When procurement and other supply chain-related business functions work closely together, your company's financial performance can only see improvement. More and more organizations are gaining awareness of this and are focused on closing the divide between procurement...
As a supply chain professional, it's likely that you think of warehouse automation in terms of reduced operating costs, quality and productivity improvements, waste elimination and manpower cuts. However, for the sustainable supply chain, automation can...
Despite reports of a slowdown in the number of companies outsourcing manufacturing to Chinese factories, and the country's economic downturn, China remains a popular location for contract manufacturing. This is evidenced by the decision of at least two Western...
Whether you work for a manufacturer or brand owner with its own logistics operation or you are a manager for a 3PL provider, mechanical handling equipment is probably a critical element in your storage and transportation activities. When buying new...
Sales and operations planning (S&OP) is a simple enough process, yet it's one which many organisations struggle to implement and maintain successfully. To some extent this is perfectly understandable, since a successful S&OP process requires unfettered...
Some of my previous posts on this blog have provided tips for developing an RFP/RFT in order to select a logistics outsourcing partner. In this post, I want to focus a little on the next step: evaluating the logistics outsourcing proposals from your RFP...
How much do you know about CPFR? If you’ve never heard of it, have a quick read through this post and you’ll understand the basics of CPFR in the supply chain profession. CPFR is the acronym for collaborative planning, forecasting and replenishment, a practice...
In an earlier post on this blog, I addressed the question “what is a supply chain?” As the post was intended to provide the answer in a nutshell, I simply explained that the supply chain starts with some raw materials and ends with a finished product in the hands of a...
If your supply chain company is just branching into the business of importing goods, perhaps because of a decision to outsource manufacturing overseas, you might not be used to dealing with a freight forwarder. To help you in selecting a freight forwarder for the...
In many supply chain organisations, the warehouse workhorse, otherwise known as the lift truck, doesn’t receive the maintenance attention that it deserves. While many logistics companies wouldn’t dream of letting goods-vehicle maintenance schedules slip,...