A handshake, a phone call, a fax, or an email. Put the results of these communications into a spreadsheet, and the ship sails. While this paradigm of supply chain management was long the standard model, disruption, the new challenges of…
It’s no surprise to those in supply chain management that supply chain issues are just part of the job. What’s extraordinary in these turbulent times, though, are the number of disruptions and their depth. Add to that the inability to…
To say that 2020 brought record global supply chain challenges would be a gross understatement. With COVID-19, trade wars, weather events, port congestion, and other significant upheavals, many companies saw more disruption in a year than they had seen in…
Demand planning KPIs are a lot like the information shown on your car’s dashboard or your GPS. Speed, miles per hour over the speed limit, range to empty, average miles per gallon, and more are often displayed to help you…
Both demand and supply planning and materials requirement planning (MRP) have been around for a long time. It’s hard to imagine a modern manufacturing company without either one. With a robust MRP system, manufacturers can better control inventory, plan production…
The implications of reshoring and supply chain planning have been high on many people’s lists for a while. So, when the container ship Ever Given became stuck in the Suez Canal in March of 2021, it was more than just…
In recent years, if global supply chains had been hit by only a single large disruption, it is doubtful supply chain professionals would have taken the time to reevaluate operational models. But with a string of disruptions, including trade wars,…
By utilizing supply chain software, companies can impact their value streams to unlock greater value from bottom to top. Value streams are the actions undertaken within a manufacturing or service company that drives customers to realize the worth of the…
No matter the size of the company, decisions made by managers, leaders, and other key decision-makers define the success of any enterprise. And few areas are as important as decisions made concerning a company’s supply chain. Yet the numbers indicate…
Executive Summary: Manufacturers utilizing MRP to plan material requirements should ensure data integrity and accuracy including forecasting data, lead times, and inventory. They should also choose software that aligns with their needs, comprehend how it treats blanket orders and safety…