Supply chain planning – Does it makes dollars and cents to get it all from one vendor?

BillDuBois

Supply chain planning – Does it makes dollars and cents to get it all from one vendor?

Full disclosure: I work for a best-of-breed supply chain planning vendor so I will do my best to take an unbiased approach as I provide my opinions on how to solve the challenges of planning today’s supply chains with all its complexity and volatility.

I’ll be honest, it would be great to get everything from one supply chain software vendor. One negotiation, one price list, one number to call if by some chance something went wrong. At first glance is seems like a practical, straightforward approach. I can understand why IT organizations would want to limit the number of vendors they need to deal with. But do the economics work out?

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‘Win the Moment’ at Kinexions ’19

BillDuBois

“Delay of supply chain, that’s a penalty. Roughing the supplier, that’s two minutes. Excessive use of inventory, you’re out of the game!”

As you’ll find out in the video below, egregious supply chain planning tactics don’t go unpenalized under my watchful eye.

But the truth is, in my role as a supply chain referee, I don’t want to put anyone in the supply chain sin bin. In fact, it’s my job at Kinexions ’19 to help keep you out of the box and on the supply chain ice where you’re most valuable to your organization.

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[On-demand webinar] How to stop planning in the dark

AlexaCheater

Stop [On-demand webinar] How to stop planning in the dark - WATCH NOWmaking decisions in the dark.

Some things are better in the dark. Fireworks. Watching a movie. Robbing a bank. Supply chain planning isn’t one of them. So why do so many companies still plan that way?

Managing a supply chain is tough enough without having to make decisions blind. Increasing cost pressures, growing customer expectations, expanding ecosystems—all add to the complexity you’re facing every day.

But today’s planning reality leaves way too much in the dark. Siloed data and processes don’t deliver the visibility you need. Cumbersome, disconnected systems don’t provide the flexibility and agility you want. The resulting lag time leaves you feeling like you’re jumping through hoops only to get to the wrong answer. Planning in the dark like that only leads to unexpected and unwanted results.

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Kinaxis named a Leader in Gartner Magic Quadrant for Sales and Operations Planning Systems of Differentiation

DanielleMcNeil Taylor

Kinaxis named a Leader in Gartner Magic Quadrant for Sales and Operations Planning Systems of DifferentiationWe’re pleased to share news of Gartner’s most recent research, the 2019 Magic Quadrant for Sales and Operations Planning Systems of Differentiation.

On the strength of feedback from our customer community, Kinaxis has been named a Leader for the third consecutive time, which we believe validates our holistic approach to supply chain planning, which connects customer data, processes and people across the entire network.

According to Gartner, a sales and operations planning (S&OP) Systems of Differentiation (SOD) “is a software solution that helps to enable a Stage 4, or possibly higher, maturity S&OP process,”1 enabling unique company processes or industry-specific capabilities.

Gartner recommends the solution include each of the following 13 key capabilities, each of which Kinaxis recognized as a Leader:

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Toward a more effective supply chain

RichardCushing

The Path to Modern Supply Chain Planning – Why the Shift from Siloed to Collaborative Is Worth the JourneyIn its recent e-book, The Path to Modern Supply Chain Planning – Why the Shift from Siloed to Collaborative Is Worth the Journey, Kinaxis identifies the warning signs of ineffective planning as follows:

  1. Siloed thinking
  2. Disconnected execution
  3. Lack of executive focus
  4. Poor system performance

Of course, these symptoms or signs of ineffective planning are true for supply chains. But they are also true for almost everything else that goes on in the enterprise. Let’s look at them from the bottom up.

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Digital supply chain transformation: What was once disruption is now strategy

AlexaCheater

The debate over whether technology is required to run supply chains is over. It has been for a while now. In the next five years, we’ll see more innovation than the last century, and that’s staying a lot given in those 100 years we put a man on the moon, invented aerosol spray cans and saw the world revolutionized by personal computers, the internet and mobile phones.

Looking around on day two of the Gartner Supply Chain Executive Conference in Phoenix, AZ I see evidence of the world’s past innovation everywhere. From the phones and tablets in fellow attendees’ hands to the wireless earbuds and smart watches they’re wearing to the very screens presentations are being shown on. Innovation is everywhere. It’s inescapable. Even in the confines of your Excel-driven supply chain.

As Amber Salley and James Lisica, senior director analysts for Gartner, so poignantly put it during their keynote presentation on converging the physical and digital supply chains—if you’re still operating on the back of an Excel spreadsheet, it’s time for a reality check.

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From supply chain survival to leader: How you can follow Lenovo’s lead and find success during an acquisition

AlexaCheater

“Stand up if you know what it’s like to live through an acquisition, or if you’ve experienced a crisis at your company at some point in time.”

That was how Ben Massie, Vice President of E2E Supply Chain Execution at Lenovo, kicked off his presentation at the 2019 Gartner Supply Chain Executive Conference in Phoenix, AZ. Nearly everyone in the room was standing—myself included.

Massie’s story centered on his journey from IBM to Lenovo during the acquisition of System X—a seven-year process from sale to hyper growth.

There were layoffs. A lot of them. A revolving door of mangers. Seven in sixteen months. And a shift in culture that put the emphasis solely on the bottom line.

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Supply chain gender gap the topic of focus at MIT event

LeahMcGuire

Leah McGuire, Kerry Currier and Francini Ortiz at the 2019 MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics Women in Supply Chain Summit, where the gender gap in supply chain was the topic of focus.

Joined by Kinaxis colleagues Kerry Currier and Francini Ortiz on a crisp, sunny morning at the end of March, we marveled at the cool light display of Converse shoes in the lobby of the Converse building in downtown Boston as we checked in as attendees and panelists to the inaugural MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics Women in Supply Chain Summit, where an examination of the gender gap in supply chain was a central topic.

The two-day event brought together 60+ women and men from 27 companies across North America to discuss topics in four areas related to women in supply chain: balance, filling the talent gap, mentorship, sponsorship & networking, and leading global teams. Katie Date and her team did a wonderful job of getting the right mix of time for panels, group discussion and networking to make the event extremely valuable and insightful.

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