SupplyChainBrainMore from SupplyChainBrainAll TechnologyS&OP: An Enabler of Supply Chain ManagementAnalyst Insight: Supply chain management ... the words are a freely exchanged contemporary coin of the realm. Yet reality has fallen short of promise because of anachronistic functional silos, presided over by vice presidents who fiercely defend their worn-out turf with an endless stream of misguided initiatives. Sales and operations planning (S&OP) was designed to bash these barriers, but it, too, has fallen short because of overmatched implementation technology. Fortunately, there is a readily available solution. – Jeff Karrenbauer, president & co-founder, INSIGHT Inc.March 10, 2015All TechnologyWhy Your S&OP Strategy Is Still Lagging in 2015Analyst Insight: Although sales and operations planning has been a formalized practice since the 1980s, companies still struggle to effectively implement S&OP as both sales and operations become more fragmented. Based on the successes of multiple multibillion-dollar organizations, Blue Hill provides the following recommendations for companies still finding it difficult to effectively start an S&OP program. – Hyoun Park, Chief Research Officer at Blue Hill ResearchMarch 10, 2015All Technology3 Keys to Starting or Improving Your S&OP InitiativeAnalyst Insight: Sales and operations planning is almost sacred to those who have it, but still fuzzy to those who don't. Those who do, cannot imagine running their business without it, while those who don’t, are still debating the merits and are not clear about the value. Whether you have it and are looking for tips to improve, or are seriously considering but yet unsure, read on. - Bryan Ball, Vice President and Group Director, Supply Chain and Operations Practices, Aberdeen GroupMarch 10, 2015All LogisticsTop Retail Megatrends Require an Omnichannel Supply ChainAnalyst Insight: The retail industry is undergoing massive transformations as a result of three megatrends: technology, globalization and supply chain. New technologies have changed the definition of the word "shopping." Globalization has resulted in products designed for international consumption and manufactured in the country with lowest total delivered cost. Supply chain's role is to support the desires of global customers with an efficient flow of goods, information and cash. The omnichannel supply chain is critical to these transformations, and it should evolve through a Strategy-Structure-Implementation process. – Jim Tompkins, CEO, Tompkins InternationalMarch 9, 2015All TechnologyHype Peaks for the Internet of Things - But It's Here to StayAnalyst Insight: The Internet of Things is really three interrelated phenomena. As a technology phenomenon and as an application phenomenon, IoT has been steadily evolving for several decades. It is the recent surge of IoT as a marketing phenomenon that is driving all the attention and excitement at this time. That attention thereby drives investments, accelerating the development and adoption of IoT technology and its applications. – Bill McBeath, Chief Research Officer, ChainLink ResearchMarch 9, 2015All TechnologyAre You Ready for Connected Commerce & Omnichannel Distribution?Analyst Insight: The double-digit growth of the ecommerce channel is indisputable; yet, it's still only 6 percent of total U.S. retail spend. Amazon may seem like it's the 600-lb. gorilla, but it may just be Humpty Dumpty sitting on a wall. Omnichannel is certainly getting its share of hype. We believe connected consumer commerce will be a competitive mandate for bricks and mortar retailers. Are you ready for the disruptive changes to the rules of the game? – Rich Sherman, author and founder at Gold & Domas ResearchMarch 9, 2015All LogisticsSupply Chain Is the Critical Link for Omnichannel RetailAnalyst Insight: The retail cut of the 2014 SCM World CSCO Study reaffirms that for most companies omnichannel is a major retail supply chain disruptor and that, for a few, progress has been made. Fulfillment changes have been driven by a desire for greater speed and agility. Battle lines are drawn between online and bricks-and-mortar supply chains. As omnichannel leaders look to move from walk to run, retail’s best weapon is harnessing demand data to make smart trade-offs. – Matt Davis, SVP Research at SCM WorldMarch 6, 2015All LogisticsWhat's Next in Retail? From Early Adoption to Best PracticeAnalyst Insight: The last two years have seen a rush to provide store fulfillment services - similar to the efforts to deploy e-commerce FCs back in 1998-2000. To date, store fulfillment initiatives have largely been tactical, technology-driven initiatives chartered to leverage existing applications-integration in order to support “save the sale" functionality as well as offload growing FC volumes to the retail store. The coming years will experience a "financial-efficiency" driven effort to maximize profit margin and optimize network inventory efficiency under the new age of constrained IT investment. – Kevin Hume, Principal, Tompkins InternationalMarch 6, 2015All LogisticsBuilding an Omnichannel Fulfillment Road MapAnalyst Insight: Omnichannel commerce is the new "normal" for retail. And it's a tall order for most companies to achieve. You'll need an omnichannel road map that incorporates where you've come from and where you need to be based on your customers' expectations and your business strategy. – Joe Dunlap, Senior Director, Supply Chain Strategy, Fortna Inc.March 6, 2015All LogisticsNext-Generation Rail Fleet ManagementAnalyst Insight: The shale gas revolution has fueled a resurgence of domestic manufacturing, driving rail shipments up over 6 percent and a two-year backlog for new cars. Maximizing fleet utilization is now a key management issue for most shippers. While current rail management tools are effective at tracking rail cars, an important gap exists with accurately predicting the usage and location of the cars over the entire planning horizon. – Alfred Sherk, CEO, SherTrack LLCMarch 5, 2015Previous PagePage 476 of 589Next Page
