Analyst Insight: The term supply-chain visibility means different things to different folks. Interestingly, it's something that everyone knows they need more of, but very few organizations have a handle on. This will change rapidly between now and 2020. Supply-chain visibility is having an increasing impact on customer relationships and buying decisions. - Bryan Nella, senior director of corporate communications, GT Nexus
Global communications service provider Sigfox has released a tool for tracking the locations of goods at a low cost, that serves as an alternative to radio frequency identification or GPS.
Analyst Insight: Procurement departments have spent the last 20 years perfecting procurement by automating procurement systems and standardizing highly competitive Request for Proposal processes. This works well when buying commodities and transactions, but falls short for organizations looking for collaborative supplier relationships where flexibility and innovation are essential. Today's progressive procurement organizations are re-evaluating their approaches and are making a conscious shift along the sourcing continuum. - Kate Vitasek, faculty member, University of Tennessee's Haslam College of Business Administration
Analyst Insight: Full supply-chain visibility has been a top three goal of supply-chain managers for more than a decade. The ability to see your inventory, customers' orders, and financial transactions, as they move through every node in the supply chain is paramount. This enables opportunities to optimize inventory position, route shipments more efficiently, truly collaborate - not just cooperate - and communicate with customers to provide world-class service. - David Meyers, principal, Tompkins International
Adidas set a target last week for sales in North America to rise by almost half by 2020, predicting strong demand will continue for fashion sneakers after its retro Superstar was the top selling shoe in the U.S. market in 2016.
Analyst Insight: Supply-chain executives are under tremendous pressure to continually re-optimize their supply chains. While supply-chain economics must dictate where manufacturing and distribution assets should reside, tax changes and opportunities need to be looked at in parallel with the supply-chain economics to sustain the planned benefits. Looking forward to 2020 and beyond, we believe companies should pay particular attention to four trends that will accelerate the need for a tax-efficient supply chain. - Michael DuVall, principal, Bradley Slattery, principal and Jared Lapin, director, PwC
Since September 2016, Ukrainian retail hypermarket Auchan has been piloting Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacon technology at its Kiev [Kyiv] store to better interact with customers based on their location within the store.
Analyst Insight: Successful supplier payment term extensions only happen when procurement receives the right training and ongoing support. Before companies implement an extension with suppliers, they must first understand the traits (and barriers) to success. Procurement should be viewed as a strategic lever to improving working capital and given a seat at the table during the selection and implementation process. This will pave the path to a successful supply-chain finance program and optimized cash flow. - Tom Roberts, senior vice president of global marketing, PrimeRevenue
Thanks to the farm-to-table movement and the work of a generation of chefs, cooks, farmers and other producers, we've opened the window to the source of much of our food. We often know the farm where the turnips and lettuces on our plate come from, the fields where the cows or sheep grazed, even the names of the chickens that laid our eggs. But this kind of traceability has been very slow to come to the seafood industry, which is notorious for being secretive and often fraudulent. A small group of fishermen and chefs has been working to fix this through their Dock to Dish program, adopting the methods and principles of the land movement and CSAs, or Community Supported Agriculture, to bring that kind of transparency to the sea.