In our attempts to anticipate future changes in demand, we often depend on forecasts. Unfortunately, however, they are rarely reliable in practice – with all the implications that brings. The ‘good news’ is that we are selling ourselves short, partly because we actually seem to be better off without a forecast in many cases, and also because –...
The bullwhip effect is not only one of the best-known supply chain phenomena, but also one of the most damaging. By increasing the upstream variation and uncertainty, it pushes chain partners ever-deeper into the so-called planning mismatch, resulting in unreliability, inflexibility and inefficiency. The long-held belief has been that...
Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), advanced analytics, machine learning and blockchain are often mentioned as the leading trends driving competitive advantage for supply chains. These trends and developments will change the way we do our business and also how we will design our supply chains of the future. Question is, do...
Sometimes you learn about new ideas that are so logical that you think by yourself: why did I not come up with this myself? Recently I heard about a new app that enables you to pay for your visit to an amusement park, based on the time spent in the park. So as a visitor you no longer pay a fixed fee – which in the past forced you to spend the...
Breaking the service paradox Going on a family holiday entails a whole host of decisions. Some are made early on in the process, such as the period of time, destination and means of transport, and others much later, such as when and where to stop to eat, to refuel and to go to the toilet. There is a clear reason why you make the latter decision...
According to Gartner, the adoption of supply chain software continues to accelerate. That has confirmed my gut feeling and spurred me to put some thoughts on paper. There is indeed a lot happening in the world of S&OP/IBP software; functionalities are rapidly improving and companies are afraid of getting left behind. So you decide you need to...
Many organizations have a basic S&OP process in place and now want to take the next step to integrated business planning (IBP) in order to maximize the benefits of the process. Supply Chain Media and Involvation have developed this roadmap showing typical obstacles on the path to IBP and how to overcome them. Download the Roadmap to Integrated...
Technology advances; Moore’s law It is amazing how fast things are developing and how quickly the number of options is expanding; Apple’s Siri, Google’s Assistant, Amazon’s Alexa, Alibaba’s Genie, etc. Who would have believed 10 years ago that a computer could talk to you and that your smartphone would order your groceries or your Latte...
On 4 June 2018, a diverse group of supply chain professionals gathered at the Shell Pernis refinery in the Netherlands for an inspiration session called ‘Grip on projects’. Although the participants came from a wide variety of companies, including machine builders, maintenance companies and grid operators, it quickly became clear that they all...
Every day, we work with our customers to optimize their supply chains, whether as part of consultancy projects in which we explore better approaches to processes, systems and organizations, or by providing training to increase our customers’ knowledge of supply chain management so that they can continue to make lasting improvements themselves.