“It will never happen to my supply chain,” said the first planner.
“We’ll sort it out when the time comes,” said the second planner.
Perhaps these fictional quotes resonate a familiar refrain. After all, on the list of things to do when managing your supply chain on a daily basis, ‘prepare for natural disaster’ likely sits far down the list, somewhere between ‘submit expenses’ and ‘organize file folders.’ I totally get it.
Kinaxis is proud to announce Unilever has initiated a pilot engagement with RapidResponse.
Unilever is one of the largest consumer packaged goods companies in the world. Unilever is an Anglo-Dutch global consumer goods company which produces some of the world’s best known brands to all corners of the world.
One of the most exciting consumer products companies in the world, Dyson Inc., has selected Kinaxis to enhance its supply chain agility to achieve a greater competitive advantage.
A unique global technology company with a passion for innovation, Dyson will deploy Kinaxis to accelerate planning alignment across its supply chain operations to unlock the rapidly growing demand for its products.
“Using Kinaxis to underpin our Supply Chain Operations will help Dyson continue to grow as the pace of demand for our technology accelerates globally,” said Scott Maguire, Vice President of Global Engineering & Operations, Dyson.
Aldous 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.
Nucleus Research just released its Control Tower Technology Value Matrix for 2018, assessing the state of the control tower market and provides an overview of 13 vendors based on a combination of functionality and usability.
Nucleus Research recognizes that real-time visibility remains the ultimate goal for the majority of companies and notes that the ability to connect planning with execution is one of the key drivers to success. The report also references how vendors are delivering tools that help organizations automate the more laborious tasks, allowing more time strategic decision making.
The biggest toy sellers (Target, Walmart, JCPenney and Amazon) have announced their picks for the hottest toys of the year. Coming in at number 1 are Pomsies – animatronic, interactive pets that kids can take anywhere. Let’s hope supply chains are doing their thing by producing enough of these cuddly critters to meet demand so the world doesn’t have to deal with another Cabbage Patch Kid-like debacle.
So now that the kids are taken care of, what’s on your wish list? If you’re looking for that something special, why not consider the ultimate S&OP toolkit?
![[On-demand webinar] Digital transformation for the automotive supply chain](https://blog.kinaxis.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/email-digital-transformation-automotive-webinar-kinaxis-1024x473.jpg)
Contrary 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.
From the incredible pace of turnover in style trends to the excess waste it produces, today’s fast fashion phenomenon is a controversial topic on many fronts. However, when it comes to the efficiency of today’s retail supply chain management techniques, controversy is replaced by admiration as international clothiers boast operations efficient enough to accurately anticipate demand in one of the world’s most rapidly changing industries.
While it’s too early to deem the business model for traditional fashion retailers obsolete, “on-demand” fashion has forged ahead by sourcing goods that are cheaper and faster to gather and have been quicker to leverage technology into their shopping experience, helping consumers find the best deals through online stores.
