment, optimizing these processes is critical to staying competitive and cutting costs. Join this exclusive webinar with experts from Uber Freight to learn how the latest digital tools and automation can transform your freight procurement strategy by strea

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[WHITE PAPER] 4 Strategic Considerations when Considering Offshoring Parts of your Supply Chain

GlobalTranz

'All over the world, heading offshore to outsource production has become something that it is had been accepted as the norm. Offshoring does indeed make sense for many companies, especially those that want to establish a global footprint. Too many, however, outsource production for the wrong reasons. Lured by the promise of cheaper labor ( which is starting to not be the case ), companies are blind to the tactical costs of manufacturing overseas.

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How Will Global Supply Chains will be Impacted by Obama’s Budget?

Logistics Viewpoints

'In his 2016 budget plan, to be unveiled today, President Obama will propose that U.S. companies’ overseas profits be taxed to fund a major boost in infrastructure spending. These tax proposals could change the way the Tax Efficient Supply Chain (TESC) operates. When highly profitable companies pay little in the way of taxes, negative press […].

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How to Manage Global Supply Chain Relationships the Right Way

Supply Chain Opz

'Collaborative mindset is the cornerstone of supply chain management. However, establishing and managing relationships on a global scale can be a challenging task. In this guest commentary, professor Ayman Omar who is a global supply chain expert from Kogod School of Business at American University will shed light on this issue. In a rapidly changing and expanding global landscape, companies are realizing they are only as good as the weakest link in their supply chain.

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Lean versus EOQ? What’s best for your organization?

Kinaxis

'by Andrew Dunbar A colleague and I started our morning off with a coffee and a conversation about integrating EOQ (Economic Order Quantity) into MPS ( Master Production Scheduling ). In no time at all we were debating between lean versus EOQ. While each approach has its merits, the two concepts present some conflicting advice. Here we go again! It doesn’t matter if you’re a technician working on the shop floor or an executive in the board room, if you’re in the business of manufacturing then th

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The 25 Types of Innovation Dominating R&D Today

Innovation varies widely across sectors and organizations, creating value in diverse forms. Understanding different types is crucial for R&D teams to foster creativity and uncover missed opportunities. This guide explores 25 key types of innovation in management frameworks.

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A Theory of the Supply Chain

SCM Research

'In their very insightful essay, Toward the Theory of the Supply Chain , Carter, Rogers & Choi (2015) argue that “before we continue to build theories of supply chain management , we must first develop a theory of the supply chain – the phenomenon that we purport to manage” I could not agree more with their argument. Indeed, without focusing on the supply chain before focusing on how to manage it, SCM research would not be more than fishing in murky waters.

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The Rebirth of Transportation Marketplaces (UberCARGO, Cargomatic, and Freight Friend)

Talking Logistics

'Back in the dotcom days, more than 15 years ago, numerous startups launched transportation marketplaces in a bid to revolutionize the way shippers and carriers worked together. Virtually all of them failed. These marketplaces (aka “exchanges”) didn’t work for many reasons, but the prime one was that these startups didn’t really understand the transportation market.

Freight 160
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What Freight Brokers Should Expect in 2015

GlobalTranz

'As a freight broker , you know the importance of staying ahead of trends in your business. 2014 was a dynamic year for shipping and freight, and 2015 might present us with some surprising changes as well. One month in, here are our predictions for freight brokers in 2015: Manufacturing Comes Home. For decades, globalization has defined the supply chain.

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