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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