Posts categorized as 'Miscellanea'

Countdown to Kinexions ’17: Supply chain stories that inspire

TeresaChiykowski

Supply chain conferenceIt’s hard to believe that Kinexions ‘17 is only a few weeks away. Time flies – just like astronaut Chris Hadfield, who will be joining us as our keynote speaker on the Kinexions mainstage in Orlando this year.

For those of you who missed my last blog post, Kinexions is the premier annual event for our RapidResponse® user community, including customers and prospects. The supply chain conference offers two full days of networking, inspiring keynotes, informative general sessions and a variety of breakouts delivered by customers, product experts and partners.

Last post, I touched on the top five reasons to attend the conference:

  1. Supply chain stories that inspire
  2. Out-of-this-world keynote speakers
  3. Network. Network.
  4. Fun, exercise and a touch of Supertramp
  5. More opportunities for RapidResponse learning

Today, I’d like to dig a little deeper into reason #1: supply chain stories that inspire.

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10 must ask supply chain data security questions

AlexaCheater

Supply chain dataWhen it comes to cyber safety, your supply chain could be your biggest weakness. Approximately 80% of data breaches originate from within the supply chain, and the financial impact of a breach could do more than destroy your bottom line. It could ruin your credibility with your customers.

In 2013, Target, one of the largest retailers in the US, fell victim to a massive data breach when a cyber intruder stole credit and debit card information on more than 40 million customers and personal details like addresses, phone numbers and email addresses of 70 million customers. It cost Target more than $88 million in damages. Attacks like these have become the number one threat to many organizations and their associated supply chains, but protecting yourself isn’t enough.

Target’s breach was traced back to malware installed on its point-of-sale system. The attack came through one of its vendors, making it even more important that you have end-to-end visibility through all tiers of your suppliers – not just the top few.

While cyberattacks aimed at stealing data remain the most visible risk, attacks designed to deny or disrupt service are also gaining in popularity. These types of cyberattacks jeopardize production and delivery schedules, causing delays and negatively affecting customers. Nodes along the entire supply chain can feel the impacts.

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An out-of-this-world showcase of supply chain innovation

TeresaChiykowski

Kinexions - KinaxisKinexions ’17, our annual user and training conference, is right around the corner and we’re ready to blast off. Taking place October 9-13 in beautiful Orlando, it’s more than just an opportunity to have a little fun in the sun. It’s a way to get inspired by some of the latest and greatest supply chain innovations around.

From customers sharing their own supply chain innovation journeys to our expert staff guiding you through a look at what’s to come, Kinexions is THE place to discover where you are on your own supply chain journey, and what it’s going to take to propel your company into the stars. It’s all systems go as we explore what’s new in industry trends, and with our cloud-based supply chain management software, RapidResponse®.

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Does supply chain’s image need to catch up with the times?

BillDuBois

This guest post comes to us from Argentus Supply Chain Recruiting, a boutique recruitment firm specializing in Supply Chain Management.

supply chainIt’s our perpetual hobby horse here at Argentus that Supply Chain needs to be doing more as a field to attract young people. And the industry has started to pick up the slack. Whether it’s organizations partnering with universities to provide information and educational opportunities, or industry associations holding informative events aimed at the wider public, many Supply Chain leaders are using creative strategies to develop the next generation of talent in the field.

But is there something about Supply Chain’s image that’s holding it back from being seen as the crucial, strategic function with tremendous career potential it is today?

This is an issue that popped up in our discussion of why there aren’t more Women in Supply Chain Leadership roles: it’s the question of Supply Chain’s popular image and whether it’s preventing women and others from viewing it as a lucrative and vibrant career option.

On company websites, magazines, promotional videos, and industry association pages, the Supply Chain industry has always employed imagery of the nuts-and-bolts of how products get to market. We’re all used to images of hard hats, warehouses, trucks, trains, shipping containers, boxes, and palettes as a sort of visual shorthand for Supply Chain as a function. We use plenty of these images here at Argentus in our blog posts, service pages, etc.

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Supply chain pain points in the Aerospace and Defense industry

AlexaCheater

7 barriers to aerospace and defense supply chain success

Aerospace & DefenseAs air travel demand soars, aircraft equipment manufacturers continue to innovate in areas like jet engine fuel efficiency, navigation technology and materials science. These improvements, especially around fuel efficiency, are driving demand for newer aircraft models, and speeding up the replacement of previous generations as a result.

