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Let the Design Begin…

Supply Chain Shaman

The attendees were sitting on the edge of their seats to hear about the next release of Llamasoft software. The market for network design tools was growing at a moderate rate, and most of the market had invested in technologies from either i2 Technologies (then termed i2 Strategist) or Logictools.

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Do No Harm…

Supply Chain Shaman

Despite two decades of advancement in supply chain technologies, companies are struggling to gain balance at the intersection of operating margin, inventory turns and case fulfillment. My goal is to understand the impact of technologies and processes. Today, we have a number of burning platforms. It is easier said than done.

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4 Questions Before Investing in a Transportation Management Solution

Talking Logistics

At some point, usually when costs are out of control or service levels are heading south, companies finally make the decision to invest in a transportation management system (TMS) or outsource all or part of their transportation operations to a third party. Do you have the resources internally to effectively use and manage a TMS?

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Building a Triple A Supply Chain: Ten Tactics That Work

Supply Chain Shaman

We consistently see that companies focused on functional excellence–a focus within a functional silo like manufacturing, transportation or distribution– or singular metrics– like inventory or costs– underperform against their peer groups. Many try to start with technology. Responsive. Let me give you example.

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Uh-Oh! Insights On How P&G Failed And What This Means For You

Supply Chain Shaman

At each company, there is a relationship between the metrics of growth, margin, inventory, customer service, and asset strategy. For the purpose of this article, I will use Return on Invested Capital (ROIC) as the proxy metric to discuss asset utilization.) Understanding this relationship requires modeling. (A A Case Study.

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Supply Chain Planning for Dummies

Logistics Viewpoints

What follows are some key things a newcomer to the supply chain profession, or an interested reader of news headlines, needs to know about SCP technologies, processes, and roles. A network design model figures out where factories and warehouses should be located. The key solution for this is network design.

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Active Supply Chain Design: A Key Imperative for De Risking Supply Chains

Logistics Viewpoints

Supply chain executives must evolve from cost and service as the key objectives for optimal demand-supply balancing towards the “quadfecta” of cost, service, resiliency, and sustainability. Metrics such as lead-times, forecast accuracy, inventory levels, and service are used to measure operational risks.