Category Archives: Miscellaneous

Package Diversity May Combat A Sales Slump …

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… but it may also lock you into single source relationships, which could be bad for business if your supplier is on, or is close to, shaky ground.

While it’s always nice to stand out from the crowd, I have to wonder if Coca-Cola’s recent decision to “shake up its packaging” is the right decision from a supply chain viewpoint. I’ll admit that the 16-ounce bottle might give it a key price point, but it could come at a cost. There’s a reason most soft-drinks come in standard package sizes (2 L, 20 oz bottle, and 12 oz can) … that’s the sizes that most manufacturers have standardized on. Every time you change a size, you change a production line. That requires investment. A manufacturer is not going to do that without a significant commitment on your part. This locks you in … and even if it insures a stable supplier, it also takes away any negotiating leverage you might have as a buyer if your sources are limited. This may not matter if your product sells like mad at a decent profit point … but if the sales campaign backfires, it could cost you.

I’ll admit that Coca Cola most likely has the brand, the marketing prowess, and the supply chain optimization capabilities to pull it off (as a very early adopter of strategic sourcing decision optimization and supply network optimization technologies), but I don’t think there are many companies that could pull this off in today’s economy. Anyone have a different viewpoint?

Defining Senior Management Support in the Context of Your Supply Chain Projects

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A recent article over on Supply Chain Digest asked a very good question — “what is senior management support for supply chain projects”. We all know that no project can succeed without senior management support, but what precisely does that mean? According to the author, two types of support are necessary:

  • support from the supply chain executive for projects in her organization and
  • support from each executive whose division is impacted by a cross-functional initiative.

But that still doesn’t define what, precisely senior management support is. The question is, can it be defined? Especially when the needs of every project are different?

I think it can, if you take it on a project-by-project basis and take the advice of Gene Tyndall and define a “Project Charter” for every project. If this charter identifies the executive sponsor, specifies the objectives, defines the success requirements — and what is required from the sponsor, and specifies the steering committee, then, if the sponsor(s) agree(s) to it, then you just might have what you need to achieve project success.

That’s Not Trash … That’s Profit!

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A recent article in Industry Week explained how TerraCycle can turn your “garbage into gold” by taking non-recyclable pre- and post- consumer materials and up-cycling these traditional waste streams into reusable products which includes eco-binders, trash & recycling containers, pencil cases, backpacks, lunch boxes, and other consumer materials. They’ve even come up with a way to create fertilizer from, and package it in, bio-degradeable waste.

So where’s the profit? If you are a school, church, or a non-profit organization, TerraCycle will provide you with packaging materials and cover postage to ship it non-recylcable food packaging that it uses in the creation of its products — and pay you for each item you provide. For example, you can get $0.02 for each drink pouch, candy wrapper, or cooky wrapper your members collect and send it.

Is Your Supply Chain Ready For The Millennials?

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The Millennials — better known as Generation Y, the children of the Baby Boomers born between 1980-1999, are beginning to flood the global job markets … at least to the extent that they can find work in this recession. And like each generation before, they’ll need to be integrated and trained because, if you don’t, the resultant turn over (which will cost you between 50% and 150% of their salary) will be huge … and the cost on global supply chains will run into the Billions.

The Millennials bring with them a unique perspective and work ethic that stymies older works and frequently leads to intergenerational conflict. They need to be challenged, given regular feedback, cross-trained, and shown a career path. They have high expectations for success, and they are looking for an organization that can help them achieve it. They are the most technologically savvy multi-tasking generation to-date, and they work best when collaborating. They’re a work-hard and play-hard generation looking for “cool” employers and organizations that provide them with:

  • career laddering,
  • socialization,
  • mentoring, and
  • positive reinforcement.

Preventing Data Loss

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With the recent introduction of the new Massachusetts Data Privacy Law, known to lawyers as 201 CMR 17.00, which is the most far-reaching state-mandated privacy law to be enacted to date, you can expect a slew of states to follow suit. That means that, shortly after Jan 1, 2010 when the Massachusetts law comes into effect, you can expect that no matter where you operate in the US, you can expect to be subject to strict information security and privacy laws as you transfer data back and forth across your supply chain channels. But are you ready?

According to RSA, the Security Provision of EMC, you need to:

  • understand what data is sensitive,
  • know where the data resides,
  • understand your risk,
  • select the appropriate controls,
  • manage security centrally, and
  • audit security to constantly improve.

But will this be enough? According to the Aberdeen Group, who recently released a white paper on “6 Best Practices to Prevent Enterprise Data Loss”, more than 262 million records have been breached since January 2005. Considering that an average data loss will cost an average company $6.6 Million per breach, this, combined with upcoming laws that will let lawyers go to town, makes this a Billion dollar problem in your supply chain.

So next time you upgrade your supply chain technology, you might want to spend extra time examining the software security controls, whether or not it can implement your policies, and whether or not it has an API that will allow you to integrate security and policy management into your data loss prevention (DLP) software platform. Just like LDAP and single-sign on was important at the beginning of this decade, DLP is going to be key as we enter the next one.