Monthly Archives: August 2012

The (Board) Gamer’s Guide to Supply Management Part V: Small World

I’m tickled technicolor to continue this one-of-a-kind summer series that will help you whether you are just interested in finding out about this new and exciting career opportunity, or ready to take your Supply Management career to the next level. Not only is it more fun than reading the latest study on the daily migration patterns of the three-toed sloth, but when you can grasp a lot of the basic concepts by playing the right mix of strategic (and sometimes tactical) board games with your friends, it’s three blasts and a half!

While we are still putting off the economic games (like Puerto Rico) that we are going to get to at some point, we’re going to make use of the fact that, thanks to unprecedented generosity of Wil Wheaton (@wilw) and Geek & Sundry, we have yet another fantastic TableTop episode where Wil Wheaton introduces us to the mechanics — and fun — of the game. Until we run out, we are going to take advantage of the priceless gifts that Mr. Wheaton has granted us with this spectacular educational series.

As with every other episode in the series, Wil Wheaton gives us a very succinct introduction to Small World in TableTop Episode 1, a classic victory-point game with near endless variations that give it exceptional replay value.


Small World combines the military strategy of risk with the delightful art and fantasy races of cosmic encounter. Whoever has the most points at the end of nine rounds wins the game. We earn points by conquering and ? territories. Empty territories cost two units to conquer. Every item in a territory costs one more unit to conquer. … At the beginning of every game, each player will choose a fantasy race, like Orcs, Elves, or Dwarves. Each race is combined with a unique special power like seafaring, flying, or heroic. These power and race combinations change every game, giving Small World tremendous replay value. No empire lasts forever, so don’t get too attached to your diplomatic skeletons. You will inevitably run out of units to conquer new territories. But don’t worry. When that happens, you simply put your active race into decline and choose a new one from the board and begin conquering all over again. It’s a very small world. And only one person can be the victor atop the bloody stinking heap of his vanquished opponents!

So what does this have to do to supply management? It introduces us to the intricacies of the markets that marketing and management expect us to indirectly support not only with products and services, but with market-entry advice (because, after all, we’re already sourcing from there so advising the organization on how to sell into there shouldn’t be that hard, right?). An alternate introduction to the game could be:

Small World combines the military strategy of risk with the marketing strategies of an MBA program. Whoever has the most money at the end of year wins. We earn money by conquering and maintaining market territories. Empty, blue ocean, territories cost two units to conquer. Every competitor or obstacle in a territory costs one more unit to conquer. At the beginning of every game, each player will choose a primary market strategy, like brute advertising force, niche marketing, or price-undercutting, and combine it with a perceived marketing advantage such as a big war chest, coveted partnership, or new manufacturing process that allows production costs to be drastically slashed. The primary market strategy and perceived marketing advantages change every game, giving Small World tremendous replay value. No market lead lasts forever, so don’t get too attached to your past successes. You will inevitably run out of units to conquer new market territories. But don’t worry. When that happens, you simply put your current market strategy into decline and choose a new one from the board and begin conquering all over again. It’s a very small world. And only one company can be the victor atop the looted corporate carcasses of its vanquished opponents.

And the great thing about Small World is that victory points are measured in victory coins, for which a player gets one victory coin for each region his race tokens occupy. Whereas some games, like 7 Wonders, give you half a dozen ways to score victory points, scoring victory coins in Small World is straight forward. It’s simply a function of how many regions you occupy, and how many extra bonus coins you get as a result of race or special ability. Plus, conquests can be first (it’s a blue ocean market and you are the first entrant, having only to conquer obstacles such as resistance to foreigners or geographic distance to your target market), takeovers (where you use overpowering force to take over a market from another player), or a hail-mary conquest where a player knows he does not have enough resources to take over any more regions with certainty, but chooses to make one last attempt, literally betting everything on luck (that boils down to the roll of a die). Finally, when all is said and done, a player may redeploy his resources among the various markets he controls in an effort to either maintain them in the next round or move into adjacent markets.

The game is brilliant, and should definitely be in your organization’s lunch room. Forget about those boring seminars and brown-bag lunches. If you really want to push your Supply Management brain cells into overdrive, this is the way to do it!


It’s a small world
But it’s the only one we’ve got
Huey Lewis

What the Heck is a Supplier SuperCycle?

A recent post over on Procurement Leaders chronicled the results of July’s Procurement Intentions Index graphs that record changes in CPO strategy intentions over time, based on a survey of their CPO panel. According to the post, their results show the clear intention of CPOs to consolidate their supply chains by reducing the number of suppliers they work with, while, at the same time, spending more time collaborating with those that remain.

Based on these results, the author believes that the supplier collaboration and consolidation results are part of a “super-cycle” and that we will see the Index positions of both of these remain broadly the same for months if not years to come. That is until future CPOs believe they have reached the perfect number of suppliers and want to increase price competitiveness by taking more on board.

I don’t get it. I do agree that a subset of Supply Management organizations will be focussed on supply base consolidation and that a further subset of these will be focussed on collaboration in the hopes of mutual innovation, but I don’t think this is a super-cycle. A supercycle is a long period, or wave, in the growth of a market, as described by the Elliott Wave Principle. By definition, a super-cycle has to be market wide, and include all Supply Management organizations in all stages of maturity, not just the ones that are smart enough to be involved with a leading Procurement organization and respond to their surveys. While I do think that this is a mini-cycle in the above-average supply management organizations moving towards best-in-class status, most below-average organizations are still focussed on cost-reduction at any cost (to justify further investments in technology and transitions to better processes), and this typically involves auctions and negotiations that open up the procurement process to new bidders in hopes of getting more-cost effective, or higher-quality suppliers, for the organization.

