Category Archives: Supply Chain

Cost of NOT Using Modern Supply Chain Systems: 6.8 Billion

A recent article over on CNN Money that noted that the store theft cost to your family, largely due to a 9% jump in retail theft over the past year, is $435 — as shoplifting, employee theft, and supply chain fraud cost retailers $42.2 Billion between July 2008 and June 2009, had a surprising revelation.

Breaking this mega-loss down, we find that:

  • 18.7 Billion is due to employee theft
    which could be considerably reduced with better screening, security and processes
  • 15.0 Billion is due to shoplifting
    which could be somewhat reduced with better security, but will likely always be a problem
  • 6.8 Billion is due to processing, supply chain errors, and frauds
    which could be eliminated with good systems and processes
  • 1.7 Billion is due to other causes

There’s no excuse for any errors. Good end-to-end e-Procurement systems can match every invoice against the purchase order and contract and make sure you’re only paying for what you ordered at contracted rates. Good forecasting and inventory tracking systems will prevent costly errors. And good visibility systems will allow you to spot any exceptions as soon as they occur and stop frauds, and fraudsters, in the act.

So now that you know that not using this technology is personally costing you, and everyone else in your organization, about $70 a year, why aren’t you using these systems? The reduction in loss alone over their service life-time will more than pay for them. (Not to mention the savings that a good sourcing, e-procurement, or inventory system can help you identify!)

Share This on Linked In

Dick Locke on “Training Supply Management Personnel on Quality Assurance Basics”

Well, I’m glad the Doc is publishing his material on cultural differences. I’ve promised a blog entry on international topics every two weeks, but I’ve been suffering from blogger’s block. I’m tired of debating whether China is manipulating currency or not. I’m sure the ‘cultural differences’ series will generate lots of comments. This gives me a chance to write something on a more general topic: training supply management personnel on quality assurance basics.

What brought this to my attention was a discussion over on Strategic Sourcing and Procurement’s discussion board. It struck me how many KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) referred to quality as a KPI. It also struck me that many of them were phrased in terms of “good enough” quality. A few got it. No one should see incoming material with any quality defects as “good enough”. Intermediate standards other than zero defects may be necessary steps on the road to perfection, but they should be improving annually, and the performance measurement should count all defects, not just abnormally high defect levels.

I wonder though, if quality is so important, why there is so little training on the topic in the various training and certification companies. ISM has a two hour course on basics, and a two day course on six-sigma. APICS seems to have nothing. Neither does Nahabit and Associates or Next Level Purchasing. That’s probably why HP resorted to an in house-developed training program when I worked there.

Our director of corporate procurement had his quality engineers write an eight hour training program that he attended with all his senior staff. It had almost no math in it, but relied on drawings and concepts. Lots of us were engineering undergrads and that helped. In my case it almost offset the 6AM start time that my morning-person boss insisted on. I even remember the basic take-aways. Here they are:

  1. You’ll never get better than about 1% defective if you rely on inspection. You need statistical process control to get better than that.
  2. AQL inspection plans have a very high probability (like 90%) that you will accept a lot with the specified defect level. Some entire industries still use AQLs. (Shame on them.) LTPD plans are better if you are using sample inspection.
  3. Never let your supplier use a sampling plan that allows a lot that had a defect in inspection to be shipped without 100% re-screening. (Jargon version: use c=0 plans.)
  4. Know what a control chart is and how to make one.
  5. Insist that your suppliers control chart key processes. That will define their process variation.
  6. Compare your specification limits to the suppliers process variation. If the supplier’s variation isn’t a whole lot less than your specification, you and the supplier are in trouble. The supplier is going to build scrap and some of it will find its way to you. This comparison is called Cp or CPk. Higher numbers are better.

OK, it’s not really that simple. But I wonder why training programs are so scarce? Are the quality wars over and quality won? It did in some countries and some industries but not others. What does your company do about training its procurement professionals?

Share This on Linked In

One out of Eight Organizations Get It. What Do We Do About The Other Seven?

According to AMR’s latest research, summarized in this piece on “driving supply chain transformation through the Chief Supply Chain Officer”, only one out of eight organizations have a CSCO, CPO, or equivalent that reports directly to the CEO.

The supply chain is the life-blood of a modern company but seven out of eight companies still don’t have a C-suite leader?! This is just crazy. What can we do? If you have any ideas, I’d love to hear them!

Game Changers or Business As Usual?

Supply Chain Digest recently reviewed Kate Vitadek & J. Paul Dittman’s full report on “Supply Chain Game Changers: A Practitioner’s Guide for Driving Competitive Advantage within Your Supply Chain”. After reviewing the top ten list, I’m not sure if they are “game changers” or “business as usual” because I don’t see the difference between this list and a list of the top ten issues that have been facing modern supply chains for the last few years.

In brief, the list is:

  • The Mandate for Measurement
  • Supply Chain Collaboration
  • Lean/Six Sigma Applied to the Supply Chain
  • Managing Complexity
  • Supply Chain Technology
  • Network Optimization
  • Global Supply Chain Implications
  • Sustainability
  • Risk Management
  • Managing Out Costs and Working Capital

So, what do you think? Game changers? Day to Day Issues? or Both?

Share This on Linked In

Six Keys to a Successful Reorganization (of your Supply Chain)

This fall, Strategy + Business, with the help of Booz & Co., got “Inside the Kraft Foods Transformation” and talked with level top leaders about their three-year turnaround and their campaign to reorganize for growth. It was a good article, but the best part was the six keys factors to a successful reorganization because not only are these themes common to Kraft, but they are common to most of the studies I’ve read regarding transformations in the leaders in the Food & Beverage and Consumer Packaged Goods industries. Since they definitely deserve to be repeated, I’m repeating them.

  • Start with the Business Strategy
    The new organizational model should primarily enable and catalyze the strategic direction of the company. An organization can only align behind a clear strategy.
  • Go Beyond Lines and Boxes in Organizational Design
    The right people and the right organizational chart is important, but supply chain is people, process, and platform. All three have to be aligned in the right workflow, under the right metrics, to fit the right goals.
  • Understand that One Size Does Not Fit All
    For example, a centralized strategy might work for the majority of your categories, but a minority might have to remain decentralized, or vice versa. Make exceptions where exceptions make sense.
  • Have Thorough Planning Lessons Pre-Launch
    Not only do major change initiatives work best when key shareholders have had a chance to articulate their concerns and grievances, but they also work best when sufficient time has been taken to identify what could go wrong and how those situations will be dealt with. It’s easy to focus on the ideal process flow, but they keys to success is having streamlined recovery plans in place when something goes wrong.
  • Leverage the Power of Leaders
    Make sure they are actively involved in all changes. Talk isn’t enough! Actions speak much louder than words.
  • Expect a Multi-Year Journey
    Major changes don’t happen overnight, especially if you are a multi-national. If you put a realistic, multi-year, timeline in place, you will get there … and do so with great success!

Share This on Linked In