Category Archives: Miscellaneous

Sourcing Innovation Brings You The Best From the Best

Starting next week, Sourcing Innovation will be running a special series on “Sourcing Tomorrow: The e-Leaders Speak” that will feature pieces from the visionaries behind many of the top e-Sourcing and e-Procurement vendors. So far, a dozen leaders of a dozen leading e-Sourcing and e-Procurement vendors have agreed to put their thoughts to paper on what technologies and strategies you can use to climb out of the recession and ride the leading edge of the wave to recovery. Up first will be Iasta (David Bush), Vinimaya (Gary Hare), Enporion (George Gordon), Trade Extensions (Garry Mansell and Chetan Raniga), and SafeSourcing (Ron Southard). Aravo (Kevin Cornish), Coupa (Dave Stephens and Jason Hekl), and Ketera (Chris Newton), and possibly a few others, have also agreed to participate.

But Sourcing Innovation isn’t going to stop there! After that, Sourcing Innovation will be bringing you “Sourcing Tomorrow: The Service Leaders Speak” where the likes of Jim Wetekamp (of Bravo Solution), Bart Richards (of The Claro Group), Bob Rudzki (of Greybeard Advisors), Mark Usher (of Treya Partners), and William Dorn (of Source One Management Services), among others, will be bringing you their thoughts on how service and solution providers can help you climb out of the recession and ride the wave to profitability faster than your competition.

And Sourcing Innovation isn’t going to stop there either! When the second series is complete, Sourcing Innovation is going to invite selected bloggers to respond to the first two series and the changing markets with their thoughts.

But that’s not all! Sourcing Innovation also plans to run a couple of very special series this fall. First up will be an 8+ part series on Overcoming Cultural Differences in International Trade, partially based on the work of our resident expert on international trade, Dick Locke. This series, which will be edited by none other than Dick Locke himself, will address some key issues in International Purchasing and how they materialize in your global sourcing endeavours.

As promised in Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, Sourcing Innovation will also run a multi-part series that dives into the recent CAPS Research focus study on “the role of optimization in strategic sourcing”. Taking it piece by piece, I will address the points that need to be highlighted, the points that need to be addressed (but weren’t), and the points that were a bit misleading and make sure that, once you have digested the report and this special series, you have the best understanding of today’s strategic sourcing decision optimization technology that you can have.

I’ll also be reviewing some of the new releases by those vendors that decided to keep their heads above the sands and innovate through the downturn (and maybe I’ll even coerce the Sourcing Maniacs out of hiding).

And that’s just the beginning. Stay tuned!

Doug Smock on the Dreamliner Supply Chain

 

This guest post is from Doug Smock of Design News and BCC Research.

The Dreamliner aircraft development project was launched by Boeing six years ago as one of the most ambitious technology and supply chain projects in history. On the technology side, the Dreamliner was the first commercial airliner design with a plastic composite body. On the supply chain side, Boeing made the switch from a top-down, disciplined captive design and manufacturing approach to one that was largely outsourced to suppliers around the world.

The Dreeamliner is now two years late, and it’s not an exaggeration to say that Boeing’s future rests on its outcome. Three years ago, Boeing officials were eager to talk about the great work on the Dreamliner, on the technology and supply sides. Now they’re mum, but I took a couple of shots at raising the questions about the Dreamliner, and then making some educated guesses about the answers.

So what are the questions?

And what are the answers?

Read my pieces on “What’s causing huge delays for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner” and “why the Dreamliner is so late” to find out!

Thanks, Doug.

What Is The Baseline For Smarter Supply Chains

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A recent article in RFID Journal states that, according to Karen Butner of IBM, “the baseline for smarter supply chains really is about RFID, sensors, and actuators“. Really?

What smarter supply chains require is visibility … near real-time visibility to be precise. You don’t need RFID chips and sensors to get that. You need processes and procedures that make sure that the status of every package is recorded every time it changes location … from the supplier warehouse to the transport truck to the dock warehouse to the container to the cargo ship to the dock to the transport truck to your warehouse … and that this information is always accessible. The status can be manually updated by a receiving clerk that scans a barcode with a handheld device or, if you are challenged when it comes to new-fangled gadgets, enters a bar-code into a dumb-terminal … which can then indicate if the bar-code is recognized and the state change is expected.

That would seem to tell me that the basis of smarter supply chains with near real-time visibility is not overhyped RFID & sensor technology, but smart people following smart processes that use smart information technology. Am I wrong?

Give Your Manufacturing a Lift

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Pneumatic lift-assistance devices can not only prevent back injuries, which account for one of every five workplace injuries or illnesses and cost businesses over 12 Billion annually, but they can increase productivity by 40%.

A recent article in Industry Week explained how there is “no more back breaking work” at 3M since it installed tailor-made pneumatic lift-assistance devices that were tailor made for lifting various pressure-sensitive rolls of consumer labels that can weigh up to 250 lbs. The installation, which eliminated lift-related injuries in the associated plant processes, noted that not only is productivity up 40%, but there is no problem with operator fatigue or repetitive motion injury … and an alert employee is a productive employee.

Furthermore, when you consider that a single injury can cost an employee 65,000 or more, it’s hard to argue against installing lift equipment that also increase productivity. So go for it … and give your manufacturing a lift (and then ask for cost reductions since you know you manufacturing will gain 40% productivity as a result).

A Procurement Professional’s Guide to International Assignments

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The experience and perspective gained through an international assignment is ever-more valuable in today’s global supply chains and increases a procurement executive’s marketability in the long run. But making an international assignment work requires a well-thought out plan and a lot of flexibility from everyone involved-employer, employee and family.

So what should you do if you are thinking of making such a move? A recent article in Purchasing, which attempted to be “a procurement professional’s guide to international assignments”, had some good starting tips.

  • Does your company have a support structure in place for the region being relocated to?
    For example, IBM has had an established program since the 1980s where employees considering an international assignment were sent to an orientation session that addressed tax implication issues, handling your house in the US, school and church options, etc. Then, there was a look-see trip for those still serious about the idea.
  • Will your family be able to integrate into the community?
    Will there be support groups to help your family when you’re at work and traveling for work?
  • Will you be close to your suppliers?
    Not only should that be the primary benefit to the company, but it should be the primary benefit for you … you should be able to visit your suppliers regularly and develop real relationships on a professional and personal level that will help both your company and you.
  • Is the language you speak spoken there?
    It doesn’t have to be the primary language of the region, but at least a subset of people should speak it commonly as a second language.
  • Are you interested in learning a new language?
    While it may not be a necessity, it will certainly make your life easier if you are willing to learn the basics and soak it in.
  • Can you talk to people who have made the move?
    Find out about their daily lives and if you will be able to relate to their experiences.

It also had a list of do’s from Associates for International Research:

  • ensure that your company has a formal set of policies and practices
  • visit the location prior to accepting the assignment
  • have a clear understanding of the financial implications
  • understand how daily living will be different
  • obtain a proper and complete Letter of Understanding
  • read the relocation policy in advance
  • take care of any major medical or dental needs beforehand
  • get an idea of the expected outcomes of the assignment
  • obtain details on the type of security and medical services that will be offered
  • have an understanding of the tax implications and your compliance responsibilities