Topics & Trends for B2B / Supply-Chain Executives

Think Twice Before Outsourcing Your B2B Integration

If you’re thinking about outsourcing B2B integration and other technology functions, you might want to think again: A survey by sourcing consultancy Aslbridge revealed a growing level of dissatisfaction with IT outsourcing contracts.

The survey, which queried senior IT leaders in the UK, Switzerland, Holland and the Nordics, revealed 76 percent of IT leaders are considering renegotiating or re-tendering two or more of their outsource contracts.

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The Three Building Blocks of Supply Chain Optimization

Whether you’re in the executive suite or managing operations, there’s a lot of buzz these days about analytics: Advanced analytics, real-time analytics, Big Data analytics.

It can all sound complex and overwhelming. But really, when it comes down to it, analytics comes down to data: Collecting it, analyzing it and using it to make decisions.

When you strip away all the hype, there are basically three types of analytics:

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Reader’s Respond: Mobile Tech Top Trend Impacting B2B Relationships

Mobile technology is the trend most impacting B2B relationships, according to the results of April’s B2B.com poll.

Thirty-six percent of respondents ranked mobile as a having an impact above social technologies, cloud and Big Data — all of which are hot technology trends in the wider enterprise IT space.

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5 Reasons to complement B2B Infrastructure with Managed File Transfer (MFT)

B2B Gateways provide crucial business-to-business integration by enabling electronic data exchange of documents between two companies. They support a variety of protocols such as FTP, AS2 etc. and document standards like EDI and XML. B2B Gateways have become de-facto standard for B2B Integration and every mid to large size organization owns at least one.

Managed File Transfer (MFT) products on the other hand provide a similar functionality but are geared towards file exchanges and do not provide any document translation. Complementing a B2B Gateway infrastructure with a Managed File Transfer (MFT) infrastructure can provide significant benefits to any organization.

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Are Manufacturers Focusing on the Wrong Actions with Supply Chains?

When it comes to manufacturing supply chains, there seems to be a serious disconnect between their goals and their priorities.

Supply Chain Digest recently looked at the results of IDC Manufacturing Insights, a report based on a survey of 300 supply chain professionals in manufacturing.

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Find Hidden Supply Chain Value with B2B Integration

Retailers who rely on warehouse management systems alone are missing opportunities to dig up savings and cut costs in their supply chains, according to retail distribution consultant Kevin Harris.

In particular, Harris writes in a recent Supply Chain Digest article, retailers need to better capture and leverage the data found in purchase orders and core B2B documents and related data, such as:

• Advanced Ship Notifications (ASNs)
• Purchase orders
• Receiving documents
• Orders, such as flow-through, pick-from-stock and cross-dock
• Vendor non-compliance
• Storage and retrieval activity

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Unintended Customer Orders Influences

Over the labor day weekend I was traveling with my family and we stopped by a fast food restaurant for a quick meal.  Each person in line in front of me placed their order and was given the response, “that item will take five to ten minutes to prepare”.  When I placed my order I was given the same response and immediately changed my order.

While waiting for my order, I asked the four people who ordered before me what they initially ordered.  Amazingly enough, it was the exact same item that I ordered.  When I received my order I asked the Manager why the original item took so long to prepare.  The response: “No one orders that item so we don’t stock it and only prepare it on an order by order basis.”

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Follow Up: CEP & Big Data Usage Example

In a blog entry on 12/26, I stated I would present a use case for the combination of CEP & Big Data.  Happily, the state of Massachusetts has provided an outstanding opportunity.

On the 1st of January, 2013, retail stores will no longer be required to display tagged pricing.  Consumers will be able to utilize scanners to read a bar code to determine the price of that item.

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Are You Still Killing Trees to Do Business?

It’s amazing what technology can do: Share a thought across the globe in seconds, pin-point your location through your cell phone, even operate with a tiny laser incision.

But despite technologies many advances, it’s not always widely embraced. The B2B sector seems particularly slow to change: EDI has been around since the 1970s, and yet, paper and email still play a significant role in the day-to-day operations between businesses.

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Building a Competitive Supply Chain

More companies, particularly in the high-tech sector, now look to the supply chain to achieve a strategic advantage over competitors, according to EBN Editor in Chief Bolaji Ojo.

“Nowadays all segments of the high-tech sector try to fashion supply chain systems with the distinct characteristics needed to win,” he writes. “In recent interviews across the electronics landscape, component suppliers, distributors, OEMs, contract manufacturers, and even independent design firms have confirmed that internal supply chain organizations have been elevated to apex status as the secret sauce for companies like Apple Inc. has become clear.”

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Lean On Me: KPIs that Support Lean Six Sigma Efforts

I just got back from the Logistics and Supply Chain Forum in Miami.  It’s a great event that pairs up companies and vendors that are looking to jointly solve supply chain and logistics problems.  While I’m hesitant to use the term “speed dating”, the format allows attendees to have 1:1 conversations with over 25 supply chain practitioners in two days.  And there’s a lot we can learn from each other.

I had the opportunity to meet with the Vice President of Sourcing & Supply for Sealy Corporation.  As the world’s largest maker of bedding products, chances are you spend 1/3 of your life on one of their beds (although I can’t remember when I actually got 8 hours of sleep in one night…)

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Enterprise Architecture, Not Just For Techies

The supply chain management function of a company has long been classified as the tail of the dog that gets whipped back and forth at the whims of other departments and has to constantly change key operating processes based on the needs of the customer, operations, finance, and the limit of IT applications to support the process.  Has the time finally come when Management can create a resolution objective for a business issue, have a business process exactly tailored to meet that need and then have the information technology supporting the process enable rather than restrict the process?

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