Pharmaceutical/Biotech

Using Software as a Service to Reduce Expenses

February 24, 2009

Mickey North Rizza, research director, AMR Research

AMR Research expects shared services organizations and outsourcing delivery models to be a crucial vehicle for reducing sourcing and procurement overhead expenses. This will be enabled by a labor arbitrage, centralization of resources, tighter efficiencies in managed spend, improved process acumen and access to new technologies. These technologies, however, will see a shift from traditional license approaches to a more economical, integrated SaaS approach.

Resiliency in Supply Chain Is Key to Long-Term Business Continuity

February 24, 2009

Viktoriya Sadlovska, research analyst, Aberdeen Group

To improve supply chain resiliency, companies need to include risk considerations in their supply chain network design efforts, sales and operations planning, and inventory planning; on the execution side, they need to improve logistics and transportation management, secure alternative supply chain partners, and ensure proactive alerting process and response management for disruptions.

Protecting Your Supply Chain Against Financial Vulnerability

February 20, 2009

Beth Enslow, senior vice president, supply chain risk management, Marsh Inc.

The global credit crunch is jeopardizing the financial health of our supply chains. In 2009, companies should reassess suppliers' financial stability and implement processes to spot operational red flags that are early warning signals of financial stress.

Supply Chain Experts View of ERP vs Best-of-Breed

February 20, 2009

John Hill, TranSystems, Dan Gilmore, Supply Chain Digest, Ken Mullin, EnVista

A Real World Look at Recall Technology in Action

February 20, 2009

RedPrairie

How Much Control Does Pharma Have Over Its Changing Supply Chain?

February 19, 2009

Beth Enslow, senior vice president, supply chain risk management, Marsh Inc.

Because of margin and market growth pressures, life sciences supply chains are more dynamic than ever before. In 2009, best practice companies will continue to put in place data analysis processes and "human knowledge" collection procedures to spot red flags and safety risks in their end-to-end supply chains.

Aligning Your Enterprise's Practices With Today's Cash Reality

February 19, 2009

Beth Enslow, senior vice president, supply chain risk management, Marsh Inc.

Using a global inventory approach to "fire your inventory" may be much less disruptive than other cost-savings options your company may be considering.

Inventory Optimization Is Just One Tool Among Many in Complex Supply Chains

February 19, 2009

Noha Tohamy, vice president of research at AMR Research

To make multi-echelon inventory optimization more impactful, it must take a more holistic approach that accounts for the implications of inventory decisions on total supply chain costs, for organizational realities and weaknesses in supporting functional areas.

Rebalance Supply & Demand to Prepare for Recovery

February 19, 2009

Simon Ellis, practice director, Manufacturing Insights, an IDC company

2009 is certainly shaping up to be a difficult year for manufacturers. Tight credit markets, poor consumer confidence and retail sales, along with low manufacturing activity, suggests that overall supply chain investment activity will be reduced and cost-savings activities will be prioritized.

Responsive Trade Promotion Management: Creating a Single Version of the Truth

February 18, 2009

Nari Viswanathan, vice president and principal analyst, Aberdeen Group

Aberdeen's research shows point-of-sale transaction data from retail locations is still a hurdle for 66 percent of manufacturers. The low levels of transaction data sharing cause increased complexities in tracking promotion effectiveness at the store or field level.

Pharmaceutical/Biotech

The latest supply-chain news, analysis, trends and tools for executives in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. Learn how pharmaceutical and biotech companies and their suppliers around the world are managing the flow of products across all channels of the enterprise. Experts sound off on forecasting and demand planning, supply-chain visibility, logistics outsourcing, inventory optimization, transportation management, warehouse management, supply-chain security, corporate social responsibility and more.