More organizations are investing in business-to-business electronic integration (B2Bi) to cut costs and increase business flow efficiency, according to a survey of more than 200 organizations by the University of Tennessee's Global Supply Chain Institute and integration provider DiCentral.
An annual study of consumer attitudes toward online retailing technology zeroes in on the growing acceptance of delivery drones, mobile payments and virtual reality.
As much as IoT is the buzzword of consumer electronics, it will quickly become a critical part of the electronics supply chain as companies use sensors to maximize efficiency of various business tasks and integrate that information into a strategic advantage.
Businesses that struggle to establish solid lines of communication for collaboration will also most likely struggle when implementing business process management software.
For years, companies have used digital supply chain technologies to improve service levels and reduce costs. But the inability to connect disparate systems, provide end-to-end visibility into the supply chain, and crunch massive amounts of data, among other issues, has prevented many companies from achieving the full potential of their supply chains. Now, thanks to the wide availability and adoption of much more powerful digital technologies, including advanced analytics and cloud-based solutions, companies are generating dramatically better returns on their investments.
The product return process has long been neglected at companies, written off as a necessary expense that adds no value. The returns function and any process related to it is often given the bare minimum of time and consideration. Typically, once an item is returned, it's thrown into the back of a warehouse and forgotten about while a new product was shipped to the customer.
A new survey of IT and security professionals reveals that 72 percent of organizations have experienced five or more network security incidents in the past 12 months.
Analyst Insight: Organizations say that supply chain visibility is an issue but are not connecting the dots to address these concerns. While they acknowledge that they need to spend more on technology to facilitate this they are still confused on how to create a holistic supply chain visibility strategy to orchestrate multiple systems, harmonize integrations and streamline operations. - Dylan Persaud, Managing Director, Eval-Source
After years of historically low interest rates, the Federal Reserve has started to execute on its strategy to raise rates. As a result, procurement teams will need to scrub their policies and plans to find interest rate sensitivities in a way they haven't in almost a decade.
Big Data has led to a discussion of predictive analytics in supply chain management. I'm not sure we have a good understanding in the field of how predictive analytics differs from forecasting.
