Posts categorized as 'Best practices'

How Kinaxis certification proves its worth

JoeCannata

How Kinaxis certification proves its worthSince the launch of the Kinaxis Certification Program in January 2016, we’ve steadily grown our certified user base. That base includes our technical employees, partners and customers, all of whom have worked to fortify and validate their RapidResponse skills in functionality, authoring and administration.

Why Kinaxis certification?

One question I often hear is, “Why should I get a Kinaxis certification?” It is no secret that having well trained, certified RapidResponse practitioners on staff means you have demonstrated the discipline to learn and master various aspects of RapidResponse, and can employ best practices. For a customer, they are able to derive the maximum value from their investment in a RapidResponse deployment. For employees and partners, it means staying at the top of their area of expertise.

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Webinar: Supply chain strategies to combat a brave new trade world

MikeMcAllister

Webinar: Supply chain strategies to combat a brave new trade worldAldous Huxley had it right — it truly is a brave new world, and it is especially so when it comes to tariffs and trade. And for organizations with even moderately complex multinational supply chains, the mounting challenges are the most significant that they’ve faced to date. A fresh set of supply chain strategies are need, the quicker the better.

In addition to dealing with a forever multiplying list of SKUs driven by market demand, the trend toward engaging contract manufacturers continues to grow, and an ever-expanding list of commerce channels is making supply chain management more challenging by the hour. Combine this with an uncertain trade environment with unprecedented market volatility and the impact of ongoing legal, regulatory and taxation changes, and you have a perfect supply chain storm brewing.

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[On-demand webinar] Paving the way for digital transformation in the automotive supply chain

MikeMcAllister

[On-demand webinar] Digital transformation for the automotive supply chainContrary to popular belief, the Ford Motor Company did not invent the assembly line.

But in 1913, Henry Ford did revolutionize it by adding a conveyor system to move the cars along the line, reducing the time it took to build a car from more than 12 hours to less than three.

Fast forward to present day to find the headlights of the electric car peeking around the nearest corner, with autonomous driving technology trailing not far behind. This fundamental shift in the automotive industry, when paired with the alternative energy expectations of the modern automobile consumer, brings the industry to an inflection point not entirely unlike the one Ford ushered in with the advent of mass production.

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Independent research reveals how organizations can succeed in a brave new tariff-driven trade world

MikeMcAllister

Ventana Whitepaper - Winning in the New Era of TradeIt sounds ominous, but it’s a brave new tariff-driven trade world out there – a reality senior executives whose organizations operate global supply chains are coming to grips with.

Navigating the latest tariffs, and the resulting ripple effects on currencies along with fluctuations in labor costs make it increasingly difficult for companies managing complex multinational supply chains to make effective sourcing, purchasing and production decisions fast enough to stay competitive.

And by staying competitive, we’re talking about the bottom line. Because at the end of the day, that’s how corporate leadership is measured.

According to Ventana Research in a report commissioned by Kinaxis, only 35 percent of companies with more than 1000 employees say they’re able to react quickly to changing marketing conditions – an astonishingly low number.

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Building the foundation of your digital supply chain

AlexaCheater

Webinar | Building the foundation of your digital supply chainIt’s getting harder and harder to get ahead—and stay ahead—of the constantly shifting realities of today’s interconnected world. Unstable markets, growing customer demands, emerging competition and deep-rooted reliance on outdated, legacy systems are causing chaos and complexity.

Traditional supply chain issues are only getting compounded by all of these new and emerging data sources. Everyone’s turning to digital for the answers. And it’s no wonder when companies with digital supply chains are seeing enterprise-wide results like 25% faster response times, 30% working capital reductions and up to 110% higher operating margins.

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What does GDPR mean for your supply chain?

NazliErdogus

How to Prepare for the EU’s New GDPR Data Protection Rules – KinaxisThe EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is the most important change in personal data privacy regulation in 20 years. It’s aimed at tech giants and small and medium enterprises alike.

As we count down the days until the GDPR enters into force on May 25, it’s important to recognize how your supply chain is affected and how it can become GDPR compliant.

What is GDPR and how will it impact my supply chain?

I’d like to take this opportunity to point out a few critical issues that will have a direct impact on your business and supply chain.

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How Uber Parallels the 6 Design Principles of Digital Supply Chain

Dr. MadhavDurbha

Digital supply chainDigital supply chain is the “in” thing! Don’t take my word for it, though. Just google the term. You will come across many articles talking about how supply chains are being remade by industry 4.0, internet of things (IoT), 3D printing, big data analytics, cloud computing and so on. But what most of these articles focus on are the means rather than the ends for the digital supply chain. On a day-to-day basis I speak to a number of supply chain practitioners. Most of them tell me they are at some stage of evolution with their digitization strategy. However, much confusion exists in terms of what constitutes a digital supply chain. So, I decided to write this blog to share my point of view on the topic.

Supply chain digitization is not simply taking existing information and capturing it in a digital format. It is not about automating your existing SCM processes. It is not about layering in Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) as a band aid to connect disjointed processes. It is about having the most current information to run your supply chain effectively, available on demand, so you can service your customers and grow profitably. In other words, think of a Google search for supply chain. You ask questions and you get answers!

Here, I will introduce 6 design principles that make up a digital supply chain. I will lean on the example of Uber, how it digitized the taxi experience, and draw parallels to digital supply chain. Let us take a look at these design principles:

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Are Short-Sighted Goals Holding Your Supply Chain Back?

AlexaCheater

close up of broken glasses and snellen chartSupply chains are growing more complex by the minute. With increased outsourcing, companies’ broad market penetration and expansion, not to mention the overall volume of products, it’s no wonder the difficulty in integrating all those internal and external supply chain nodes has grown exponentially.

Smart companies are turning to improving their supply chain visibility to help combat this connectivity problem, but the truly wise ones realize end-to-end visibility alone won’t yield effective supply chain orchestration. It’s just one step of many on the path to achieving higher levels of maturity.

Gartner’s five-stage demand-driven maturity model for supply chains outlines visibility as a key focus of supply chains in Stage 3 (Integrate), but with two more stages (Collaborate, Orchestrate) on their maturity model, it can’t be the end goal.

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