For supply chains in the aerospace and defense industry, keeping pace with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) who are dramatically increasing production rates for components, systems and services, is a major challenge. As the flying public continues to demand lower airfares, a ripple effect is running through the entire supply chain, from OEMs to tier one suppliers and lower, as everyone struggles with the ongoing challenge of competitive pricing.

The global defense industry is also facing new challenges, including how to grow profitably in the face of a potential market decline and how to cut costs to maintain acceptable financial performance. These organizations are cutting costs to maintain their margins in this declining revenue environment. Successful defense companies have anticipated defense budget cuts, already reducing staff, cutting overhead costs and getting leaner. They’re accelerating process automation instead of hiring more staff, resulting in higher operating earnings per employee.

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Career advice: Keeping your edge as a supply chain professional in the face of change!

Dr. MadhavDurbha

Supply chain professional advancementThere is a standalone vehicle emission check shop that I visit to get my car checked prior to the annual tag renewal. For those who are not familiar with the emission check process, you drive your car into the shop. As you wait in your car, a technician hooks your car up to his computer, measures emissions and prints a certificate. The whole process takes about 5 minutes. Just about 4 or 5 years ago the service had cost $25. The aforementioned shop was one of the very few shops providing the service in the vicinity. However, over the next few years, nearly every auto mechanic shop in the area started offering an emission check service. For them, it was simply a loss leader to get the cars in. Then they took advantage of the opportunity to sell higher margin services they offer. Soon, the prices for the service started dropping. The cost of an emission check went down to $20, then $15, and now stands at $10. It wouldn’t take a genius to figure out where the trend will continue to go!

The moral of the story is simple. When a service gets commoditized, the differentiation disappears, and the price that one is willing to pay drops. It doesn’t have to be a service. It can be a product, or even a professional like you and I. We get commoditized, too! Jack Welch said it – “If the rate of change on the outside exceeds the rate of change on the inside, the end is near”. While he said it in the context of organizations, this could very well be true for individuals, as well.

Let’s talk about the implications of this for supply chain professionals. Supply chain management is quickly evolving to be quite an interdisciplinary field. Just recently, I was talking to a youngster studying industrial engineering with specialization in SCM. The curriculum he is going through is quite well rounded with coursework and internships that included industrial engineering, operations research, big data analytics, systems engineering, and programming. Besides majoring in industrial engineering, he is also getting a minor in computer science.

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Top 5 reasons to attend Kinexions ’17

TeresaChiykowski

“Focus on the journey, not on arriving at a certain destination.”
Chris Hadfield, An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth

Kinexions '17It’s all systems go for Kinexions ’17, which will take place Oct. 9 – 13, 2017, in Florida at the JW Marriott Orlando, Grande Lakes. With a theme of Where are you on your supply chain planning journey?, this year’s Kinexions promises to be bigger and better than ever.

If you don’t know what Kinexions is, let me fill you in.

Kinexions is the premier annual event for our RapidResponse® user community, including our customers and partners. Offering two full days of networking, inspiring keynotes, informative general sessions and a variety of breakouts delivered by customers, product experts and partners, Kinexions ’17 will offer something for everyone – regardless of where they are on their supply chain journey.

Now, for the top 5 reasons to attend Kinexions ’17…

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Chasing perfection is killing your supply chain

AlexaCheater

Forecast accuracyThere’s no such thing as 100% when it comes to forecast accuracy. Let me say it again. One hundred percent accuracy does not exist. I don’t care how good your demand sensing is or how sure your sales team is of their market projections. It’s just not possible. Anyone who says differently is either selling something, or a deity. So why are you spending so much time trying to make the impossible real?

Time and again I’ve heard how important forecast accuracy is when it comes to improving supply chain operations. It always seems to be a priority no matter where on the maturity scale a company falls. But this practice of chasing perfection is killing your supply chain. Not slowly, over time, but rapidly, like a tsunami sweeping your profits out to sea as that one giant wave recedes. Because that’s all it takes to destroy you. One catastrophic unexpected event.

Why forecast accuracy fails

It could be a natural disaster, a drastic shift in the political landscape or even the collapse of your only tier one supplier. The unknown is your biggest supply chain weakness, and the one you’ll never see coming, no matter how great you are at forecasting. Pretending otherwise, that forecast accuracy can save you when the unexpected strikes, is foolhardy at best, a death sentence at worst.

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