This does mean that, as some organizations advance up the maturity curve, the mini-cycle will repeat, but then, as the post points out, the organizations that have optimized their supply-base will begin to open it up to new suppliers in an attempt to get even more value. Thus, if there was a super-cycle, it would be an oscillating contraction/expansion cycle that would emulate the cyclic cosmological model — an infinite contract/expand loop.

Diverging thoughts?

Thirteen Years Later, And It’s Still All About the Pentiums

Rock on, Al Yankovic, Rock on!

Because It’s All About The Pentiums (Original Video!)

Al may have been Running with Scissor, but no one did a better job of predicting the future of the IT industry.

     
My new computer’s got the clocks, it rocks
But it was obsolete before I opened the box
You say you’ve had your desktop for over a week?
Throw that junk away, man, it’s an antique
Your laptop is a month old? Well that’s great
If you could use a nice, heavy paperweight

  It’s All About the Pentiums
    by “Weird Al” Yankovic (@alyankovic)

SCD’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective Supply Chains

A recent article over on Supply Chain Digest touted The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Supply Chains 2012 in honour of Stephen Covey, who noted that too many people focus on “urgent” and not what is “important” and that changes are required to reduce the need for “urgent” activities so that more time can be spent on the “important” ones. According to SCD, these are the seven habits of highly effective supply chains.

  1. A written strategy that is regularly updated
  2. Alignment with the business is a constant priority
  3. Focus on Talent Management
  4. Fact-based Cultures
  5. Savvy Users of Technology
  6. Smart about Collaboration
  7. Organized for Innovation

While it’s hard to whittle down supply chain best practices to seven, these are a great start. In fact, if you asked the doctor what the top seven priorities were for your supply chain, you’d get:

  1. Talent Management
  2. Innovation in Process and Product/Service Offerings
  3. End-to-End Technology Platforms
  4. Mid-Term and Long-Term Strategy
  5. Organizational Alignment
  6. Data-Driven Fact-Based Decision Making
  7. Cultural & Emotional Intelligence

The only real difference, besides the order of priority, is that the doctor thinks cultural & emotional intelligence (given the global nature of supply chains) takes priority over collaboration, because CQ and EQ will enable the necessary collaboration.

The SCD article, penned by Dan Gilmore, is a good one. Check it out.

We’re not mysterious. We’re Canadians!

I got a chuckle out of this recent article over on Inbound Logistics on “Ten Tips for Getting Shipments Across the Canadian Border” which said that businesses underestimate the complexity of the Canadian customs process because it can be very difficult before addressing the mysteries of the clearance process. Mysteries? Are they serious?

Let’s look at the arguments.

The Canada Border Services Agency continually revises compliance requirements
And the US doesn’t? And Europe doesn’t?

Hidden Charges
According to the article, unexpected and additional delivery charges are a significant issue for Canadian consumers. This has nothing to do with getting shipments across the Canadian Border, but everything to do with the importer doing its research beforehand.

Trade Agreements Offer Economic Incentives
Isn’t this a good thing? Yes, it takes some effort to navigate NAFTA, but it’s not that hard — and many customs brokers have it all mapped out.

Trusted Shipper Programs Speed Clearance Process
And isn’t this a good thing too? And easily understood! I’m confused? What’s difficult and mysterious?

Consolidation is key for smaller shipments
Yes, consolidated shipments clear the border as a single unit and can speed importation, but it’s not necessary. It depends on what you are importing and what you are importing it for. Especially since, for some importers, a full truck can be a “small shipment”.

Canada has gone (almost) paperless
And the fact that border clearance is largely conducted through web-based portals and online transactions is a great thing. It really speeds up, and clarifies, the process.
(But yes, you have to use that new-fangled computer thingie. But it is 2012, after all!)

Your government may pay you for shipping to Canada
The Duty Drawback program in the U.S. reimburses businesses for import fees paid on materials used in the manufacture of goods than subsequently exported. Nothing mysterious or difficult about this either — just a bit of paperwork that is, in effect, another good thing.

All provinces are not the same
Ok, so this adds a bit of spice to the process, but we’re talking about a country with only 10 provinces, not 50 states. And the only real issue is taxation. Some provinces use a harmonized sales tax that combines the federal goods and services tax with the provincial sales tax, while others keep them separate. Either way, it’s one tax, and one simple lookup table. The multiplication tables you learned in grade school are more complex.

Be sure you can reach your customers
Uhm, isn’t this a requirement wherever you import? It has nothing to do with Canada. Sure, we are the second largest country by area, but like the article says, 80% of our population lives within 100 miles of the US border, and everyone else knows that if you want variety, you make your weekly / monthly / annual pilgrimage to the closest city. (The 80/20 rule works great!)

Partner with an experienced logistics provider
Huh? And what does this have to do with Canadian import complexity? Nada, zip, zero.

So, final score:

Relevant Issues 3 (Compliance Requirements, Taxes, e-Filings)
Universal Issues 2
Irrelevant Issues 3
Benefits 2

Verdict? Joke!

Look, here’s what you need to know. We’re friendly. While that means we play nice with American and European security regulations in addition to global security initiatives, and that’s why we update our policies regularly, it also means that we’re an open book. Not sure, all you have to do is go to the CBSA website, which has everything you need. Don’t know where to start? Remember, we’re friendly — you can always send an e-mail or pick up the phone and ask. Our country was, and is, built on immigration and our prosperity is built on global trade. Just follow the process, you can rest assured that you can speed through our border clearance (except, maybe at the Detroit Windsor Tunnel which experiences some of the highest cross-border traffic volumes).