Robert J. Bowman, SupplyChainBrainMore from Robert J. Bowman, SupplyChainBrainAll TechnologyIn Modern Retail Replenishment, Once a Day Isn't EnoughFor 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?April 15, 2013All LogisticsBrown-Forman Embraces Visibility to Cope With Rapid GrowthThe giant producer of alcoholic beverages lacked visibility of its prepaid ocean shipments and carrier performance levels. It sought a single platform for managing the flow of goods from the factory all the way to destination.April 11, 2013Reverse LogisticsWhat It Takes to Be a Great Demand PlannerCompanies 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?April 8, 2013Reverse LogisticsThere Is No Magic Number for Demand ForecastingTake 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.April 1, 2013All LogisticsMegaship 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.March 25, 2013All LogisticsEconomics 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?March 18, 2013All LogisticsWashington's Transportation Policy: Dancing Through the MinefieldOne 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.March 11, 2013All TechnologyCollaborative Purchasing, RevisitedSo 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?March 4, 2013Logistics OutsourcingAre 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.February 25, 2013All LogisticsMama, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be EconomistsIs 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.February 19, 2013Previous PagePage 219 of 265Next Page
