Next-Generation Supply Chains: Efficient, Fast and Tailored

Excerpt:  Erratic macroeconomic cycles along with disruptions caused by natural disasters have made supply chain management both more difficult and important to business success. To adapt to this dynamic environment, executives are actively managing their supply chains utilising strategic and operational levers at their disposal to transform vulnerabilities into competitive advantage.

In this report we share the findings from our ninth and largest-ever global supply chain survey.

Read full article via Next-generation supply chains: Efficient, fast and tailored: PwC’s PRTM Global supply chain survey 2013: PwC.

Digital Age to Require Greater Supply Chain Agility

Good read.   You will be expected to make changes to keep up —  indeed to remain competitive.

Excerpt:  If consumers in the future won’t be focused strictly on price, there will be pressure on supply chains to provide value beyond cost containment.

“There are implications all the way up to the machinery we choose in our plants, which allows us to set certain standards for what’s an appropriately or economically sufficient batch of product to run,” O’Marah said. “How much flexibility have we built into the upstream supply chain? And the answer is, we’re going to be expected to have a lot, and it looks like we’re not ready for it.”

Read full article via Digital age to require greater supply-chain agility.  From CGMA

The Three Minute Guide to Supply Chain Analytics | Deloitte Analytics

Supply Chain Analytics: The three-minute guide
This three minute guide to Supply analytics will explain ways companies can fine-tune their supply chains in ways that weren’t possible in the past.

Read full guide The Three Minute Guide to Supply Chain Analytics | Deloitte Analytics – United States.

APEC 2012 CEO Summit: APEC Reliable Supply Chains

Recommended read.  The graphs are very well done and there is also a download paper on “Reliable Supply Chains”.     Particularly for global small business.

Excerpt:  One of the challenges for the continued economic growth of the APEC territories is reliable, integrated supply chains. Removing key trade bottle necks will facilitate faster, less expensive, and more secure intra-APEC trade. While APEC has made progress in integrating, and making supply chains more reliable, this progress must continue in order to keep up with ballooning trade volume and to increase intra-APEC trade.

Read article, great graphs and download pdf paper via APEC 2012 CEO Summit: APEC Reliable Supply Chains.  From PwC

Supply Chain Management Definition and Solutions

Good basic description of processes involved and with takeaways for small business of how-to and complexities.  Operations management

Excerpt:  What is supply chain management? Supply chain management (SCM) is the combination of art and science that goes into improving the way your company finds the raw components it needs to make a product or service and deliver it to customers. The following are five basic components of SCM.

Read full article via Supply Chain Management Definition and Solutions CIO.com.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) – Benefits, Cost, Benefits and Drawbacks of ERP

Small business need-to-know and takeaway how-to.  In fact the article is very good at everything your should know about ERP now becoming as important in mid to small businesses as it is in large companies.

Excerpt:  Although ERP systems may seem complex and costly, even small businesses are increasingly finding it necessary to invest in such technology in  order to remain competitive. “ERP systems are being implemented today to provide a stable foundation for a growing number of businesses across all segments, from dot-coms to major automotive manufacturers,” Dave Morrison wrote in CMA Management. “The number of implementations down the supply chain and into small and medium-sized companies is steadily growing as the initial costs are reduced along with the overall cost of ownership. Pre-configured and pretested versions are now effectively slashing the implementation costs while reducing the project complexity and risks. These new systems are providing a clean head start in development and delivering a stable and fully tested product to production. The methodology is continually evolving and the results are very positive.”

Read full article via Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) – benefits, cost, Benefits and drawbacks of erp.  From Reference for Business

How to Manage a Global Supply Chain

More great small business takeaways this morning — global supply chain businesses’ best practices.  Recommended.

Excerpt:  Executives at Flextronics, Lubrizol and A. Schulman reveal best practices that allow them to expand their operations globally, while bringing their customers along for the ride.

Read full article via How to Manage a Global Supply Chain | Supply Chain content from IndustryWeek.

The Greening of Supply Chain Information Systems – Knowledge@Australian School of Business

I think most business is still at the start gate of greening supply chains, if even that far along.  This is a good read.  It addresses the challenges, the questions, some trial and error scenarios and a suggested alternative that would move everyone forward much faster and cheaper.  Small business and governance.

Excerpt: Finally, rather than trying to anticipate everyone’s needs, Open Data Registry is planning to use an open platform, in the same way Apple uses an open platform for the iPhone, so that each company can design its own app, whether an LCA tool or something else. That way, concluded Friend, “companies can themselves easily build the analytics that answer their questions, using common reference data, the same data that everybody else is using, and we can accelerate this process of greening the supply chain.”

