Data Management (Big Data/IoT/Blockchain)

Three Reasons Demand Planning Has Finally Come of Age

November 29, 2017

There’s nothing new about the idea of demand planning. Phoenician wine traders, 2,000 years ago, were savvy about staying ahead of fluctuations in demand via a network of merchant informants, and planned supply accordingly. The advent of vastly expanded computer data-processing power, along with the connectivity of the web, has been offering for 20 years or more the attractive proposition of using technology to track and predict demand for goods more accurately.

Test Drive IBM's Watson in Factory Simulation

November 22, 2017

Industryweek

The singularly defining moment in Artificial Intelligence (AI) — even bigger than when IBM's Deep Blue beat chess master Garry Kasparov — happened back in in 2011 when the unbeatable Jeopardy! Champion Ken Jennings was finally taken down by IBM's new supercomputer, Watson.

A Guide to Building Environmentally Sustainable Procurement Capabilities

November 22, 2017

Mélani Flores

The term "sustainable development" was coined in Our Common Future, released in 1987 by the Brundtland Commission, a UN-backed organization created to unite countries in the pursuit of sustainable development. As defined by the Commission, there are three main pillars of sustainable development: economic growth, environmental protection and social equality.

A Look at Supply Chains of the Future

November 21, 2017

SupplyChainBrain

Conversations with supply-chain executives about the innovative technologies that are already shaping the way that product is moved to market.

Lean Management, Deep Data Mining Are Essential for Manufacturing's Future, Researchers Say

November 14, 2017

Industryweek

A lean management structure and forward-looking corporate culture is essential in building a smart manufacturing industry, according to experts at Dassault Systèmes' Manufacturing in the Age of Experience conference - where the move to smart manufacturing was a central theme.

All Data That Move Across Wi-Fi Networks Could Be Susceptible to Hacking, Research Says

November 9, 2017

Los Angeles Times

Home and corporate Wi-Fi networks - and all the data, photos and messages transmitted across them - could be vulnerable to hackers, according to a computer security researcher in Belgium.

Opinion: How Container Shipping Could Reinvent Itself for the Digital Age

November 2, 2017

Steve Saxon and Matt Stone, McKinsey & Company

In 1967, the British Transport Docks Board (BTDB) commissioned McKinsey to assess a recent development from America: container boxes. The first ships built expressly for this new way of shipping goods had recently been launched, and a few U.S. lines carried them on their regular service. Our report advised the BTDB to rethink everything in light of this new disruption.

How to Digitalize Your Supply Chain in Five Steps

October 27, 2017

Industryweek

As the leadership team at a consumer products company debated its digital strategy, two opposing views emerged. To stay competitive, some argued, the company needed to invest several hundred million dollars to automate its existing network of large regional plants.

Smart Cooler Helps Companies Sell More

October 25, 2017

RFID Journal

A new platform service called diili is giving a voice to commercial refrigerators via a solution based on the Internet of Things (IoT) concept. According to the creator, Embraco, the platform is designed to boost sales of food and beverage brands that use its handsets.

The Beauty of the Complex Supply Chain

October 24, 2017

Rahquel Purcell, SVP, Supply Chain, Americas, L'Oréal

Data Management (Big Data/IoT/Blockchain)

The latest news, analysis, trends and solutions for big data, blockchain and the internet of things (IoT) and their impact on supply chain management. Big data describes the large volume of data that inundates a business on a day-to-day basis and can be analyzed for strategic business insights. IoT is the means that collects and sends data from a range of “things” — anything from watches to fridges to cars — that are connected to the internet with sensors or computer chips. Learn how companies around the world are using big data, blockchain and IoT for supply chain optimization and competitive advantage.