Miscellanea

Supply Chain Software Christmas Story T’was the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a… well, that’s not quite correct.

There was some stirring in the Clause house as Santa slowly shifted positions in his easy chair, looking out the window into the howling snow storm outside. The weather forecast said the storm would be blowing over soon and, and truth be told, it wasn’t that bad of a snowstorm. Certainly not like the famous storm eleven years ago.

But the weather had been poor the past month, and certainly not conducive for the last minute production crunch leading up to Christmas. Mentally preparing himself for the insanity the next 24 hours would bring, Santa mulled over the past year.

He should have been notified about production delays by now, but strangely, nothing had crossed his plate. Not even the unsavory incident he had overheard about in early November, when an elf drank a little too much eggnog and broke machinery, leading to a production delay. Even in the best years there are delays and problems. Right?

“Honey,” Santa Clause said softly, getting Mrs. Clause’s attention from the book she was reading. He noticed that it wasn’t her usual novel type book, but rather looked more like a technical manual. Without his glasses on, Santa didn’t try to strain his eyes to make out the title; he’d ask her later about it.

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supply chain planning crystal ball Twenty-five years ago, I bought my first personal computer. One of the first applications I installed was a cookbook — the killer home PC application of the time. The second application was Quicken to manage my finances. Funds were tight then and I really needed to keep tabs on my spending.

Every transaction was meticulously entered, every statement validated against my records. Then I discovered the calendar function. With the calendar, I was able to schedule my known income (paycheck) and my known expenses (car loan, mortgage, utilities, taxes, groceries, etc.) and Quicken would project my bank balance into the future.

For me, this was game changing!

When making discretionary purchases, I could look at my projection to make sure that if I made that purchase, I would have enough money in the bank, not only now, but at the end of the month when my mortgage and car loan came out. It was my crystal ball, and I regularly asked it questions like:

What if I buy that awesome new 27″ Sony Trinitron television this week, could I still make my mortgage payment? What if I save my money this month? Or don’t go out for supper on the weekend? Then could I buy it?

Today’s supply chain professionals need a crystal ball, too. The only difference is that the decisions are much more complex and far reaching than balancing my finances.

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