In most companies, supply chain finance is seen as a narrow and limited tool rather than a strategic enabler of success. As a result, a lot of unrealized value is left on the table. Whether you are in finance, supply chain, or procurement, supply chain finance has the potential to help you provide more strategic value.
Apple sold 150 million iPhones last year, each carrying dozens of parts made by other companies. That's why Apple is a perennial kingmaker among component manufacturers: Each time the company releases a model, some suppliers end up winners and others losers.
NASA on Tuesday awarded a pair of much-anticipated contracts, worth up to $6.8bn combined, to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station to Boeing and SpaceX in a deal that would allow the U.S. to launch astronauts into space from U.S. soil for the first time in years.
A 2010 University of Florida study found humans began wearing clothing 170,000 years ago. Someone made those clothes from something, and that was the start of raw materials management. One could liberally argue early cave paintings of fur-bearing animals were the first inventory monitoring systems. RMM has come a long way, but we can do better.
Boeing will build the biggest version of its 787 Dreamliner family exclusively in South Carolina at a nonunion plant it built five years ago. It's part of an effort to lower labor costs, but the company said organized labor had nothing to do with its decision.
BMW has confirmed the much anticipated news that it plans to invest approximately $1bn in a full production plant in the Mexican state of San Luis Potosí.
Product lifecycle management (PLM) is a key lever of profitable growth for organizations that introduce highly engineered, function-rich products. Such products, exemplified by the iPhone, are characterized by complex design engineering and extended supply chains.
Consider supply chain management a large puzzle comprised of many pieces. One major piece that many organizations find essential to form a complete picture is strategic sourcing, which involves the ongoing evaluation of purchasing activities and a commitment to look at all qualified solutions for both direct spend (costs associated with raw materials and parts for goods) and indirect spend (costs necessary for supporting production).