Transitioning to Digital Supply Networks

MikeMcAllister

supply networksBy APICS CEO Abe Eshkenazi, CSCP, CPA, CAE

This article was originally published on apics.org, and is republished with permission.

With the advent of the fourth industrial revolution, or Industry 4.0, supply chain professionals are expected to embrace many new technologies – from artificial intelligence and robotics to predictive analytics and cloud computing. To best integrate these technologies and share information among buyers, suppliers and partners, supply chain professionals also need to reshape their supply chains into digital supply networks (DSNs). New insights from Deloitte reveal that, although companies are aware of this necessary shift, not all of them are ready for it.

According to article authors Stephen Laaper, Glenn Yauch, Paul Wellener and Ryan Robinson, a DSN enables the integration of data from various sources to better inform production and distribution. A traditional supply chain often is visualized as a rigid, linear arrangement of supply chain partners that handle the different primary management processes of plan, source, make, deliver, return and enable. Each member of the traditional supply chain might share data with one other member, but that’s the extent of the integration. A DSN, the authors explain, has a flexible, matrix-like structure that allows the different players and processes of a supply chain to all share data with each other.

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Indiana Jones and the supply chain bullwhip effect

JoeCannata

Indiana Jones and the supply chain bullwhip effectAccording to the European Journal of Operational Research, the term ‘bullwhip effect’ was first coined by Procter & Gamble (P&G) in the 1990s in reference to the order variance amplification phenomenon observed between P&G and its suppliers.”

A small shift in customer demand essentially cracks the whip, and the further a supplier is from the demand, the more significant the impact, which inevitably leads to increasing swings in inventory for suppliers.

This question of demand management led me to wonder if any bullwhip manufacturer or supplier ever ran into a situation that caused them to experience the bullwhip effect in their own supply chains.

How ironic would that be?

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How demand planning can quench our thirst for beer

MikeMcAllister

World Cup and hot summer combine to create beer bottle shortage for German brewers

On the heels of a carbon dioxide (CO2) shortage in the UK that caused some breweries to ration beer production, Germany’s long, hot summer and the revelry surrounding the World Cup have combined with suboptimal demand forecasting to create a significant shortage of beer bottles, causing breweries large and small to plea to customers to return their empties.

Case in point: Germany’s Moritz Fiege…

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The sharing economy: An effective model for supply chain management?

EmilyHunt

The sharing economy: An effective model for supply chain management?The sharing economy involves buying and selling temporary access to goods or services, usually arranged through an online platform. It is inevitably becoming a major source of revenue in today’s global economy, led by the likes of Uber and Airbnb. By using new digital platforms, the sharing economy has created an effective business model for the utilization of goods and availability of services.

To break it down a bit, the sharing economy leverages peer-to-peer, business-to-peer, and business-to-business connections to implement lending, accommodation, transportation, staffing and even music and video streaming services.

But what does the success of the sharing economy have to do with to supply chain management?

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Celebrating and Encouraging Women in Supply Chain

MikeMcAllister

Women in Supply ChainBy APICS CEO Abe Eshkenazi, CSCP, CPA, CAE

Since 2012, The Manufacturing Institute has celebrated women in manufacturing with its STEP (Science, Technology, Engineering and Production) Ahead Awards, which recognize women in manufacturing who exemplify leadership within their companies. This April marked the sixth STEP Ahead Awards, and, once again, APICS was proud to co-sponsor the event.

STEP Ahead is a national honor that identifies the best women in manufacturing, including supply chain, and further encourages women to mentor and support the next generation of female talent to pursue these promising and fulfilling careers. On the evening of the event, STEP Ahead recognized 100 Honorees and 30 Emerging Leaders at a gala in Washington, D.C.

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Themes from the 2018 SCM World Leaders Forum

Dr. MadhavDurbha

SCM World Leaders Forum - Photo via SCMWorld.com

“Thick data” vs big data, the power of the supply chain profession, and cybersecurity

I just returned from a very inspiring 2018 SCM World Leaders Forum in London. While I attend several supply chain conferences in any given year, SCM World is a favorite of mine for a couple of reasons.

For one, this is a power-packed forum with the who’s who of supply chain in attendance. The executives in charge of supply chains for some of the most admirable companies from around the world were in attendance. With approximately 200 professionals in attendance the event is rather exclusive, which provides plenty of one-on-one networking opportunities.

Here are the major themes from the forum:

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Blockchain: Preventing E. Coli Through Enhanced Traceability

MikeMcAllister

Blockchain: Preventing E. Coli Through Enhanced TraceabilityBy: APICS CEO Abe Eshkenazi, CSCP, CPA, CAE

This article was originally published on apics.org, and is repubished with permission.

Blockchain has been touted as the cure-all for everything from financial fraud to voting, but Wired magazine’s Maryn McKenna suggested that blockchain could help prevent E. coli. How? Consider that in mid-April, the earliest signs of an outbreak of the disease surfaced in New Jersey. Then on May 2nd, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported that 121 people in 25 states have been infected with this particularly dangerous strain of E. coli.

Health officials narrowed the source down to romaine lettuce, but identifying which romaine lettuce from where is still a problem. First, consumers were instructed to avoid prechopped romaine lettuce. Then, after an outbreak at an Alaska prison pointed to whole romaine lettuce heads, the CDC targeted all romaine grown in Yuma, Arizona.

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Is automation killing white collar jobs?

Dr. MadhavDurbha

Is automation killing white collar jobs?

Not so fast!

I recently came across a Bloomberg article citing how certain functions of the white-collar workforce at Amazon is getting replaced by automation. Employees drawing six-figure salaries to negotiate multi-million dollar deals with major brands on behalf of Amazon are being replaced by software that predicts what shoppers want, when they want, and how much to charge for it.

Typically, vendor negotiation is a high-touch activity with lots give and take. However, it is also a function that results in predictable outcomes. At the end of the negotiation, the buyer places an order for a certain volume of a group of products at a negotiated discount with agreed upon delivery dates and payment terms.

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