Posts categorized as 'Miscellanea'

On eating pie, and other reasons why Pi Day is good for supply chain 

DanielleMcNeil Taylor

Happy Pi Day! On eating pie, and other reasons why Pi Day is good for supply chain What a great day. You have to love a special day where eating all the pie you want is acceptable, the math jokes are endless, and there are always some clever shirts, memes and memory contests to keep you entertained for weeks.

Not only that, as I see the tweet count climb on Twitter, it is clear that Pi Day isn’t just for mathematicians, engineers and scientists anymore. It has expanded to the masses and can serve as a fun way to get people talking and engaging in STEM conversations.

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AI and humans: Planning supply chains together

TeresaChiykowski

On-Demand Webinar: AI and humans: Planning supply chains togetherArtificial intelligence (AI) isn’t just reserved for sci-fi movies anymore – supercomputers going rogue on humans and launching them into deep outer space. AI is creeping into our everyday lives – at work, home and play. Enterprises who are able to harness AI’s full potential will likely thrive into the future while those that don’t will be left behind.

What will the rise of AI mean for the supply chain? Will AI assume full control while the human element is shown the exit? Quite the opposite. AI will play an important role in the planning process, but so will humans.

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Gamification ideas in business: Your way to a more efficient supply chain

EmilyHunt

Gamification ideas in business: Your way to a more efficient supply chainSimply put, gamification involves the application of game design elements in a business setting. Gamification uses both intrinsic and extrinsic motivators to encourage users to perform at their best, fostering engagement through tactics ranging from simple – such as a progress bar, to those that are more complex – such as loyalty programs and immersive storytelling.

When gamification in business is deployed to the right audience and provides the right motivation, significant engagement follows. Take for example Volkswagen’s 2011 “People’s Car Project” in China for which the aim was to inspire the imagination of its followers by allowing them to design their own cars. Because of this project, vw.com gained 33 million hits and generated 119,000 ideas.

Which is great. But how could gamification be applied to a supply chain?

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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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Top 10 signs you’ve been working in supply chain too long

BillDuBois

Top 10 signs you’ve been working in supply chain too long

Boomers, millennial leadership and supply chain management jokes. Is it time for the older generation to move on?

It’s no secret supply chain talent has been top of mind for many executives for some time. Research firm Gartner even has it listed as a hot topic for its Supply Chain Executive Conference in Phoenix, May 14–17.

There are a couple of reasons for this. The first is the aging population. A number of reports from the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) and Pew Research Center state 10,000 baby boomers are retiring every day. It’s easy to speculate there would be some supply chain talent retiring. The question is: How do you replace the knowledge gap created by those retirements?

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A brilliant mind: 5 Stephen Hawking quotes

BillDuBois

A brilliant mind: 5 Stephen Hawking quotesOn March 14, 2018, the world lost an unbelievable talent in Stephen Hawking. Tributes continue to pour in around the globe for a man who gave so much to science, all while fighting motor neuron disease since the age of 21. As astronaut Chris Hadfield commented on Twitter, “Genius is so fine and rare.”

Fortunately, for us, Hawking’s genius will live forever as his words continue to inspire generations. He had many great quotes that motivate anyone regardless of profession. Like many others, I try my best to apply Hawking’s wisdom to my work. If you’re reading this, that work is likely improving supply chain planning and our lives in general. The two often intertwine, which makes the wisdom even more valuable.

With that in mind, I thought I’d pass along some of my favorite Stephen Hawking quotes and tie them to supply chain planning.

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The ultimate Kinaxis credential

JoeCannata

Kinaxis CertificationIt all started a little more than two years ago with two supply chain management certification exams — Kinaxis® Certified RapidResponse® Author Level 1 and Kinaxis Certified RapidResponse Administrator Level 1.

Since then, we’ve grown our supply chain management exam portfolio to provide exams for contributors, authors and administrators, while also adding integration- and application-focused exams.

We’ve also added three new credential levels to help partners and employees qualify for integration and solution consultant roles, which go beyond formal written exams to include training in soft skills and practical field experience.

Combined, these exams and achievements create a firm foundation upon which to build toward our ultimate, top-level credential, the Kinaxis Certified RapidResponse Master.

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2018: The Winter Olympics, a royal wedding, space exploration and, of course, big supply chain planning events

TeresaChiykowski

2018 eventsAs we bid farewell to 2017 and usher in a new year, what can we expect to see in 2018?

As per usual, folks will flock to the gym in record numbers to burn off those extra holiday pounds and then, all too soon, workouts will become a distant memory (These are “January people” according to an article in the Huffington Post).  I know this to be fact because I am a January people.

This year will also see athletes from around the globe gather in Pyeongchang, South Korea to go for gold at the 2018 Winter Olympics. “Royals” fans will be glued to their TVs and personal devices to watch Prince Harry wed actress Meghan Markle at St. George’s Chapel in England. In November, space travel enthusiasts will follow the launch of NASA’s InSight as it embarks on a journey to the “Red Planet” – Mars.

But wait, there’s more.

When it comes to big events in 2018, let’s not forget about the world of supply chain planning. There are some cool events in 2018 you might want to check out. Here are just a few at a glance.

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