Read full article via The Greening of Supply Chain Information Systems – Knowledge@Australian School of Business.

Improving Business and Operations Planning – Why is Integrated Planning and S&OP an Issue Now?

Excerpt: A robust and mature S&OP process is absolutely critical to improving operating performance in critical areas such as: Customer service Inventory management Capex efficiency Profitable revenue growth Technology and data Companies that manage S&OP purely as a supply chain process are not seeing the bigger picture. Today’s competitive market pressures require that S&OP focus less on yesterday’s back order and more on how the company’s existing capacity can meet long-term plans.

Read full article via Improving business and operations planning – Why is integrated planning and S&OP an issue now? – Ernst & Young – Global.

There Has Been A Huge Power Shift In The Retail Supply Chain

A good basic description of the changes faced by all retail and suppliers in today’s market……if you missed the shifts and needs, you are eitheral already not competitive or will soon not be.

Excerpt………The role of the supplier is to help the customer to reach their respective goals of differentiation by giving tools of relevance, to the customer in the situation the customer (i.e. retailer) meets the consumer. That means that the supplier should walk the same shoes as their respective retailer, and align its production according to the direction where the retailer is going, thus provide SKUs that is engineered and priced to fit the retailers strategy.

Read full article……….via There Has Been A Huge Power Shift In The Retail Supply Chain – Business Insider.

Cutting costs in supply-chain management

Article provides reminders (always good) or a sit-up-and-take-notice for those CFOs not yet on target.

Excerpt…….He adds: “Today, we talk about how we improve the business model as a team, understanding that certain decisions may have negative impacts either on an individual, department or functional performance, but understanding that ultimately these trade-offs lead to improved EBITDA without compromising the high service standards and quality our customers and consumers expect of us.”

It’s a mindset that successful CFOs have adopted and fostered throughout their organisations.

Read full article….via Cutting costs in supply-chain management.  From CGMA

New Report: Investors Increasingly Pay Attention to Supply Chain Responsibility in Determining Risk

Small business need-to-know……..  operations ….there is also a link to the full paper and discussion…..good read.

Excerpt……..There is a range of legal and quasi-legal measures, international and self-regulatory codes of conduct and standards aimed at improving the sustainability of supply chains. Examples include:

Read full article……via New Report: Investors Increasingly Pay Attention to Supply Chain Responsibility in Determining Risk – Forbes.

Columbia Ideas at Work : Feature : Small+Shocks,+Big+Waves

Small business — food for thought in strategy and preparing for tomorrow.

Excerpt……..Professor Alireza Tahbaz-Salehi says the case made by Mulally is a reminder of how shocks to a one firm or sector can severely affect others. Salehi, along with Daron Acemoğlu and Asuman Özdağlar of MIT, and Vasco Carvalho of CREI and Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, set out to model how interconnections among firms and sectors via their supply chains can cause microeconomic shocks to spread throughout the economy.

Read full article…..via Columbia Ideas at Work : Feature : Small+Shocks,+Big+Waves.  From Columbia Business School

Social Media and the Coming Supply-Chain Revolution

Are you still taking deep breaths to cope with social media hurtling forward in marketing and customer relations? ………get ready for the next wave into supply chain.

Excerpt…….We have all witnessed the effective assimilation of social media into marketing and human-resources strategies. However, very few companies have integrated the modern communications tools into their supply chains, even though there are a number of good reasons to do so

Read full article……via supply chain innovation social media casemore GHG.  From CFO.com

The Supply Chain: The CFO’s Crystal Ball

More this morning on risk management and the tools / answers according to this article are available in your supply chain.

Excerpt……..Progressive organizations are now leveraging technology to integrate the CFO into the supply chain organization, using ERP systems and reporting that allows the CFO to extract data that aids in timely decision-making. Such an entwined operation is beneficial to both functions. The CFO is better able to forecast revenue and profitability, decreasing risk and increasing cash flow. The supply chain team is better able to create and deliver on plans that closely reflect the organization’s operational capabilities and goals. This close integration has resulted in some organizations giving the CFO direct responsibility for the supply chain function.

Companies seeking a way to get control of working capital and see further into the future would do well to take a close look at their supply chain.

Read full article…….via The Supply Chain: The CFO’s Crystal Ball | Business Finance.