Blogs > Think Tank | SupplyChainBrain

Think Tank: Page 253

For the Food Industry, a Shopping List of Critical Issues

Ask any food industry executive to cite his or her greatest concern, and the answer will almost always be the same: product safety. But the list doesn't stop there. Like any other business sector, food manufacturers are grappling with a number of challenges, many of them related to the age of the internet and social media.

Think Tank 38

Food Safety: It's All About the Supply Chain

As tainted-food scandals go, it wasn't so bad. The discovery early this year of unlabeled horse meat in European food products wasn't for the most part a safety issue. It was a violation of cultural norms, to be sure, as well as a truth-in-packaging problem. Most of all, it was a supply-chain failure.

Think Tank 37

How Much Inventory Do You Really Need?

Inventory is evil. Inventory is essential. The two statements aren't necessarily contradictory. Not if companies can figure out a way to determine the absolute minimum amount of stock needed to keep customers happy, while maintaining a tight lid on costs.

Think Tank 36

In Modern Retail Replenishment, Once a Day Isn't Enough

For retailers, the bar just keeps getting raised. Supply-chain excellence used to be about filling orders seasonally. Then weekly. Then daily. Now we hear of merchandise being replenished multiple times a day. Is there no end to the madness?

Think Tank 35

What It Takes to Be a Great Demand Planner

Companies say they are in dire need of competent supply and demand planners, but the requirements of that position today are so varied that you wonder whether a single person exists who can do the job. It calls for strong math and statistical skills, obviously, but a good planner must also be able to communicate well across the multiple "silos" of an organization. The right candidate will have a deep understanding of the requirements of manufacturing, logistics, marketing, sales and finance. Then there's the necessity of reaching outside company walls to suppliers and customers, to ensure that all parties are in agreement about what the demand forecast should be. Who are these freakishly talented individuals? And where can they be found?

Think Tank 34

There Is No Magic Number for Demand Forecasting

Take a close look at any supply chain - even a single entity within it - and you're likely to uncover a hodgepodge of disciplines, each with its own method for forecasting demand, and each convinced of its superiority over everyone else's. So it only makes sense that companies would dream of coming up with a single forecast upon which all departments could agree.

Think Tank 33

Megaship Mania: Who Will Benefit?

It takes the giant Emma Maersk, which carries the equivalent of nearly 15,000 twenty-foot containers (TEUs), about three and a half miles to come to a dead stop. But there's no stopping the Triple-E, Maersk Line's even larger class of containership, from entering the liner trades over the next three years.

Think Tank 31

Economics 101: Did Ocean Carriers Miss the Lecture?

Judging from their actions, ocean carriers would love to toss out those irritating economics textbooks, with their tedious lessons about supply and demand. Too much capacity? No pricing discipline? Sluggish volume growth? Forget about it. Why should any of that prevent them from raising freight rates?

Think Tank 30

Washington's Transportation Policy: Dancing Through the Minefield

One could say that transportation faces multiple hurdles in the coming year, in the guise of new regulations and legislation that promise to have a serious impact on all modes. Me? I prefer to think of it as a minefield.

Think Tank 29

Collaborative Purchasing, Revisited

So collaborative purchasing appears feasible for the restaurant industry. But what about other business sectors? Can different companies - even direct competitors - really band together to get better deals from their suppliers?

Think Tank 28

Are Robots Taking Over the Warehouse?

It seems like a cruel joke. At the same time we hear about the return of manufacturing jobs from Asia to the U.S., we are inundated with stories about the growth of robotics, which threatens to take away those very jobs for good.

Think Tank 27

Mama, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Economists

Is it a waste of time to make economic forecasts? Even the most respected prognosticators are wrong as often as they're right. And the most sweeping changes? Hardly anyone ever sees them coming.

Think Tank 26

Page 253 of 271

Featured Product

Photo: iStock/Anastasiia Yanishevska

How a Leading U.S. Floral Distribution Company Reduced Warehouse Labor Costs by 45% with RFID

Recycled Tagging Fasteners: Small Changes Make a Big Impact

Mobile geolocation service for track delivery, cargo shipment and freight transportation. Logistic Import Export business (Elements of this image furnished by NASA)

Enhancing High-Value Electronics Shipment Security with Tive's Real-Time Tracking

Franchise business e-commerce online e-marketplace or digital marketing branch expansion for growth or use technology to analyze product consumer data website management plan for sale service concept.

Moving Robots Site-to-Site