Businesses Rank Their Top Supply Chain Risks A study of 110 North American companies by Marsh Inc., the world's leading insurance broker and risk advisor, finds that the top two supply chain risk concerns today are pricing risks and supplier disruptions. July 2, 2008 >more  

Supply Cost Reduction and Containment Strategies During a Time of Rising Prices AMR Research recently conducted a study focused on risks within the supply chain with 100 global companies. The top two identified supply chain risks are the volatility of commodity prices and supplier failure. July 2, 2008 >more 

Start with Sourcing Recently the senior vice president of supply chain management and sourcing at a global consumer packaged goods (CPG) company decided to look into procuring more environmentally responsible materials and packaging. June 25, 2008 >more

10 Percent Inflation a Real Possibility Double-digit inflation is coming, unless we bite the bullet and get our supply-demand balance back in order with higher interest rates and a stronger dollar. June 25, 2008 >more


Technology Solution Deployment and Integration Continue to Lead the Way in Improving Performance for the Agile Warehouse Aberdeen published its latest report on the current and future state of warehouse processes and technology entitled "Agile Logistics: Transforming the Distribution Center," highlights the pressures facing warehouse professionals as they seek to support increased sales without increasing staffing or space. June 18, 2008 >more

What Went Wrong Nearly sixty percent of all corporate Six Sigma (6s) initiatives fail to yield the desired results, according to Praveen Gupta, a noted author on the methodology and Master 6s Black Belt who has been involved with 6s since its origin in the 1980s. June 18, 2008 >more

Hidden Costs Can Sabotage Gains of Outsourcing for Manufacturers The search for lower operating costs caused a stampede of companies to rush to outsource manufacturing beginning in the mid-1990s. Those same cost pressures continue to drive the outsourcing trend today among both true believers and those who feel forced to the decision by competitors. June 13, 2008 >more


Team Approach Needed to Counter Growing Risks to Supply Chain A conversation with Beth Enslow, senior vice president of the Supply Chain Risk Management Practice at Marsh, a global leader in risk management and insurance brokerage based in New York.  June 13, 2008 >more 

Best-in-Class Manufacturers Drive Performance Management Analysis of over 200 manufacturers by the Aberdeen Group reveals that Best-in-Class manufacturers realize 24% more On Time Deliveries, have a 30% higher level of OEE and a 29% higher overall yield when compared to Laggard manufacturers. June 11, 2008 >more

Strategic Sourcing in EMEA: Delivering Value in Good Times and Bad The primary challenges faced by procurement and sourcing groups based in the EMEA region-to identify and deliver cost reductions, to improve supplier quality, and to increase enterprise-level visibility into spend, all while mitigating risk and driving innovation-will become increasingly difficult in the second half of 2008 according to a new report published by Aberdeen. June 11, 2008 >more

Procurement--China Sourcing Until recently, procurement was a necessary, but seldom celebrated, component of multinational corporations. But times have changed. July 2, 2008 >more

Questioning Six Sigma Effectiveness, Scale and Alternatives Six Sigma, LEAN and other similar disciplines of analysis and control have been utilized for decades. Ever since former GE CEO Jack Welch sang its praises in his 2001 book, the Six Sigma process in particular has been widely used by companies looking to streamline their operations and capitalize on opportunities. July 2, 2008 >more 

Worldwide Supply Chain Management Software Revenue Grew 18 Percent in 2007 Worldwide supply chain management (SCM) software revenue totaled $6 billion in 2007, a 17.6 percent increase from 2006 revenue of $5.1 billion, according to Gartner, Inc.  June 25, 2008 >more

Different Shades of Green The searing heat of the Arizona desert is not necessarily the first thing that comes to mind when considering green issues, but it once again was the site of AMR Research's Sustainability Peer Forum Spring Executive Summit, which dovetailed our annual Supply Chain Executive Conference in Scottsdale. June 25, 2008 >more
 
Asia-Pacific Logistics Hotspots Map Serving as the global manufacturing base, the Asia-Pacific region is developing rapidly in its manufacturing capabilities, as well as logistics activities. June 18, 2008 >more


Supplier Failure and Rising Commodity Price Risks Keep Executives Awake at Night To analyze the top supply chain risks that enterprises are facing today, AMR Research conducted a survey with 100 global companies. June 18, 2008 >more

Lifting the Burden of Project-Centric Supply Chains As the construction industry and other project-centric businesses increasingly adopt state-of-the-art enterprise applications, they are transforming their supply chains to provide more visibility, less risk, lower total cost and stronger supplier relationships.  June 13, 2008 >more

Marsh: Most Companies Unprepared for Rising Level of Risk in Their Supply Chains And it isn’t just about fraud. Says Marsh Inc.: “Most businesses are ill-prepared to handle the rising risk levels, caused by more global and complex supply chains that are increasing supplier disruptions, logistics delays, and product recalls and safety issues.” A recent Marsh study of 110 North American risk managers found that none considered their companies to be “highly effective” at supply chain risk management. June 13, 2008 >more

Extreme Freezer Environments Breed Extreme Cash Loss A specialty-foods processor finds that an automated system can mitigate or eliminate some of the challenges of manually operated cold storage warehousing, such as low productivity among personnel, higher rates of damage to equipment and product, and costly energy loss.  June 13, 2008 >more

Good Last-Mile Delivery Favorably Impacts Your Company Performance Several years ago, fulfillment was one of the hottest topics in logistics—and with good reason, because many retailers with new internet sales channels were having a tough time figuring out how to ship small quantities without giving away the store. Today, it’s a different story.  June 13, 2008 >more